[bails]

i have just finished a OME 2" leaf in. looking good . but went for a drive and the steering is out about 90 degrees. when driving i gotta have the steering 90 degrees to the left if not it starts to go right.

it has got me puzzled. as the only thing i can think that would make this happen is if i havnt aligned the spring lugs to the axle holes. and i have check them and are all good.

so im out of ideas of what the problem is. any ideas would be great.

[morpheus]

my sierra did that with just a shackle extension...

[bails]

oh yer i forgot i wack in extended shakles at the same time. so you reckon the shakles are the problem? how did you fix it?

[lump_a_charcoal]

Higher springs have probably changed your steering geometry. The bar (draglink) from the steering box/pitman arm down to the tierod (the one between the wheels) now is effectively shorter.

[shep]

just pull the stearing wheel off and put it back on in the right spot.
it is because using shackles changes the stearing geometry.

[morpheus]

yeah just change the steering wheel. everything is still working right.

[bails]

cheers that makes sense. an easy fix.

[kenn]

It's probably better to adjust the drag link out until the steering wheel is in the wright spot,make sure the front wheels are straight when you start ..

[2stroker]

"It's probably better to adjust the drag link out until the steering wheel is in the wright spot,make sure the front wheels are straight when you start .. "


Drag link is not adjustable.....

[lump_a_charcoal]

I adjusted mine on a rock once...

[MART]

Hey mate , you will need to take the pitman arm off and move it one spline , due to raising the suspension the drag link needs to be longer to compensate for this , if you leave it where it is you will not get the same steering lock each way , could be a pain for tight cornering , easiest way is to lock the steering wheel in the correct position , then remove the pitman arm , straighten the wheels , then put the pitman arm back on , you might need a pitman arm puller to remove it as they are very hard to remove due to the tapered spline , or have a custom drag link made , they arn't that expensive , Cheers Paul.

[Damo]

I've just been reading this thread and having a little think about this.

In my mind it seems the draglink needs to be longer because of the overall lift height of the suspension, not because he used extended shackles.

SO those of us with ANY lift should be looking at this?

[shep]

i am having a go at fixing the steering on my sierra at the moment, or
at least when the stuff turns up i will.
my plan is 3deg caster wedges, new draglink and a drop pitman arm.
i don't know if the pitman arm will work as i have moved my diff a fair bit
but if it does fit i should be back to near standard geometry.
i am hoping it will anyway

[Damo]

shep wrote:

i am having a go at fixing the steering on my sierra at the moment, or
at least when the stuff turns up i will.
my plan is 3deg caster wedges, new draglink and a drop pitman arm.
i don't know if the pitman arm will work as i have moved my diff a fair bit
but if it does fit i should be back to near standard geometry.
i am hoping it will anyway

Sounds interesting Shep. What symptoms are you hoping to fix btw?

[shep]

slow as fuck steering, tram lining and a stuffed drag link.
my drag link is stuffed from rubbing on the tie rod however it has steered like a boat since i put ext shackles on. the drop pitman should
put the drag link closer to where it should be however as i have moved my diff forward the pitman may hit the drag link. i am just going to give it a try and see what happens.
if it doesn't work i think i might go spring over and hi-steer

[Rockhopper]

MART wrote:

Hey mate , you will need to take the pitman arm off and move it one spline , due to raising the suspension the drag link needs to be longer to compensate for this , if you leave it where it is you will not get the same steering lock each way , could be a pain for tight cornering , easiest way is to lock the steering wheel in the correct position , then remove the pitman arm , straighten the wheels , then put the pitman arm back on , you might need a pitman arm puller to remove it as they are very hard to remove due to the tapered spline , or have a custom drag link made , they arn't that expensive , Cheers Paul.

I think you may have just answered a question I had posted in another thread. With 2" suspension lift and standard shackles, I just straightened the steering wheel up. Ever since the suspension lift with 31 x 10.5's and 15x8 wheels with -24 offset, the tyres rub slightly on full lock to the left, but not on full lock to the right. I'll try and source a pitman arm puller from somewhere and try this when I have a spare hour and see if this fixes the prob.
Sorry to hijack the thread, but whilst on suspensions, I read somewhere the other day that the military wrap side of the spring should be on the fixed side of the spring mount and not on the shackle side. Is this true?? If so, I better spin my front springs around.

