55.2-59 56 Chevy truck TCI

[jeffs56]

Hey guys I need some help. I’m still working on my 56 Chevy truck which is almost done finally. We just installed a brand new TCI coilover kit in the front. The shop that’s doing it says the truck doesn’t turn as much to the left as it does to the right. That is odd to me, normally it’s the opposite. I personally haven’t driven the truck yet. He called TCI and they told him that’s normal. That doesn’t sound normal to me at all. Any suggestions? He was saying he thinks it might be the power steering rack extension? He said it’s 2 inches and he thinks it should be 1 inch and possibly TCI mounted the mounts in the wrong spot but he’s just guessing. Hope you guys can help soon. Thank you

[dsraven]

my suggestion, without seeing any pics (hint hint), would be to do what any wheel alignment shop would do when they start an alignment. put the truck at ride height with the wheels and tires of choice on the vehicle. center the rack gear (count the turns from lock to lock and then put it in the center of it's travel) and lock the steering wheel in that position. then adjust the front end to be within spec. that would include adjusting caster, camber, the steering stops that stop the turning at the end of it's travel on both sides, as well as the tie rods at some point to get the wheels pointing in the correct direction with the toe in/out spec. then, if it still turns further on way than the other, it would be due to some other problem. since the crossmember should be installed centered, the steering rack should be installed and set up so the inner tie rod flexion point is inline with the upper and lower control arm pivot points and the control arms should be the same length on each side, one would assume that a problem with turning one way more than the other would have been an issue with an improperly centered (number of turns side to side) steering rack. is there another reason, possibly a tire hitting the frame or something bolted/welded to the frame, tie rod ends at the end of their adjustment so the rack cannot be centered properly?

[jeffs56]

The truck was taken to the alignment shop already and they said everything is aligned very good 🤷*♂️

[mr48chev]

It shouldn't be a big deal unless you have to do a real tight to the steering lock turn in that direction on an all too regular basis. Once you drive it a bit you probably won't notice the difference.

[jeffs56]

I personally haven’t driven it. The shop that installed it has and he has installed several TCI suspension’s on different vehicles and has never ran into this issue. He said it’s definitely noticeable. Normally you can turn more to the left compared to the right. But he said it turns better to the right

[dsraven]

here is something to try by yourself that will take only a couple of seconds. if you don'y wanna do a dry turn, like turning the steering without the truck moving, then simply jack the front wheels off the ground. use wheel blocks so it can't roll away off the jack or, more safely, use jack stands to settle the truck down on so the wheels are off the ground out front.
now, simply start it up and turn the wheel from all the way right over to all the left which is what is called lock to lock. counting the number of turns this takes simply turn it all the way to the lock in one direction and then turn it back the other way half the number of turns it took to go lock to lock. while holding the steering wheel in this position turn the key off. ensure the steering wheel stays in that position while you get out and look at where the front wheels are pointing. they should be straight ahead. if not return to your wheel alignment shop and ask them to do the same thing. also ask why the steering is not centered, maybe they have an answer,maybe they simply opt to redo the alignment citing some reason or another. also, just a heads up, with the steering centered your steering wheel should also be centered. if it is not correct I would be looking for a better quality alignment shop for athe next time you need one. a lot of shops, like parts places, need to have a vehicle make model and submodel in order to dfo an alignment. without this they are lost. it is harder to find a shop that can fly by the seat of their pants these days. if you have the specs handy they may find it easier to set it up.

[jeffs56]

I was able to talk to TCI and he told me that the rack n pinion isn’t measured correctly like you’re talking about. I guess there’s a certain way your supposed to adjust it and I don’t think the guy doing it understands that process

[Stepside Jim]

Just for the sake of conversation... is the steering column original and converted to accept a D shaft or an aftermarket or out of a later model vehicle?

[dsraven]

if you look at the rack and tie rods, with the truck at ride height and wheels pointing straight ahead, the inner tie rod pivot points should be within an imaginary line drawn between the upper and lower control arm inner pivot points, within reason. the lower control arms should be relatively level as well. if the tie rod pivots don't match up relatively close to the control arm pivots then you will experience bump steer because they won't travel in the same arc as the control arms so they effectively get longer or shorter compared to the outer end of the tie rod as the wheel moves up and down.
possibly TCI could come up with the specs to adjust the steering on your model. also, if you sent them a few pics, they could possibly tell you if there is an assembly error.

