I have a 1990 bronco with the TTB front end. It has 31X10.5r15 tires. It has new ball joints, tie rod ends, steering gear, and radius bushings. I have checked the pivot bushings and they appear to be ok. The steering shaft feels tight. The steering wheel only has about 1/2 inch of play in it, which is a lot less than other vehicles that I have driven before. I had it alligned, but this is where part of my question lies. I don't know if I trust the place that did it. The problem I have is that the truck just doesn't feel connected to the road. Once it is going straight it stays straight. When I start to go around a turn it doesn't react immediately, but will start turning in too much once it does. When I start to straighten up it is like it takes too many small corrections in the wheel to make it go straight again. It isn't like it is dangerous, but just doesn't give me a feel of cofidence. I have driven a lot of older trucks before and even had a cj-7. The jeep instilled more confidence than what this bronco does and the jeep had more play in the wheel. I have been told that too little caster will cause the vehicle to turn in sharply, but makes for a vehicle that doesn't like to go straight. You guys that know a lot about suspensions please give me some info on where to proceed. I have heard a lot of bad things about the TTB front ends, and am wondering if this is as good as it gets. Could it be the tires because of the heavy weight on the front end with the tall sidewall. Need some help here please. I am not looking for sports car handling, just would like to feel comfortable driving around some of these narrow country roads at normal speeds.

 

Thats kinda weird to me, i have a 87' and it handles great, i'm running 31 10-50's on it, not to sound silly but have you checked the air pressure in the tires, play in the wheel bearings, worm gear play in the steering box, and the rag joint? I would like to know what you find to problem to be. DW

 

Do you have a lift? It sounds a little similar to mine, if that's the case then the caster is off.

 

Steering feel on the TBB is definately not the best. The place that did the alignment should be able to give you the print out of before & after readings. If they don't have it available I'd go someplace that does. Then the biggest help on my '96 was a high quality steering stabilizer, Really helped firm things up.

Good luck.

 

U-Joints. I had the same problem, turned out to be frozen front axle joints.

 

the axles shouldnt be a problem if the hubs are not locked in.DW

 

Even if the hubs are unlocked the u-joints still need to turn with the knuckle. They just won't be spinning. If they are binding, that could cause thins problem. Also check to make sure you haven't stripped the splines on the pitman arm. That happened to me once...