1876 Steering Linkage

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Oct 14, 2009 | 10:32 PM

JDenver

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From: Denver Colorado

1876 Steering Linkage

I have been working on completing a project started by someone else. I am pretty sure he ran out of time so in some cases just threw some pieces on the truck. The body is 1969 the rest is 1976 highboy 4 x 4. The last challenge that I am dealing with to get it drivable is the steering linkage. The front of thr truck goes up and down when you turn the wheel back and forth.

I am trying to decide if this is because of bad track bar bushings (I know they are shot) or the bent drag link or if the linkage was just thrown on from the 69 which may have been a 2 wheel drive.

There is the link from the pitman arm to the passengers side that as about 46.5 inches long, this is the one that has a pretty noticeable bend in it. About 12 inches from the passengers side the inner drivers tie rod attaches to the drag link and the drivers outer tie rod attached via the adjusting sleeve and is about 6 inches long.

Does anyone have a description of what a 76 highboy steering linkage should look like? I know these 76 - 77 were uniqe but should the drag link have the bend in it? I also heard that you can convert to the 1979 linkage which from what I have seen the parts are a lot cheaper.

Any help is appreciated.

Thanks

Oct 14, 2009 | 11:57 PM

75F350

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You have a few things that are confusing and are sort of contradicting to what is known to be stock or true for a 76 F250 4x4.
First of all, the F250 would have a push pull style steering. This drag link would be a short drag link that would attach from the pitman arm to the driver side knuckle. This is a rather short drag link, probably only 18 or so inches long.
Next probem is that you mentioned a trac bar, and bushings.
The highboy is a leaf sprung truck, and this truck never had a trac bar.
I have read you description a few times, and for the best of my understanding, I believe that you are describing an inverted "y" style steering system.
Without being able to see this steering set up, one can only speculate.
If you have some pics of your steering, it will better help everyone to understand and will help to identify the problems and the fix that might be applicable.

Typically when the vehicle raises up and down when the front wheels are beign turned from left to right, it means that the caster is soooooo far off that the wheels are not turning on the vertical axis of the spindle, and the front tires are flopping over. Much like a motorcycle (chopper) with a ton of rake.
Not sure how else to describe that.

Pics can clear up a bunch of things that are not clear.

Oct 15, 2009 | 01:18 PM

JDenver

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Joined: Dec 2003

Posts: 119

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From: Denver Colorado

I thought about that after my post so I apologize for incomplete information starting with the title, 1876 Ford. The truck is a 1976 F-150 chassis that is what I would call a "Highboy" and the seller called the same. It has what appears to be about 2 inches more lift than a stock F -150 that come from blocks in the rear and longer springs up front, the front is slightly lower than the rear like many stock trucks which is why I assumed it was a stock lift.

The inverted Y set up is what I have heard the 76 steering linkage described as so that sounds correct. Would the caster problem be caused by a bent drag link or am I looking at a bigger problem?

I am trying to decide if I should just pirate the body parts for my 68 and sell the rest or keep it and get it running but I am trying to get an idea of the cost/problems.

I have tried downloading pictures on here but have had challenges in the past, will try again.

Thanks again.