Tires only have 1500 miles on them and when the aligment was done they double checked the balance too. And, in fact one of the weights had fallen off from the when the tires were purchased. Wasnt enought to make a difference though. Thanks for all the help here, I appreciate all the responses. I see some posts t that talk about "max caster" . Does anyone know what that is? Is it 4.5 or 5 degrees?

 

Just throwing this out there too. The new tires that were put on by the previous owner the week before I bought the truck are a "p" series tire. I was told that I should have a "d" series on there. Would the softer sidewalls on the"p" series cause any of the problems?

 

Max caster is whatever adjustment your particular truck will allow. You adjust so the lower control arms are pulled all the way to the rear.

About "P" vs. "D" rating ... I think whoever you were talking to was confusing P-metric construction and the tire's load range. Tires for our trucks are either P-metric or LT. The load range is "C" or "D" or whatever ... read here: http://www.moderntiredealer.com/t_in...t&storyID=1162

 

The only things that I have seen is the incorrect trac bar installed, or the hole for the bushing side of the trac bar was worn into an oval shape, allowing the front axle to move side to side with steering input. There are two different size ball ends to the bar. The nut will tighten up on the smaller one but allow play. Did you check for front end play while someone was moving the steering wheel back and forth yet? JUst a guess.

 

Yes, I just spent half the afternoon under the truck looking at stuff. Everything looks tight with no slop, including the track bar. The upper and lower ball joints on both sides along with the track bar were replaced 2 weeks ago.

Question: With the front wheels off the ground and the engine running, should the steering center itself after turning it from one side or another. Mine will not. If you turn all the way to the right, it stays there if you let go of the wheel. This is with no wieght on the front wheels. So, does the caster in the fron axle cause the wheels to center or should the steering box be self-centering? The only thing undert the front end that has not been replaced is the "center-link" or "drag link". It appears to be fine tough, no movement when the wheel is turned side-to side. I'm assuming that this is a one-piece design and the ball joints are not replaceable? The Steering box is a "rebuilt" unit that appears to be new. The previous owner said he replaced it a couple months ago. So I'm hoping that its OK. At this point there isnt much left to suspect.

 

Is there a chance that there is caliper hanging up.

 

caster does create return ablitly p metric tires are tires that are on cars and lts are what bigger trucks have did u check for play in the shaft from the steering box to the steering wheel more caster should make the wheels return i cant see really anything eles that would cause it to do that

 

I tried adjusting the steering box, about 1/8 of a turn in. This seemed to make the problem worse. Even harder to keep tracking staight. It does not seem like a "slop" problem, but more of a binding or mis0aligment problem. The only questionable ball joints are in the center link, and I'm not detecting much movement at all there. How much is too much? I'm guessing that any movement is too much. It does seem, however, that if I hold the center link with both hands and try to rotate it in the ball joints, that it will not move. It almost seems like its too stiff. The shaft coming off the pitman arm and going doen to the centerlink can be rotated slighty and seems to be a lot more free. Could this be a problem?

 

Again ... try adjusting the steering box OUT ... it sounds like it's too tight. You made it tighter. Undo the 1/8th turn and then go another 1/8th. See if that helps.

 

Sorry, TMS BILL, I guess I didnt mention that I moved it each direction and drove it afterwards. Loosening only added slop. Tightening made the truck seem "darty".