[lump_a_charcoal]

If you go hi steer with a spring over you will need to lose the dropped pitman arm - I have one installed, which is why I can't move my diff forwards.
Have you bought a pitman arm yet?

[bails]

cheers for the replies. answers my questions. i am ganna get under it today and tryy and sort it out.

[shep]

lump_a_charcoal wrote:

If you go hi steer with a spring over you will need to lose the dropped pitman arm - I have one installed, which is why I can't move my diff forwards.
Have you bought a pitman arm yet?

yep i have had a drop pitman for a while but it is apparently suited to a moved diff. soon be able to tell when i stick it on.
my diff is a lot forward and i dont really want to move it.

[lump_a_charcoal]

With my OTT steering, the dropped pitman arm is about 20mm from the tierod, with the diff in the stock position. I will be replacing it with a standard pitman arm so I can move the diff forwards eventually.

What does a pitman arm puller look like?

[steak_knife]

Longer shackles puts the caster out, you need to rotate the diff so it sits at the same level as it did standard, I found this out when fitted 2in to a nt & had to fight with the wheel to keep it straight.

[beef13]

wow my steering wheel does this without any modifications!
the springs are almost inverted tho... sorta like rainbows

[royce]

shackles make steering wonky cause they are longer so lever sideways more
drop pitman arms are longer and bash steering arms

I thought all pitman arms were indexed so they only go on in one spot

Vitars dont have these problems

[Munster]

Like one of these.

[bails]

hi all still havint fix my steering yet. but have been thinking about this problem and how to fix it.

correct me if i am worng but pulling the pitman arm off and moving it would do the exactly the same as pulling off the steering wheel and correcting it?

and by doing this would only make the steering wheel straight. it wont fix the steering lock it will still be limited to one side.

a dropped pitman arm is the only way to correct the steering lock?

is this correct? i cant think of any other ways this can work.

[alex]

bails wrote:

hi all still havint fix my steering yet. but have been thinking about this problem and how to fix it.

correct me if i am worng but pulling the pitman arm off and moving it would do the exactly the same as pulling off the steering wheel and correcting it?

and by doing this would only make the steering wheel straight. it wont fix the steering lock it will still be limited to one side.

a dropped pitman arm is the only way to correct the steering lock?

is this correct? i cant think of any other ways this can work.

The further your steering box is lifted away from the diff the more your steering wheel will turn their for your steering wheel is out.
So you will need a wheel alignment. Take it to a tyre place that does wheel alignment and get them to do it.
Your steering box/pitment arm will turn when you raise it their fore you can turn more one way than the other. So by taking the pitment arm off and turning the box till in the center and refiting the pitment should fix it.
Extended shackels will result in your diff rotating so you will need carster wedges.

[alex]

shep wrote:

lump_a_charcoal wrote:

If you go hi steer with a spring over you will need to lose the dropped pitman arm - I have one installed, which is why I can't move my diff forwards.
Have you bought a pitman arm yet?

yep i have had a drop pitman for a while but it is apparently suited to a moved diff. soon be able to tell when i stick it on.
my diff is a lot forward and i dont really want to move it.

i have moved my diff forward 20mm and i have a 3" drop pitment arm and it just misses

[Hybrid]

shep wrote:

i am having a go at fixing the steering on my sierra at the moment, or
at least when the stuff turns up i will.
my plan is 3deg caster wedges, new draglink and a drop pitman arm.
i don't know if the pitman arm will work as i have moved my diff a fair bit
but if it does fit i should be back to near standard geometry.
i am hoping it will anyway

I've done the caster wedges and the dropped pitman and it was the best thing I've done for on road stability for my zook. When I put it on with my diff forward it looked like it was going to clear but when flexed rapidly (on the sand at fraser) it "shortened" my tie rod. I then "lengthened" it again with the jack so I could get home. To get around this I rotated my steering box clockwise which brought the end of the pitman forward enough to clear.

I suggest everyone even with a stock sierra run caster wedges. It pretty much cancelled out the wandering and the steering actually returns to centre like a real car lol. And to the ney sayers no it doesn't wear my tyres rapidly or make the steering to heavy.

[bails]

so if i was ganna go with the caster wedges where would i to get these?

[shep]

bails wrote:

so if i was ganna go with the caster wedges where would i to get these?

i just got some from BBM but only because i got some other stuff from them. L&S springs have them for $50 a pair.