New Member Intro & Question

[patbaker]

Hi,

New member who has almost nothing to offer in the way of mechanical knowledge. We live on what's left of family farm in suburban Tulsa. I am going to use it for a farm truck just for knocking about & maybe a little advertising of the orchard/vineyard. In "real life" I'm a marital and family therapist.

 

I recently got a 1950 B2b pilothouse because I thought it would be cheaper and more moral than having an affair. Maybe more moral, but cheaper??? The truck I bought was partially re-done in the early 2000's. There are several photos on the Dodge Pilothouse Photo page, the bright orange 1950 half ton. I removed the modified "ram" front end and put the chrome trim back.

 

The steering is terrible, scary really. I almost wet my pants driving it home.  Have replaced new bushings on leaf springs new shocks all around.  I'm wondering about parts availiability for steering/front end. I need a tie rod, mine is bent. Mechanic is afraid to send it off to try to straighten, might break. Haven't looked at steering box yet.

 

The wheels and tires are much wider than stock. Could this be causing part of the steering problems? Should I put the original size wheels & tires?

 

Thanks   Pat Baker

 

 

[Scruffy49]

I wouldn't go much over a 215 width front tire on the stock suspension. Rear a 235 should be fine but messes with your speedometer calibration.

 

I thought mine had major component damage, turns out that one rod should be straight, one bent.

 

Steering boxes on Dodge trucks from the 40s through the early 70s tend to leak. I refilled both of mine with white lithium boat railer bearing grease and have had zero issues with the boxes since. Including towing cross country with my 69 D100 in early 2011. If the steering is truly horrible (and these trucks do wander a bit on wide radials or old bias ply tires) check your kingpins.

 

Wheels from a 70s Dodge 1/2 ton work great, my 49 has a set of 15" pop top Ramcharger 4x4 wheels as well as its original 16s getting bias ply (4 ply) wide white walls.

 

Welcome to the site. It really is THE place for older Mopars.

[Dan Babb]

One of my rods was bent.  Brought it to a friend's house and used his press to straighten it....it was really simple and made a big difference.

 

Once that was done, I brought it in for an alignment to set the toe.  Made a huge difference.

 

There is a nut on the steering box that can adjust it a bit...I think it presses on the worm gear inside.  Do a search to see if you can find info.  If the wheels have too much wobble, then kingpins could be worn (as mentioned above), so check that out too.

 

Don't know about parts interchange...I wish there was a power steering box that would drop right in...would be nice to have that as an upgrade.

[1952B3b23]

Hi and welcome this place will be one of the best tools in your box! If you cant fix your tie rod and need to buy a new one i think they are available from NAPA autoparts (at least thats what the site says). I just looked it up and for my '52 1/2 ton they want $174 without the tie rod ends. Like others said before me check the king pins and if you need new ones NAPA should have those too. The links ive listed below are vendors for parts for these types of trucks, you may find them useful.

 

http://www.robertsmotorparts.com/index.html

 

http://www.vintagepowerwagons.com/

 

-Chris

[Merle Coggins]

Yes, the tie rod that connects the two spindles should be straight, and can be straightened quite easy if it gets bent. (I just had to do this to mine as I mistakenly caught it with the floor jack when jacking up the truck  ) If it is bent considerably it will cause a toe-out condition which will make for a very squirlly drive, as the front tires are fighting each other for control. It'll want to dart from side to side and you will be constantly correcting. New tie rod ends are readily available through your favorite parts house.

 

The "drag link" that runs from the steering gear, on the left side, over to the right side spindle should have a bend it it. This bend helps it to clear the springs as it moves back and forth. A bend in this link will only cause the steering wheel to be out of center when the wheels are centered. Or if bent serverly, could cause you to not be able to steer fully in one direction. I have seen replacement drag links listed on napaonline if you need one.

 

Merle

[TheMoose]

Just checked the drag link on my 51 parts truck, it has a slight kink in the pass side  but doesn't look to bad, steering box looks to be locked up though.

Welcome to the site, sounds like I'm not too far from you, I live in Broken Arrow.

[patbaker]

Thanks all, some really great ideas to follow through with!

[JBNeal]

here's a li'l anecdote about steering

Edited August 11, 2013 by JBNeal

[pflaming]

I came to this forum with no mechanical knowledge as well. By asking questions, writing down answers and suggestions provided and FOLLOWING them I have completely repaired my truck. My wife drives a 2008 Honda Accord, great car, and our other car is a '95 Chrysler Cirrus with 200,000 miles. Both are very good driving cars but no better than my '52 Dodge pickup. It goes straight down the road and steers effortlessly.

TIP: When you have a pressing question, check if someone is on CHAT, enter, and ask your question. You can then banter back and forth and find not only the solution but great tips on how to do the work.

Welcome, while the Forum may become a mistress,it will not harm you morally; finanacially, well that is another story.

ps: there are acouple of 'personalities' in the membership, but they are harmless and VERY helpful.

[patbaker]

Thanks again!!!

Sounds like a friendly, helpful group.

I'll try to follow all the good advice.

 

PS, My mechanic sent the tie rod to see if it could be straightened in some kind of machine shop press, and Presto!

The guy fixing it said it looked like it had been towed with a chain and that caused the bend.

Thanks for the help once again!

[ggdad1951]

welcome!  Post pictures we like pictures! 

[1952B3b23]

welcome!  Post pictures we like pictures! 

Yes we do! My favorite kind of books are picture books lol