raised up my truck now it steers bad

[tim mesic]

i have an 86 runner i bought with a sas already done and it steered fine , well i raised it up a little with some shackles in the front and built up the perch's total about 3 inches , now it steers terrible , i also put 35 inch krwalers on but i think the problem is steering not tires , i heard i need a to keep the drag link as straight as possible . the steering is all heim joints . a dropped pittman arm ? if so what one as the truck has an ifs box and heims ? tim

[Payne86]

I know that it is important to keep the axis of the knuckles at a certain angle? If the angle is to flat the tires want to lean to the side all the time. If the angle is to straight up and down it wants to wander with the road. I ran into this problem my self. Either cut and turn the spring purches to correct the angle, this can lead to bad pinion angle, and or cut and turn the knuckles. I hope this helps.

[Kaistie]

Yes, castor has an affect on drivability, but not so much driving straight. Sounds like you are experiencing bump steer from the angle increase of the draglink. The flater the draglink, the better off you are. Second; make sure all your hiems are in good condition. A sloppy hiem can cause death wobble. Make sure your shackle bolts are very tight, ubolts are snug, and steering arm studs are tight. Pictures would also help a lot. You can run a spacer under the passenger side arm to raise it up to help decrease the draglink angle. That may eliminate the bump steer. If steering is the only issue and the truck drives fine otherwise, then it is definitely the castor. You need to be running about 5 degrees of positive castor. You can try to shim the spring to start with, and if that doesn't fix the problem you may need to rotate the knuckles. Not sure how that is done on a toy axle though. Also, are you running a panhard bar? That might help as well if you are not.

[tim mesic]

here are some pics

[Joe Dirt]

could be as simple as a steering stabalizer eh

[howyadoin]

now it steers terrible

You probably need to be more specific to get good answers. Do you have death wobble at certain speeds, bump steer, vague steering, etc.? From the pics I can imagine you have some bump steer, but is that the only issue?

[Payne86]

I had to remove my stabilizer friday night to run LT on my SASed 86 w/ highsteer. And its my daily driver. And I still havn't put it back on as of today. Stabilizers are over rated.

[RadRyan(Fabwerx)]

stabilizers only mask the bad alignment job. you shouldnt need one if done right.

[Nater]

now it steers terrible

You probably need to be more specific to get good answers. Try to describe your symptoms a little more. Do you drive the truck on road or is it off road only? What is the driving situation and terrain when the problem is most noticable? Is it a lack of power assist?

When I first installed my high crossover I had limited turning one direction. I had to rotate the pitman arm one spline on the sector shaft to get equal turning.

[tim mesic]

the truck rocks back and forth like it has no shocks and starts to wander . if the road is smooth and no bumps or dips it seems ok . tim

[howyadoin]

the truck rocks back and forth like it has no shocks and starts to wander . if the road is smooth and no bumps or dips it seems ok . tim

Bump steer, fix your steering geometry. Drop pitman arm is the easiest way.

[Kaistie]

When your draglink is at an angle other than flat, you get much less steering leverage. Simply put, the tires can start to wander before you feel much in the steering wheel. It sometimes can feel like something is loose. As Mike said, drop pitman arm, and/or a spacer on the steering arm to raise the draglink. This should get it closer to flat and help resolve the problem.

[tim mesic]

how can i drop the pitman arm ? i have looked for a dropped one but dont see one . tim

[*ROKTOY*]

Check Sky they have several different ones. But from you pic's I don't see anything that should be a problem, mine looks the same way just don't have the hiem's.