[jeffs56]

It is the original column that was cut and using the d joint

[Stepside Jim]

Ok, something to consider with using an original column, . Obviously if you center the wheels and you center the rack and pinion by counting the full amount of turns left to right and centering the rack and pinion input shaft to half that amount, the turns should be equal side to side.

One thing I have to mention is centering/clocking the steering column, 1) for the steering wheel to be clocked to center once the rack is all centered. 2) the steering column is clocked so the turn signal is proper to turn off correctly and the steering wheel will be proper centered.

My situations may be different but, I've converted other trucks from original to D shaft. In these cases I had a sleeve to weld to the original steering column shaft, this sleeve turned the column into a D shaft usable unit.

The sleeve I welded on could be welded on anywhere any part of 360 degrees of the old column shaft. but if its not close to lining the D shaft with the rack splines, you're situation will occur.

I usually get the rack in place, center everything, center the steering column shaft to the turn signal and it's mounting angle in the truck, then tack weld the D shaft sleeve to the old steering column shaft, then install the steering column and u joints to see if once the column is in the truck and the steering wheel is in it's place, the shafts and joints fit without rotating the column or rack. If I have to rotate anything to fit the shafts and joints, that will cause the issue you are having. I'll then pull the column, reset the D shaft sleeve, tack weld, check again.

Sure there is a splined joint at the rack to adjust this situation, but you usually can rotate the joint a couple of splines til you're out of splines to rotate on and the set screw doesn't have a flat spot to set onto.

Good luck, Jim

[my56chevytruck]

Originally Posted by jeffs56

Hey guys I need some help. I’m still working on my 56 Chevy truck which is almost done finally. We just installed a brand new TCI coilover kit in the front. The shop that’s doing it says the truck doesn’t turn as much to the left as it does to the right. That is odd to me, normally it’s the opposite. I personally haven’t driven the truck yet. He called TCI and they told him that’s normal. That doesn’t sound normal to me at all. Any suggestions? He was saying he thinks it might be the power steering rack extension? He said it’s 2 inches and he thinks it should be 1 inch and possibly TCI mounted the mounts in the wrong spot but he’s just guessing. Hope you guys can help soon. Thank you

Hi Jeff, can you tell me how much less it is turning moreso or less than the other side? How are you measuring from side to side??

[jeffs56]

I asked the guy doing the work if it could’ve be the double D joint with the original steering column and he said no completely seperate issue 🤷*♂️

[Stepside Jim]

Hmm, interesting, as everyone else has mentioned, if the rack is centered full turn right and full turn left and counting the turns and the rack mounts are proper on the frame, all should be equal.

Did you say you have not seen the truck yet?

[jeffs56]

Here’s what I have

[jeffs56]

Another. I like the way it sits

[dsraven]

nice ride height and stance.
have you checked the lock to lock count and seen if the rack is centered that way regardles of whether or not the steering wheel is also centered at that spot?
when you look straight down from above or straight up from below, with the wheels straight ahead, do the tie rods go in a straight line from one side-through the rack-to the other side? sometimes the rack used doesn't mount up with the same spacers as the one the rack mounts on the crossmember were designed for so the rack is spaced too far forward or back from that straight across line from the outer tie rod connection at the spindle hole on each side. the tie rods and rack should be inline with the spindle mounting holes for the tie rods. you could run a string line from side to side for a quick check if a visible line of sight is awkward. theoretically the outer tie rods should also be the same length from the pivot points as well.
heidts used to have a tech section in their catalogue that had a write up called understanding independent from suspension. maybe if you contact their tech line they would be kind enough to send you a digital copy or link. good info in there. I have a copy on my desktop but am away from home currently. sorry.

[Stepside Jim]

Thanks for the pics. I see from your first post you mentioned 2 inches being the difference from side to side.

I'm looking at the second picture, there is no rack installed and engine is out. I see the passenger side rack mounting hole/holes. The picture doesn't show the driver side unfortunately.

The best I can tell it looks like there are two holes in the bracket, I'd be curious if there are two holes in the drivers side also, giving the chance to accidentally mount the rack off center to the frame with multiple mounting holes.

Although you mentioned 2 inches difference and the bolt holes are 1 inch apart in the rack mounting bracket, this one inch offset does equal 2 inches in final measurement since you add one inch to one side and take away 1 inch from the other side.

