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I determined that the “wander” in the steering of my stock front axle is in part because the spindle bore on one side is warn to a point that the king bolt is loose. I found the lock bolt was not loose but it was easy to tighten it to a point where the head was being pulled into the the bore below the face of the axle. I’m thinking the slop in the king bolt had warn the wedge portion of the lock bolt. At first I was blaming it on a bad reaming job on the spindle bushing. My search on line for a remedy points to having the hole bored and sleeved.
I have another axle that I rebuilt and the king bolt holes appear OK so I’m going to swap it out. My question is about the lock bolts. I have ordered new ones. Can they be installed from either side? They were facing opposite directions on each axle.
No. They are tapered so they only are supposed to go in one way, from the front. The tall, special nut behind also acts as a stop for the spindle when turning. Hopefully it was your defective axle that was installed wrong, and perhaps that was someone's "fix" to try and take up the slop, or the reason why it's gone bad.
Thanks Merc. I appreciate it.
I scratched a D for driver side on the second axle before I stripped off the spindles. The axle looks symmetrical to me. Are the tapered holes the only way to determine front / rear?
Another reason the stock axle and springs, even in perfect condition, will "wander" is due to not having enough caster for today's driving. Remember these trucks were meant to be farm and work trucks driven at < 30 MPH on dirt roads and across fields. They also only had "armstrong" steering, so Ford installed the axle with virtually no caster or toe in. Mid Fifty sells caster shims and longer headed spring center bolts to go with them. Add one or two sets of shims to tilt the axle back, and adding 1/16" of toe-in on each side will go a long way in improving the handling. If you have never changed a spring centerbolt before PLEASE come back and ask for instructions, doing it wrong has broken many an ankle! It's easy and safe if done right, plus you can clean up and remove leafs for a softer ride, while they are apart.
regarding the king pin lock bolts...
for disc brake conversions i remember needing to reverse the bolts to get clearance for the caliper mount....
I also have what seems a similar issue on one side with 'extra' clearance in the kingpin bore on the axle.
Looking for central NC area service to bore/bush my axle...
AX, I had added another 4 degree axle shim to the existing 2 degree shim. Also replaced the center spring bolt with one with a longer head. The springs a new posies which lowered 2-3”. It reduced the wander but still seemed excessive. I’m waiting for new bolts and locking pins. Then will swap out the beam axle.
I would still like to hear from the experienced members here if there is a defined front/rear designation for these beam axles??
There's definitely a front and rear. In addition to the tapered holes we discussed earlier, if you were to set up the axle where the spring pad is level, you should be able to measure an inclination of the ends for caster/camber/sai. If the axle is in backwards you'll need even more shims to make up the caster difference, and your steering angle inclination could be way off.
Wayne is correct. Unless someone has drilled out the locking pin holes, the taper should be obvious as well. There is no wear likely on those tapered holes. Using lowering springs on only the front increases the rake, Which again reduces front caster. Increasing the front caster also requires increasing the toe in to move the contact patch to where it belongs. What about your steering box free play? Are you using the stock box? is there more than a couple inches of free play at neutral steering at the rim of the steering wheel? You don't happen to have one of the aftermarket Ford style ram power assist units installed do you? Those things are one of Fords "worst ideas".
My 56 had one of those on it when I got, drove it from NM to NC. Was the first thing I pulled off of it when I got homeThe truck wandered like a drunken saior and every time you tried to correct it, it would suddenly dive in that direction. but the stock steering box had about 1/2 turn of free-play which didn't help. Every time an 18 wheeler passed me in the WV, VA mountains the truck would change lanes. I was white knuckled by the time I got home. Swapped in a Toyota PS box and it drives like a new truck.
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