Radius arms and steering
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Elder User
Joined: Mar 2003
Posts: 588
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From: AZ.
Radius arms and steering
My 73, F-100 has steered hard for the last 20+ years..I don't have power steering and always blamed the steering problem on radius arm bushings..They seem tight, no movement... Would they cause it... The truck always drives straight , has been four wheel aligned , steering box lubed, all front end parts good... I resigned myself to exercising my arm muscles years ago but being the radius arm subject was brought up, I thought I'd ask your opinions of what could cause the hard steering... Thank ya' much...
Elder User
Joined: Apr 2001
Posts: 997
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From: texarkana, tx
Radius arms and steering
Jerrybo66 ~
My '74 is the same way.....I can take everything OFF the darned spindles and it takes all that I have (and I lifted weights for about 6 years while training for the Mr. Georgia trophy) to turn the spindles left or right!!
Sounds to me like the kingpin bushings are frozen up. I have replacements and will be installing new pins / bushings this weekend..I'll let you know how it turns out....maybe even with an MPEG on my web site demonstrating the before and after...
My '74 is the same way.....I can take everything OFF the darned spindles and it takes all that I have (and I lifted weights for about 6 years while training for the Mr. Georgia trophy) to turn the spindles left or right!!
Sounds to me like the kingpin bushings are frozen up. I have replacements and will be installing new pins / bushings this weekend..I'll let you know how it turns out....maybe even with an MPEG on my web site demonstrating the before and after...
Senior User
Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 221
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From: Greater Cleveland Ohio
Radius arms and steering
I had my '74 apart this weekend doing brakes (everything off), and the spindles moved easy with just one-hand torque behind a 9/16 wrench. There isn't much else down there that could be causing that other than kingpins. I could tell mine were replaced by the new grease fittings and other newer front end components.
The radius arm bushings will give you slop in the steering, clunks, and mis-alignment (front to rear as opposed to top to bottom), but I don't think they would make your steering hard.
The radius arm bushings will give you slop in the steering, clunks, and mis-alignment (front to rear as opposed to top to bottom), but I don't think they would make your steering hard.
