woodscavenger Posted July 27, 2009 Report Share Posted July 27, 2009 I have a 50B1B with olddaddy discs up front, new shocks and new springs. I have a T5 tranny and 3.5 rear. Drives well in town. I do get some bump steer on potholes ( I have about 3" of slop in the steering wheel). I took it on the highway and as I hit 50mph started to get really loose in the front and felt very unsafe. The engine had tons more to give but the steering scared me. I think my king pins are good. My question is, if I invest in a rebuilt box or do the rebuild myself do you think I can make this truck a highway safe machine? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles Furman Posted July 27, 2009 Report Share Posted July 27, 2009 I can't give you an answer, but I can add to your question. Can anyone tell me/us where to get a good quality rebuilt Pilothouse steering box? Either to buy one or have mine rebuilt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billwillard Posted July 27, 2009 Report Share Posted July 27, 2009 The first thing to do is get under your truck and see whats wrong. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reg Evans Posted July 27, 2009 Report Share Posted July 27, 2009 Do you have radials ? Have you adjusted the worm gear in the steering box ? I've never done this personally but there are some shims you can remove in the steering box too to remove a lot of the play. I drive mine with the stock front end on the freeway at 65 and 70. My king pins are good too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woodscavenger Posted July 27, 2009 Author Report Share Posted July 27, 2009 I have radials. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanOlson Posted July 27, 2009 Report Share Posted July 27, 2009 How timely. I too have questioned the condition of my front end on the 53. At 55-60 I start getting a squirmy feeling which is unsettling. I'm still running bias ply tires for a little bit longer and looking forward to see if radials make a difference. BTW: Do you know what the donor was for your T5? Dan Olson Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TJ Fire247 Posted July 27, 2009 Report Share Posted July 27, 2009 I had a 1940 truck that had the bias tires and it would hardly stay on the road. I checked all front end parts, which were fine. I switched to radial tires and this made all the difference. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merle Coggins Posted July 27, 2009 Report Share Posted July 27, 2009 My stock front end, with radial tires, tracks good at highway speeds. I've had it up to 75 MPH and it'll go right on down the road. I do have some play in my steering box which causes me to be constantly correcting one way or the other, but it only creates a problems if I hit a sharp bump. At that point I believe the tires loose contact with the road briefly allowing them to play with the extra slack. Once back on the tarmac they find their track again and all is well. It's never enough to bother me unless I'm going through a curve on the expressway with vehicles on either side. Then it gets a little scary, although it's never got out of hand to the point of leaving the lane. I plan to look into adjusting the steering gear this off season. Merle by the way... improper toe adjustments can cause a wandering steering. Especially if it's toed out some. That would be a good place to start. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PatS.... Posted July 27, 2009 Report Share Posted July 27, 2009 I have a 50B1B with olddaddy disc's up front, new shocks and new springs. I have a T5 tranny and 3.5 rear. Drives well in town. I do get some bump steer on potholes ( I have about 3" of slop in the steering wheel). I took it on the highway and as I hit 50mph started to get really loose in the front and felt very unsafe. The engine had tons more to give but the steering scared me. I think my king pins are good. My question is, if I invest in a rebuilt box or do the rebuild myself do you think I can make this truck a highway safe machine? I would be checking to make sure the kingpins are good, as well as the tie rod ends, both of which, if worn, will do as you describe. If they are bad a new box will solve nothing. Yes, the truck can be made highway safe. Kingpins are not expensive, nor are tie rod ends. The box can be adjusted easily. On my instructions with Charlies kit, he specifically and emphatically advises to rebuild the front end before installing the new discs...great advice which I followed on mine. I also adjusted my steering box. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dodgeb4ya Posted July 27, 2009 Report Share Posted July 27, 2009 No one has mentioned a front end alignment after checking and replacing all worn front end parts. Rear axle needs to be checked that it is centered over the dowel pins too... Adding positive caster -top of king pin (slants to rear of the truck) will cause the truck not to wander as much as a straight up or leaning forward on a front I-beam axle. Steering gear must not worn out and properly adjusted at center. Drag links on these trucks are an issue also-kinda hard to find as is the steering gear box. Weak front leaf springs can let the front I-beam twist and change caster angle so much as to cause scary steering! Look for bad leaf springs. A good a really good alignment person who understands the old stuff-king pin inclination-checking I beam for being bent twisted ect. is a must. A alignment tech who will actually drive the truck with the customer and will see/feel the steering issues is absolutely necessary! These trucks will never drive like the current cars we drive today but they should be able to be driven without the "White Knuckles" ! Bob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dennis_MN Posted July 28, 2009 Report Share Posted July 28, 2009 After installing the Disk Brake kit, there is about 1/2 difference because of the thickness of the adapter plates. After I installed the kit, I made a 1/2 change in the steering adjustment. I've never had it in for an allignment and I don't run it more than 55, but she goes down the road just fine. I also have Radials on it. It will get a test on Aug 8 when I head for Waulkesha for the car show. Dennis Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woodscavenger Posted July 28, 2009 Author Report Share Posted July 28, 2009 Who is the best source for the front end stuff such and kingpins, tie rods, etc? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olddaddy Posted July 28, 2009 Report Share Posted July 28, 2009 OK, my front end speech at no charge. There are four things that contribute to a loose feel or wandering in your steering. 1. Drag link, 2. tie rod ends, 3. king pins, and 4. steering box. You should replace or rebuild them all on any truck that is used above 45 mph or on any road other than a slow two lane country road. 1. Drag link you probably need to find an nos one, or if you are handy weld one up that would take a tie rod end. Mid-Canada Suspension is a good source, Moog, Napa, but you will have to go by dimension probably not application. 2. Tie rods ends are the easiest one to do. The same tie rod on your pilothouse was used up into the 70s on Dodge trucks, easy to find. 3. King pins, you can buy a kit, or just new bushings. The bushings can be bought by dimension. They should be pressed in and reamed by a machine shop unless you are very handy and have the proper sized reamer. I got the last kit I bought from NAPA. Any bearing house will have the bushings. 4. Steering box, you can adjust, and you can replace some parts. However, if the worm is worn your new parts won't do much good. I have all my steering boxes rebuilt by Harry's Steering Gear, 586-668-8855, ask for Sam. They have new worms for some, but not all steering boxes. Finally, when you install the disc kits I sell you HAVE to reset the toe-in. The caliper brackets are 3/8" making your tie rods too long by a total of 3/4" overall. Once you adjust this thickness back out of the toe-in your truck should steer and drive fine assuming it was aligned properly to begin with. The best time to do all of this is when you install one of my disc brake kits. Times are tough all over, but if you can spare the money I could use the business. Charlie. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grey beard Posted August 5, 2009 Report Share Posted August 5, 2009 If anyone needs front end parts, I have a spare tie rod assembly and a spare drag link. Both have good ends, as far as I can tell, just feeling them out of the vehicle. Yours for picking up or the shipping costs. It is my belief that most Pilothouse front end problems - other than the obvious worn steering parts - are caused by steering boxes that are off-center. There is no adjustment for this situation, unless you bend the drag link, which is hardly an industry-acceptable repair. If your steering box is not centered when you go down the road in a straight line, you will have steering problems. Period. This is easy to check, but unless you have a pretty good understanding of the issues involved, I'd suggest you have an alignment tech help you out, as outlined earlier in this thread by others. Good Luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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