I just replaced the steering linkage on my '76 2wd. Draglink and tierods all new.
I matched the setting of the inner and outer tie rods against the old unit as well as I could by comparing the lengths and counting exposed threads. I think I got pretty close to where it should be.
The truck drives straight and doesn't wander like it used to. (old draglink was really dangerously worn). But.... my steering wheel is not straight when driving straight. I could pull the wheel off and set back on straight but that may not be the problem. I'd like to try and adj. for the proper toe-in first and make sure everything is setup right. I did a search and found different opinions from zero toe-in, to an 1/8, to just keep trying till it drives better!
Can someone tell me what Ford set these trucks to for toe-in?
Thanx,
Frank

 

Take it in for an front end alignment.

When you bring the truck home after the alignment, you can reset the steering wheel if you need to. Some alignment shops will center your steering wheel and then set do the front end alignment . This way the steering wheel and the alignment are good, all in one shot.

 

Frank, if it's a 2WD, set the toe-in at 1/8", measured from the back of the tire to the front. If it's 4WD, the toe should be set to 0, or as near it as you can get. You can measure with a tape or string, although the tools available for alignment do a better job. You don't have to get it perfect (factory specs have quite a bit of leeway), and it's not rocket surgery.

As far as centering the steering wheel, it's better to do this by adjusting the tie rod ends. Turn one side in, and the other side out, until the steering is straight. It takes some trial and error, but is not a hard job at all.

 

Thanks lonerangerxlt, I'll try it. Doesn't sound too hard since all the parts are new and should turn easily.

I will check the wheel placement first. Who knows if has been moved form its original position? I take it that the pitman arm should parallel with the frame when going straight and the wheel is half the number of turns along from left to right. Correct?

 

That part is correct, don't recall about the pitman arm without looking on mine, but that sounds logical. IIRC, there's a mark on my 78 Bronco steering shaft that indicates straight up/centered, that the steering wheel is aligned straight with. Hopefully yours will have the mark also, making the steering wheel alignment easy.

 

Hi,
Centering of the steering wheel has sequence.
Jack up front end to get wheels off the ground.
Determine center by turning steering wheel lock to lock and divide in half. The steering wheel should be very close to be centered unless it was intentionally mounted off centered.
Toe in-out should then be performed while the steering wheel is held in dead centered position.

This will give you theoretical straightness.
Camber and caster settings should be done next.
Road test should reveal that alignment is good or there is wondering or pull.
Camber/caster is adjusted to compensate.
At this point another drive test may be done, or the tech may be satisfied that it is good.
However, usually the customer will drive the vehicle out and come back complaining the steering wheel is not centered.
The tech will adjust toe in-out to set the steering wheel straight.
BUT!! This is wrong. This only satisfies the customer's appeal. You'll find that it took the tech a very short time to make this adjustment.
Remember the toe in-out was theoretically straight. What threw it off was not toe in but camber. The wheel with more positive camber will pull to that side, therefore the steering wheel will be turned from center although you drive straight.
This has been my experience will 5 pro shops, each giving me their own reasons why they couldn't do this or that. Finally I did my own alignment in my own garage without the benefit of pro equipment. I enjoyed perfect (maybe near perfect) alignment since. I can hold straight without corrections on a level road. And the steering wheel is centered!

 

I read that there is a castor adjustment made more on driver side than passenger. This is to compensate for road crowns, so that you aren't constantly holding the wheel slightly to the left. It effectively gives your steering a slight left bias.
Mark

 

Hi trinogt,

You are right that some techs will compensate for road crown.
But what happens there is that both sides are set to have more caster by the same amount rather than only on one side. This way you track straight on a level road instead of pulling to the left if there is no road crown. However, with road crown, the increased caster will not allow the road crown to influence the tracking.
Increased caster means the wheel is farther back from the vertical just like the caster wheel on an office chair. The castered chair wheel follows the direction you are pushing. In the same way on a vehicle, the castered wheel tends to keep straighter with less influence from the road crown.
Cheers.

 

The castor in most cars is actually opposite from what you describe. The wheels are actually forward of the mounting centerline, like bicycle forks. To add positive camber or negative, you will still be limited to a forward position of the wheel. Some cars are made that actually eliminate any castor adjustments at all, since it is not a tire-wearing angle.

The same can be said for camber adjustments, whereas tire camber is adjusted so that tires will stand more 'straight up' when on the crowned roadways.

Road crown is found on almost every major highway, interstate, secondary highway, street, etc in north america. It is what sheds water away from the road in wet conditions.
Mark

 

Hi trinogt,

Multiple apologies. I was not visualizing it properly.

Too much negative caster gives wondering and light steering.
Too much positive caster gives heavy steering and may kick the steering wheel when a bump is hit.
So I meant to say then that I would increase positive caster on both wheels to keep straightline tracking, rather than increase positive caster on one wheel to compensate road crown.
Does this make sense? I'm no pro nor an expert at this. Sorry for the confusion.
I know that when I did it for my vehicle, it tracks straight on slightly crowned road or heavily crowned road.
Whereas before I did it, road crown pulls one side driving one direction and pulls the other side driving opposite direction on the same road.

 

That's better! lol Things can get a little fuzzy without diagrams, or picturing a car's geometry.
The wheel with the 'least' positive castor is the one that will pull the car in that direction. That would be the road crown, or left side.
Old cars had negative castor because of the deformation of the bias ply tires at highway speed, moving the contact patch to a point of positive castor. Swapping to radials was bad on these old cars, until you changed castor from neg to pos.


Basically, you can compensate for road crown with either more negative castor on the left side (up to half a degree), or with positive camber on the left side. But you should really have one or the other. Your vehicle alignment specs should show you which one is used to compensate for crown.
Mark