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Hello fellow enthusiasts, first time post here.
I got a 1976 f250 F26 crewcab a year ago and have been slowing fixing some of the previous owners "fixes". Biggest issue I'm running into is the steering alignment/linkage. To my knowledge this truck was lifted and lowered many times over it's life and someone did a crossover steering swap, poorly and something looks off. I currently have a 78-79 4x4 steering box mounted to outside of frame rail but the drag link angle seems way off.
I've read alot of the Saginaw swap threads but nothing seems to match. Also has a factory dana 60
Thanks for any input
Any input
Starting on post #204 you can see my drag link. Mine is a 1975 F250 highboy, with a Dana 44 and power steering from a 1979 F250 4x4. I have not driven this yet with these modifications.
Do you have steering issues? It looks like you could get a high steer arm to bolt on the PS of your Dana 60 and have a straight drag link. Personally, the bent drag link shouldn't make any difference. I don't think heim joints are the best option though for street use.
Sweet looking truck by the way!
I would lose that entire abortion and go with the 2wd box conversion like Benchworks or similar. if you're going to keep the lift that could be accounted for with just a drop pitman arm.
I'd lose the stabilizers too. no high boy/crew cab ever came with any and two is ridiculous it just overworks the system for nothing.
You have leafe springs, the axle moves up and down on bumps, very slightly front to rear as the leaves are pivoting from the front eyes.
Your drag link swings in an arc so the end at the right front spindle moves left to right on those same bumps.
You are going to have bump steer bad. OK on a farm truck running farm roads.
Stock, that truck would have a drag link going front to rear to swing its arc and move the far end away from the steering box forward and back with the axle.
Side to side like on a F-150 is fine as they use coil springs and a trac bar that moves the axle left right on bumps to match the arc of the drag link as done in '78/'79 .... but it sucks on a '77 or older as they use funky "inverted Y" steering.
Last edited by tbear853; Nov 26, 2024 at 07:33 PM.
Hey, OP here, had to make new account but yes it does drive like crap. Initially the drag link would smack into the top of leaf pack and "bump steer" hard. A less drop pitman arm helped that issue but still likes to wander even with new gear box. Like nutter said, it's a f150 box from redhead.
As mentioned by others the 78/79 F250 gearbox would have 4 bolts in it, so that's not what you have. Mine is mounted inside the frame and required some cutting/ welding (see great pics here as part of the Battle Born Brakes Kit: https://www.battlebornbrakes.com/pro...50-4wd-f26bstr)
When I ran my truck on the fully stock setup for a few years it drove straight and great. I was nervous to upgrade to a high pinion D60 and do crossover but it still drives great. Of course all of that cost more but it still drives wonderfully.
As mentioned by others the 78/79 F250 gearbox would have 4 bolts in it, so that's not what you have. Mine is mounted inside the frame and required some cutting/ welding (see great pics here as part of the Battle Born Brakes Kit: https://www.battlebornbrakes.com/pro...50-4wd-f26bstr)
When I ran my truck on the fully stock setup for a few years it drove straight and great. I was nervous to upgrade to a high pinion D60 and do crossover but it still drives great. Of course all of that cost more but it still drives wonderfully.
Thanks for the links maddog. Someone above mentioned bump steer with doing the crossover setup, have you had that issue? I definitely do but also have some alignment issues still I'm sure and slop in the linkage. The bolt going thru the heims for the tierod isn't the same as the knuckle or heim. And I've removed a few leafs which has a small wedge so need to figure out which direction to spin it for proper caster. The rear end is waaay off too being that the truck was lifted way up on 44 at one time!
Previous owner definitely didn't do me any favors.
I would do a high steer arm on the pass side. It's a KP60 so easy to bolt on. This will level out the drag link and greatly reduce bumpsteer. https://www.ruffstuffspecialties.com/R1796.html
Looks like the knuckles have been drilled for rod ends. They will not last long on the street and will have play in the bolts. A tapered tie rod is a better option. You may be able to reverse ream the knuckles and use a Chebby 1T TRE, on the top of the knuckles. The Chebby TRE are larger diameter than the Ford ones.
I would avoid a drop pitman arm puts a ton of leverage on the sector shaft and will wear out the lower bearing quickly. High steer arm is way better solution.
The dual steering stabilizers should not be needed at all. My first step would be to remove that and measure caster. If caster is under 2-3* it needs to be corrected.
A track bar (yes on leaf springs) will improve the steering response. 99-2004 super duty did this. The track bar needs to be fairly flat to work with leaves that don't want to move side to side.
This is my setup with high steer arm, reverse reamed knuckles with 1T TRE. No stabilizer. 80-96 steering box untouched. Zero bumpsteer. Took many changes and iterations to get there. It eats track bar heims, next are rebuildable joints.
Excellent post Justin. I have read that crossover steering greatly reduces the bump steer. I did not know that a track bar was useful on a leaf sprung vehicle. Thanks
Excellent post Justin. I have read that crossover steering greatly reduces the bump steer. I did not know that a track bar was useful on a leaf sprung vehicle. Thanks
Neither did I, figured it only applied to 05+ SD axles. Would moving the gear box I have towards the firewall to get draglink more in line with the tierod make a difference? Really don't wanna waste the $800 already spent on the redhead unit I have.
Also thanks for the pics Smokey. That really helps along with nutters. Did you use the spring elimination kit as well? With the nylon caps?
Neither did I, figured it only applied to 05+ SD axles. Would moving the gear box I have towards the firewall to get draglink more in line with the tierod make a difference? Really don't wanna waste the $800 already spent on the redhead unit I have.
Also thanks for the pics Smokey. That really helps along with nutters. Did you use the spring elimination kit as well? With the nylon caps?
No, the location of the box and the transverse angle of the drag link won't really matter. I have a ball joint style D60 so no kingpins.
No, the location of the box and the transverse angle of the drag link won't really matter. I have a ball joint style D60 so no kingpins.
Oh duh, I see that now 🤭 did you have to fab your own track bar brackets? I'm guessing it's behind the drag link and just can't see fully? Your setup looks slick tho. Thanks for the insight!
