Bigger tire question
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Laughing Gas
Joined: Feb 2014
Posts: 803
Likes: 287
From: KY
Bigger tire question
Ive dug up and down, had shops check out my trucks front end and still Its a case of constant rowing to keep it straight down the road. If you hit ridged asphalt or a long repaired edge its like being into a corner on a slow moving roller coaster. This would not be the first truck Ive had to do this, however the others ran old bias ply mudders. This one has fairly new Pro Comp AT's in a 285/70 16. I'll spare my opinion of Procomp and their products, but has anyone else felt significantly degraded handling from wider than OEM size tires? BTW, Ive run them at anywhere from 45 to 80 psi with some help at lower pressures. Id sure like to find a couple factory size fronts for an experiment to see how it drives.
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Laughing Gas
Joined: Feb 2014
Posts: 803
Likes: 287
From: KY
My personal dislike, to put it mildly, for Procomp goes way back. Its 50/50 their products/customer service. That being said the PO put the tires on my truck. If they were cheap Id say you get what you pay for. They are quiet, suck in the snow IMO, seem to wear fair and balanced with little weight which was a good thing. Their made in some 3 world country but i can say some of the import tires I ran on my jeep were indestructible in the rocks and the like. I agree on the wider/handles off but some are way worst than others from my experiences.
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Laughing Gas
Joined: Feb 2014
Posts: 803
Likes: 287
From: KY
It is now a couple inches but it had no effect when it was all original. The truck had 135K and now 150 on it BTW. Ive read guys say steering box but I have no play to speak of or normal st wheel play anyhow. Im stumped. Not to mention when My wife saw a rolled F250 at our local shop and what happens to these early SD trucks due to a weak roof design she wants me so get rid of it. We live in a land of dodge the elk herd on the road.
Hotshot
Joined: Jul 2013
Posts: 14,211
Likes: 2,170
There are a lot of causes to this…
I had this problem twice
in one case…the nut on the pitman arm shaft was under torqued.
in the other case…the forward bolt on the track bar mount bracket had stretched .
i did learn if you add extra caster at pinion arm …it lessons the impact of the wobbly woes…helps the truck self center.
I had this problem twice
in one case…the nut on the pitman arm shaft was under torqued.
in the other case…the forward bolt on the track bar mount bracket had stretched .
i did learn if you add extra caster at pinion arm …it lessons the impact of the wobbly woes…helps the truck self center.
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Laughing Gas
Joined: Feb 2014
Posts: 803
Likes: 287
From: KY
Yes, Ive read a bit on changing caster angles. Read a interesting article using a shopping cart as an example of what happens when this are to much or to little.
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More Turbo
Joined: Dec 2012
Posts: 565
Likes: 33
From: Newcastle & Gillette WY
Start with the simplest first:
Pull up with a front tire close to the curb and have someone trun the steering wheel back and forth slowly (until the whole steering assembly is stressed.each way) while you get under the front and visually check the tie rod ends and ball joints. If there are worn components you will usually see some movement in the failed piece/s. And jack up the front and have someone pry each front wheel up and down with a long bar while you watch the ball joints.
I had a shop tell me I needed a new steering sector when the problem was a worn tie rod end at the pitman arm. My truck wandered with stock tires, larger ones would exacerbate that condition. Simple repair and saved hundreds!
Shop personel are human and sometimes make mistakes, lack experience or have a preconceived notion of what's wrong and aren't thorough in their diagnosis.
Pull up with a front tire close to the curb and have someone trun the steering wheel back and forth slowly (until the whole steering assembly is stressed.each way) while you get under the front and visually check the tie rod ends and ball joints. If there are worn components you will usually see some movement in the failed piece/s. And jack up the front and have someone pry each front wheel up and down with a long bar while you watch the ball joints.
I had a shop tell me I needed a new steering sector when the problem was a worn tie rod end at the pitman arm. My truck wandered with stock tires, larger ones would exacerbate that condition. Simple repair and saved hundreds!
Shop personel are human and sometimes make mistakes, lack experience or have a preconceived notion of what's wrong and aren't thorough in their diagnosis.
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Lead Driver
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 5,627
Likes: 957
From: Near Yosemite CA
If you have a lift on it, I would definitely check your pitman arm tightness first... my '02 Excursion did this same thing, I ended up tightening the pitman arm nut about 1/4 turn with cheater bar, solved the problem, I started checking it about every, every other oil change just to make sure. I'd lay $20 that's your issue.
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