I've posted a similar message in the 80-86 forums but didn't get much help. With our trucks being so similar and this forum getting a lot more traffic I'm hoping someone can help me out here. Here's the situation:

Sometimes when I make a turn, mostly when the truck is moving, (and I make something like a rolling left hand turn) it sometimes has the feeling of the truck floating (in the opposite direction of the turn) for a split second and than catching itself. But once it catches itself the steering wheel has a pull to that particular direction. The only way to correct it is to jerk the steering wheel quickly in the opposite direction. This will even it out and get it "neutral" again. So far in related and unrelated news I've replaced sway bar bushings, shocks, and the steering box (twice). Nothing has helped. The steering box did firm up my steering and it doesn't feel as loose but it didn't solve the "floating" problem.

I brought the truck to an alignment shop and I definitely need an alignment. Below is a picture of the results when it was on the lift. I have 31" tires on the truck too if that matters. Looking at the truck from the front it's clear there is too much positive camber and the outside of the tires are wearing quicker than elsewhere. Obviously the alignment will help the tire issue but I'm not convince it'll stop the "floating feeling".

FWIW, while at the alignment shop the guy and I tried shaking the wheels when it was in the air to test for loose ball joints or tie rods or something in the steering and came up empty. When I had it at home I even tried the 2x4 underneath the tire and pried up on the tire and couldn't get anything to feel or appear loose. The passenger side has grease fittings on the ball joints which would indicate to me they've been replaced while the drivers side does not so I'd suspect they are original.

I just don't know what else to do at this point. Thoughts?

 

What condition are the tie rods in? Is the passenger side bent instead of straight?

 

the tie rods look ok. eyeballing them on the truck they appear straight.

 

the alignment shop shoul dhave noticed if any of the tierods or ball joints were worn so i wont touch on that , you also didnt say if you have a lift kit on the truck, but either way , have you checked to see if the front axle mounting locations that nothing is loose, i know on my 88 f150 lifted 4" when the lift kit mounting points on the front axle became loose even the vary smallest bit i had steering issues and the wobble of death even, that is when i hit a pothole or something the front axle would get violent and bounce around due to not a solid mount ,

 

From your description of how it's acting, maybe some big suspension part is "loose" and is moving to one way or the other depending on steering input.

I would carefully inspect both radius arm bushings, to see if one or both are in really bad shape or rubber missing. A shot radius arm bushing can cause the traction beam on that side to move forward/backward in an arc, with the pivot point as the axle pivot bushing.

Then I would check the axle pivot bushings for both of the traction beams. Looking at both the front face and the rear face of each bushing, the bolt should be roughly centered. If either end of either one is hard over to the bushing shell, or you can see a chunk of rubber missing or really torn up, they should be replaced. Bad bushings there could allow the inner end of the traction beam to move around. The only allowable motion there is supposed to be as a pivot, axle beam swinging up/down in an arc about that pivot bushing.

Update - rlw626 posted while I was typing. That's two of us thinking about movement!

Inspecting these bushings does not cost you any $$

 

Did you bleed all the air out of the system?

 

The guy at the alignment shop didn't seem like the most competent guy in the world but he tested them as did myself and my father and none of us were able to find anything loose in the tierod/ball joint area.

As for a lift kit it does not have an aftermarket one. Just the factory lift.

The bolts looked centered to me in the bushings... but they should right now because when I shut off the truck the steering was back to "neutral". I guess the best way to test this would be to drive it (preferably in a parking lot) and try to reenact the floating steering. Once it engages to one side I can then get out and see if any of the bolts look out of center in their bushings.

That all said I went out and took some pics of the radius arm and axle pivot bushings. As you know you can't really see all that much in the bushing except the outside. They all had some cracks in them but I didn't see any chunks of rubber missing.

A couple of notes regarding the pictures. The passenger side radius arm bushing could not be inspected from the back because it had a thin metal casing around the rubber part of the bushing. The drivers side did not have this. However, I would think they would all still be factory since there are still rivets in place that hold the brackets.

Also, as you'll see in the pictures the rubber lips on the axle pivot bushings have a little bit of a over stretched "cooked bacon" look. (If you've seen those Michael Jordan commercials when he's on the plane talking to the guy about his worn out collar and how it has a "bacon" look. That's what I mean.)

Anyway, not sure if the pics can help you that much but even seeing it in person you're not missing out on too much since there's limited visibility. Just click the link below and it'll take you to the album of pics I shot.

Truck Steering pictures by smashclash - Photobucket

Bleed air out of what system? The brakes? If so, yes, I used a mityvac.

 

Yup, axle pivot bushings are not easy to check. But if they were really bad, I would expect one or both to be off to a side, which they don't seem to be in the pics.

The piece of metal on the back of the passenger side radius arm bushing is a heat shield. Needed because the exhaust pipe runs close by the bushing.

Pics 9-10-11 of the driver's side radius arm bushing do not look good. Rubber looks really beat. And compare pic 11 of the front of the driver's side radius arm bushing, to pic 5 of the front of the passenger side. There is a gap between the metal cup and the rubber on pic 11, and the cup is tilted. It's tight and straight on pic 5.

I wonder if the bushing and cup are so shot on the driver's side, that the whole axle can move forward/backward with that amount of radius arm freeplay. That movement can probably only happen when it's driven, and there is enough force to move the whole axle mass. I don't think it's gonna move if you just grab it and push/pull on it

 

You mentined yuo replaced the steering box.... did you bleed it?

 

Good advice. I ordered these this afternoon:
Amazon.com: Energy Suspension 4.7109G Black Strut Arm Bushing: Automotive
Amazon.com: Energy Suspension 4.3133R Red Axle Pivot Bushing: Automotive

Did a little search on these and it looks like it's easiest to change them both at the same time. A post I read said it was as simple as this procedure (I assume you do one side at a time):
-Raise vehicle and put jack stands underneath frame
-Remove wheel
-Remove radius arm nut
-Remove axle pivot bolt
-Remove upper coil spring clip
-Remove brake hose caliper
This will allow entire axle to fall allowing for easy access to remove axle pivot bushing and the ability to slide axle forward so the radius arm will slip out of the bracket.

Now I have the factory shop manual and haynes manual and neither say to do it using this procedure. But I looked over the truck and it seems reasonable. Perhaps you'd have to disconnect the shocks as well but maybe not?
Yes I bled the steering box. Had the truck in the air, pulled the coil wire, and cranked the engine while turning the wheels to the extremes back and forth. Weird thing is while doing this it threw 2 belts. (Remember my truck is an 86 and doesn't have a serpentine belt). After priming the box I went back under the hood and found the belt connecting the crank to the alternator and the alternator to the a/c were broken. Weird...

 

Quote:
Originally Posted by XCHEVY
You mentined yuo replaced the steering box.... did you bleed it?

Yes I bled the steering box. Had the truck in the air, pulled the coil wire, and cranked the engine while turning the wheels to the extremes back and forth. Weird thing is while doing this it threw 2 belts. (Remember my truck is an 86 and doesn't have a serpentine belt). After priming the box I went back under the hood and found the belt connecting the crank to the alternator and the alternator to the a/c were broken. Weird...


Steering pump problem.....?

 

From just a logical standpoint it doesn't make sense to me that it would be the steering pump. It seems to me for something to slide around in the front and only happen on stiff turns it would have to be something like bushings or in the linkage. I'm going to attempt the bushings next since they are fairly inexpensive and I couldn't find anything in the linkage. That's not to say my linkage isn't screwed up, but if is it's bad in a way that a lot of force must force it out of whack.