[jeffs56]

Well he text me yesterday and said that he had to adjust it a different way then what TCI was telling him. He said it’s good now 🤷*♂️. Not sure what he had to do. He told me the turning was 1 1/2 to the right and only one and some change to the left. But now it’s fixed. I’ll have to drive it and see for sure though. Thank you guys for the help

[dsraven]

good to hear he got it "good now" even though it still isn't quite right by the sounds of it. when you get it back it would be nice if you could snap some detailed pics of the steering so we can see your set up when it's all together and operational.

[jeffs56]

Yes I will for sure post some pics on here. It’s hard being 2 hours from it, so I don’t have many pics

[dsraven]

when you pick it up i suggest to go for a road test in it with the tech. make sure it is good before you shell out any payment.
-drives straight without having to herd it
-steering wheel is centered when truck is driving straight ahead
-doesnt follow every crack in the road
-you would feel comfortable looking out a side window for a second knowing the truck will still be in the correct lane when you look back forward
-no weird noises when driving or turning
-turns at low speeds without churning up the pavement or the tires
-turns roughly the same amount borth ways

[jeffs56]

Thank you for the suggestions. I will definitely be driving it before I pick it up. He’s driving it almost everyday now just to make sure there isn’t any issues. I also already have a guy where I live that’s going to look at it and put it up on the rack just to make sure

[jeffs56]

Hey guys little update on my suspension. Me and my 10 year old have been driving the truck to local hangouts and cruises. The turning issue is fixed. But I’m noticing a very rough ride. I have the TCI pro touring kit on it. The coils are set for the truck to sit as low as it can. So the only adjustment I have is to crank the nut on the coilovers but that would raise my truck up. I like the way it sits now so not sure how much it would lift it. Also I only have 2 inches of shaft outside of the shock body and when it’s jacked up it’s about 4-4.5 inches. TCI said that is fine. That doesn’t seem like very much travel to me. I have 500# springs which they said is very common for the 55-59. I have the knob on the shock all the way counterclockwise for the softest and it still rides hard. When you hit a bump you can definitely fill it. I have 245/45/17 tires on it. I called and talked to TCI and they said everything sounds fine. He told me to try unhooking the sway bar to see if that fixes it just in case it’s binding. Any suggestions on what I should check or do would be very appreciated. Thank you

[dsraven]

with the truck sitting on a flat level surface and no load in it, check to see if your lower control arms are level. suspension systems are made to have the lower control arms sittinf flat at ride height usually. since the upper control arm is usually a shorter length, and the two work together to keep the tire at the correct angle as the suspension travels through it's full swing from top to bottom, having the lower arm in a neutral position is usually the best.
disconnecting the stabilizer bar may help you diagnose the harsh ride but if you only have a little of the shock rod showing at ride height I would get the number off the shock body and google it for specs. you should be able to find a spec that tells the fully extended length and the fully compressed length of the shock. with that info in hand, and your previous dimension, you could kinda tell if the shock is possibly sitting at the halfway mark on it's travel or not.
another thing to check is the dimension from the suspension snubber to the related bump spot on the control arm, see if the snubber has been doing the suspension stopping at the fully compressed mark. some coilovers have this built in at the top of the shaft, like a rubber donut, so if the donut looks like it has seen a lot of use that would tell me the ride quality is possibly due to the truck being set up low and not really meant to do speed bumps or drive over bumpy roads. having a low vehicle can be a trade off of low versus ride quality. set it up low and put strong springs in it so it doesn't bottom all the time is one way it is done. I suppose you could install 400 springs for a softer ride but then it will bottom more often. do you think the suspension is bottoming on the snubbers causing the harsh ride or do you think it is sprung too heavy? one way to quickly tell is to wrap a SMALL cable tie on the shaft of the shock, right at the body of the shock, and take the truck around the block. recheck the cable tie to see how far up the shaft it has travelled when you get back. if it is against the snubber then A) your suspension is set up too low so not enough travel for regular driving, or B) the springs are actually too soft for the amount of travel you have built in to the system. if you find it is bottoming on the snubber but like the ride height you could inquire if there are springs that are wrapped a little tighter at one end. they are called progressive coils. they work like a regular coil for the main part but when the load compresses the loosely wrapped area of the spring, that does the work during normal suspension travel, then the only part of the spring left to react is the closely wrapped area which takes more force to compress. dunno if that would work if you have limited travel though.
anyway, just a few thoughts to ponder