ASTAR

Ok, so I had my truck driving absolutly awful. It was so bad and I didn't even realize it till I drove my dad's Duramax after having a lift kit put on it for him. I got back in mine and about crashed it!
Ok, so the list of mods I did are...

1. Replaced "Y" style steering with "T" style steering, all MOOG parts. Stock steering had about 75k on it.

2. Replaced track bar with MOOG trackbar at about 60k.

3. Installed Marv's Steering Stabilizer Bracket. (was easy and definately made a difference, drilled out the holes to the proper bolt size, NO PROBLEM!)

4. Installed a Rancho steering stablilizer shock.

5. Had it aligned by a somewhat reputable shop.

Ok, so here is where I got frustrated. The steering still felt bad. It didn't track well at all and the steering had no "self centering" so I was constantly correcting to keep it staright down the road. The alignment shop did'nt know what the problem is but I had a pretty good idea. They had maxed out the caster adjustment and I still had the caster in red. The reason for that is I had 7.5" of lift with control arms to accomodate 5.5" of lift, making the lower control arms too short.

6. Built a custom Long Arm Kit using factory style bushings and Super Flex Joints.

7. Re-adjusted the caster.

Truck drives INCREDIBLE!!!!
I am sooo happy with it I can't even describe how happy I am! It literally drives like brand new. It is sitting on 7.5" of lift and I towed my Jeep (7k with trailer) to NV at some pretty high speeds in NV and it has never felt so stable! I unhooked the trailer and drove down hwy 80 and just cruised along doing 100mph and it felt like about 70. I let go of the steering wheel for about 10 seconds and it tracked perfect!

I am posting this cause when I was frustrated about how my truck drove, I couldn't find hope here but I refused to give up. I have WAY too much into this truck to give up.
There is hope guys, do what I did and you WILL be happy!
I'll post pictures later today!

Smoke on!

Mcmopar

Can you please explain number "1" and "6" from above??

cmckinney

Hey man that's great to hear. I know these trucks can have some sloppy steering so it's good to see you got yours fixed.

-CM

Cowhand

How much did it cost you to do all of that?

HOHN

I'm glad to see that you fixed whatever it is you goofed up when you put on the lift. It took me a while to get the kinks out, too, and all I did was D25s!

jlh

ASTAR

1. 99 trucks have the tie rod run from one knuckle to the other with the drag link running from the steering box into the tie rod. Mine (2001.5) had the drag link run from the steering box to the pass side knuckle and then the tie rod went from the drag link to the driver side knuckle.

6. Long arm kit
The lift made my lower control arm too short for enough caster adjustment and also the link was way too steep so when i hit bumps, it was a jolt. Now the lower control arm is a lot longer (so is the upper) and the angle is nice and the adjustment was set to have more caster in the front end.

ASTAR

Almost 700 not including the long arms but keep in mind that most of it was routine stuff to be replaced and are considered "wear items" anyways (all the MOOG parts and the rancho part).
Alot cheaper than selling the truck cause I hated driving it

ASTAR

Here is the Long Arm Kit

Mcmopar

Where did you get the long arm kit?

ASTAR

I built it. I plan to start producing it after I have beat on it for a while to make sure there are no kinks I made it fully bolt on and fool-proof.

ds1rider

Now thats a good looking truck. Nice Job!

ASTAR

Thanks

Cowhand

LCA frame mounts need to be bigger....I'll see if I can find the pics of the DT radius arm mounts I put on. (4) 1/2" bolts on the outboard side, (3) 3/8" into the bottom of the frame rails, and (2) 1/2" bolts into the tranny crossmember.

That might be a little more beef than you need for just picking up the LCA's, but that is where most of the road force is transmitted to the frame.

I really like how you used the RE joints on one end and bushings at the other...that'll cut vibration way down. IIRC, you used rubber bushings on the frame end? I would suggest a nylon/poly hybrid bushing on that end and maybe a delrin bushing in the RE joint....