1972RedNeck

1993 W250. Over the past couple months I have thoroughly checked/changed the following to ensure that they are like new:

King pins
King pin bushings
King pin bushing springs
TRE
Drag link
Steering box
Steering shaft
Tow-in (just shy of 1/8" with stock sized tires)

All of this fixed my death wobble, but it still doesn't drive as good as it should. While it drives fine, it doesn't "self steer" so I always have to keep correcting it back into centerline. I know it may never drive perfect, but my old W250 drove a fair bit better than this.

The only thing that I can think of is that my completely sagged out front springs could be throwing the caster off. Does this sound plausible? What is the caster spec (in degrees) for these trucks?

Any other ideas? I have extensively messed with the tow in and where I have it set seems to drive the best.

mknittle

sounds like caster or toe to me. I have had both do that.

NJTman

My truck did the same thing.

Frozen U-joint on one side.

Toe was out.


Both had the exact same result. Wandering and lack of return to center.

BigIron70

Gear box could be adjusted wrong (too tight) or king pins are too tight or binding. I would disconnect gear box first and check for binding in steering, if OK then check gear box for binding at sector gear. It has been adjusted with no backlash in sector gear. It will cause that problem.

1972RedNeck

Gearbox is a touch loose if anything. I will pop the drag link off and see if it is the column/sector or the axle or neither (caster).

Does anyone know what the caster should be? I will also through my angle gauge on it to see just for kicks.

1972RedNeck

So two months have gone by along with a few dollars in new parts and I'm still not gaining on the problem. I have completely rebuilt the top and bottom kingpins and put new u-joints in while I was at it. I built my own Borgerson equivalent steering shaft and installed a new drag link as the old one had a tiny bit of play in it. I got a new stack of front springs and put in all new bushings as well. Shocks look to be recent and they all feel good when I took them off to see.

Tie rod ends have zero play.

Toe in is sitting just shy of 1/8".

Caster is sitting at + 2.5* on both sides.

The truck still drives just like it did before I started all of this. It doesn't drive "bad" per se, but it doesn't drive great by any means. It doesn't self steer. While it doesn't duck and dive by any means, I always have to keep nudging it back into my lane.

I am at a my whit's end with it. I know it can drive much better as my last '93 W250 drove great. I don't know what else to do with it.

Thoughts?

maybe368

I may have missed it, but you haven't touched the steering box, right? If not, you may have a new remaned Red head in your future...Mark

NJTman

I assume you're getting these numbers from a local alignment shop, right ?


Have you tried changing tires on the truck ? I have a Toyota pickup (94 hilux) that wandered all over the place. Took it to the alignment shop, and they corrected the steering geometry. It wasn't off by much, but it seemed to be better.

After a couple weeks, it was back to being all over the place. Took it to another shop, and they suggested replacing the 5 year old tires( 31 x 10.5 x 15r BFG all terrains ). Instead, I rotated them, and maxed out the air pressures on them, and drove the truck constantly for a couple weeks as it normally sits for months at a time. The steering eventually improved as it appears that the tires are getting old.... a couple years ago, that is..

Check tire pressures, and rotate them. See if it changes anything. For this process of testing, I would max out the pressure at 80 PSI for E rated tires. That's what I run my dodges front tires at anyway, 65 to 70 in the rears.

And YES, reverse arched springs can affect steering, as the springs are essentially upside down through their motion of travel. I don't think that upside down springs work very well, and to me would actually be an issue with bump steer.

1972RedNeck

As you can see in my last post, I fixed the sagged out springs.

I too run all my tires at max pressure to maximize mileage.

As for tires, I took the back tires off my Ford and put on the front of the Dodge for test purposes and it doesn't drive any different.

1972RedNeck

You are correct. I just have a hard time dropping $300+ on a new steering box. Mine has very little play but it has a touch more than it should. But in my mind, a new steering box won't make it self steer any better - but then again, we are in the real word and not my mind...

1972RedNeck

Oh, and I also changed out the cracked steering box bracket when I first got the truck as well.

maybe368

I see that I did miss the steering box . Where did you get it? I finally popped for a redhead after 2 different reman units, the difference is astounding...Mark

1972RedNeck

No, it's still got the factory steering box.

maybe368

Mine had wonky steering, like you describe. Pretty good, but constant minor adjustments to keep it going straight. I lost the caster effect, steering back to straight on its own. That could have been the mounting plate as it self destructed a little while back. I went ahead and bit the bullet on a Redhead and Wow! what a difference. it is like a new truck. No more wondering. I am going to do an RR setup just because the plate worries me and they are getting rarer. What a lousy truck, only 300k+ miles, I'm going to try to get Dodge to warranty it ...Mark

NJTman

If you're planning on a new steering gear (which I'm not necessarily convinced you need .... yet), it is advisable to have YOURS rebuilt, replace the PS pressure and return lines, and replace the pump creating a new, clean system. 24 years of use, it is possible to have debris from hose deterioration, whereas the old fluid contaminates the newly refreshed gear, throwing away the money you're gonna spend on it. I personally agree with Mark that the auto parts store units are CRAP....

BTW, when Chip originally did my gear, I originally used a Napa PS pump and new hoses, which the pump eventually failed. Chip built me a new pump, and it's been perfect ever since.

These reman units are not worth the money you waste on them, unless it's a professional rebuilder such as Powersteering.com (Chip retired) or Redhead units.