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Looking for some advice. I think this has been explored in other threads but hoping for some clarification.
My 64 has a slight lean on the front drivers side. When I turn a hard left I get a clunking noise under the front drivers side fender. It’s never been a problem until last week when I had to back down a driveway and turn a hard left to get out onto the road. As I was finishing the turn and about to straighten out, I felt something “stuck” in the wheel. Almost felt like when you put a stick in the spokes of bike wheel. It drove fine the rest of the day but sounds like something I don’t want to let get too much worse.
Any tips on fixing it? Should I bring it to my regular mechanic or find a good body shop?
Thanks!
I’d get a floorjack, get the front wheels off the ground and evaluate the front end (king pins, tie rods, etc.) Maybe pull the drums, inspect the brakes and wheel bearings.
These are solid front axle trucks with leaf springs front and rear, '64 was the last year for the "Big Truck" design, then they went to "Twin I Beam" suspension and coil springs.
There are rubber bushings, shackles, bolts &c that will likely be completely trashed by now to say nothing of the leaf spring packs themselves.They were trashed on my truck, and caused odd handling in hard turns and various noises till replaced. It was a pita, and a little spendy to round up everything. Is it "worth" doing, well probably not but it handles pretty nicely now for the design of the time.
Thanks everyone. I’m going to take it to a local suspension shop and have them take a look. This kind of thing is way above my pay grade! I’ll post when I get it fixed in case anyone is interested.
Mine is a 66 but to show you never know what you are going to get one of the PO replaced the front coil springs and they are different. Probably Notice the coil thickness. I noticed the passenger side was a bit saggy.
one v8 spring and 1 6 cyl spring.
Passengers side should actually be slightly larger diameter coil than drivers side to offset the torque rotation of the engine. They also often used a shim on the passengers side below the lower coil spring retainer.
In real life, the drivers side usually weakens first, always has an extra 150-250 lbs setting behind the 5th wheel. Mine has an extra 165 lbs, you'll have to check your own as it varies with Make and Model.
No coil springs in '64 fellas. It's coal-cart solid axle and leaf springs, all the way around.
I think he was just demonstrating weight bias on the 2 front springs. My 66 is the same anyway, it's 4wd so still a straight axle but I softened mine up a bit with the air ride.
If I recall, the passenger side spring is a bit beefier to make up for the motor shifted to pass side to give clearance for steering, clutch, and shifter linkage. when I got new coils for my 65 they were marked left and right.
Dan TK65
