Steering issue

[jabos]

The front drivers side tire is going straight and the passenger side looks like it is starting to turn right. Is there an adjustment that could straighten that out?

[idbeast]

Look for worn out parts, either your Idler arm or your tie rod ends. You Just described a Toe-out issue.

[1958Warrior]

I give up , is it red???
What is it???

[jabos]

It is a 1951 Chevrolet 3600.

[dsraven]

is it a stock front end? modified at all?
if stock you should start a t one end of the steering and go right through everything till you get to the other end. by that I mean start at the:

-steering wheel-upper and lower bearings on the steering column shaft

-work your way through the steering box- first check if there is oil in it, then check if there are signs of leakage which can tell you there is either a seal going out or the bushing/bearing is loose enough to allow the shaft to move so it leaks. then check for worn out input shaft (hard to check this because the input shaft if covered in the column tube) and output (pitman) shaft for play. then check the backlash of the gears by turning the steering "play" and watching how much the steering wheel turns before there is a movement in the pitman shaft. there is an adjustment set up in the top of the box for this but be careful with it because it can fool you. the gears may have worn themselves into a groove and when you adjust them they are in a different relationship with each other and may feel tight now because they are up on the unworn section of gear face. since the contact pattern is now much smaller than before you will notice the backlash gets loose again in short order. it is because the gears have worn out the small high spot they were contacting and have found a new happy spot. anyway, if the box is good (or not) check the drag link for bends and loose ends. then move down to the tie rod ends and connecting tube, look for bends in that which can cause the wheels to either toe in or toe out depending on the steering set up. what happens is the tube gets bent so it effectively makes the distance between the two ends shorter so, if the tube is behind the axle the shorter distance between the tie rods would make the wheels toe out, if it is in front of the tires and got bent then the wheels would be toes in with a shorter connecting tube.
-next jack up the axle and block the truck with stands so the front wheels are allowed to hang freely with no weight on them, check the king pins for wear by grabbing a bar and putting the end of the bar just under the tire. now lift up and down while watching the kingpins. this checks the thrust bearing between the axle and the steering knuckle which takes the weight of the truck and loaded front end. next remove the bar and grab the tire with your hands at 12 and 6 oclock positions. push in at the top while pulling out at the bottom to check for wear in the kingpin bushings. while it is up there you could grease the joints to check for a plugged grease zerk and also because the kingpins should be unloaded when lubing so grease gets to all the areas of the bushing. allow some grease to squeeze out past the bearing as well to ensure it is lubed. tun the wheels to make sure that lube gets all the way around the bearing. next check the spring pins and bushings for wear by ensuring there is no weight load on the spring and then use a bar to move the spring against the pin and bushing set while you watch for movement.

[jabos]

Thanks, it is stock, so I will start checking and see if I can figure this thing out.

[dsraven]

start by checking the tie rod tube. if it is bent the wheels will likely turn out because I think that tube is behind the wheels so when it shortens, by getting bent, the tires toe out. also check the bolt on part from the steering knuckle to the drag link. I think it is common for then to bend as well. if that is the case then the wheels will not be centered when the steering box is placed in the middle of it's travel zone from full left to full right turn. there is also an adjustable drag link available for these trucks but not sure if that covers anything bigger than a 1/2 ton.
make sense?
still, check all the rest of the front end because if the tube got bent the rest got stressed

[jabos]

It makes since, I will start checking your recommendations out. Thanks for all you help.

[Wrenchbender Ret]

Sometimes when a guy puts a jack under the axle he catches the tie rod & bends it. Or sometimes when a vehicle is towed the guy will get a J hook on the tie rod & bend it.
Like DS says, the tie rod is bent. They can be straightened by removing it & use a press.

[1958Warrior]

Not familiar with 1951s, but if it similar to straight axle on my 58 the P.O. had welded a piece of 3/4"x 3/4" angle to the tie rod to keep it from flexing/bending.

Clarance J had another solution in his build ,on page 12 , post #296
to slip a piece of tubing over the tie rod and tack it in place

http://www.67-72chevytrucks.com/vboa...567211&page=12

[Coupeguy2001]

Be sure to line up the left side first, as the right side follows the left with the tierod being the link to both wheels

[capnduane]

One of the first things I did when I got my truck 4 years ago was to replace the tie rod and tie rod ends with a heavy duty 1in kit from CPP. Then I set toe in to 3/16 in, and my front tires wear nice and even. My original tie rod looked like a snake!

[jabos]

I will check into that capnduane. The left side seems to be straight, I think the guy I bought the truck from pulled the truck sideways to get it away from trees that were growing around it and I think he may have bent the tie rods end on the passenger side.