Centering of the front wheels, what does it take?

[CSoliz]

I am interested in getting my front wheels moved forward a few inches to center the wheel in fender. Looking at the front end, it seems like I can move the front crossmember forward to achieve this. What do you guys think?

What kind of clearance will I have in the wheels turning radius if I do this? (in relation too the inner and outer fender)

Doing so, I will have to move the steering box forward as well. Steering shafts issue there?

Motor mounts will be an issue as well, but I plan on moving the motor forward anyways due to the notching I will be doing to the front crossmember. But that being said, how much room do I have between the fan and the radiator in a typical application?


I don't have the body on the frame right now so all the answers I can get from you all well be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

[vin63]

I would be more inclined to alter the fender than the crossmember and all of the suspension adjustments that go with it.

Here is what I did to my front fenders to move the wheel opening...

[markeb01]

On my 1960 stepside, it appears the centerline on both the front and rear axles are equally too far back from the center of the wheel wells, like the entire body and bed were mounted too far forward. I thought about centering the front crossmember in the wheel wells, but the steering linkage is very close to the drop section on the front of the frame, and might collide or require modification particularly for the pitman arm if moved to the front (in the area indicated by the arrows). I also thought it might make the truck look worse with the front axle centered and the rear end remaining too far to the rear.



It seemed to me at the time the better solution would be to relocate the entire body and bed to the rear an inch or two until everything lined up, but this is beyond my fabrication skills. And this isn’t a universal solution, because I’ve seen other trucks in this series where the axles are further out of alignment than mine, or offset the other direction. There must have been a lot of assembly tolerance designed in to the body and bed mounts on these trucks.

[CSoliz]

I plan on shortening my frame some and at the same time I was going to center the rear wheels.

I also thought about moving the cab mounts and bed back, but I would also have to move the radiator supports back as well. That would move me awfully close to the fan, which is all ready going to be closer due to me having to raise the motor up and forward. So i dont think I have the room in the front. That wouldn't be that bad of an idea though if I wasn't moving the motor. All you would have to do is take out those same inches in between the radiator supports and the front bumper mounts.

I thought of the steering being an issue (pitman mostly), but I don't think it wouldn't be anything a notch wouldn't be able to handle. Plan is to add a power steering pump, so I will have to move around some things anyways. Maybe a lower pump, plus some steering couplings?

I did measure the frame up there though, I see a potential problem. The frame narrows out front about a 1/4 to 1/2 of an inch. But, I dont see why I cant get a piece of steel and have it tapered front to back to fill the gap. Weld it to the side of the frame, and redrill holes.

What do you think?

[narx66gmc]

porterbuilt dropmember fixes the issue.

[CSoliz]

of course it does, but thats the easy way out.

[raycow]

Markeb01, if your truck is a 60, your crossmember has already been swapped at least once. I am wondering if that's where your front wheel problem could have started? Of course this still doesn't explain anything about the rear.

Ray

[ChiefRocka]

I'm thinking the fended mod would be the easiest ... then again, thats an easy way out ...

[63sbssbbw]

I also have pondered this fix, I figured about 1" to a max of 2"
The pitman arm and idler arm shouldn't be a problem as "everything" is going to move forward.
Later tilt columns need to be shortened to fit, so thats not a problem.
The drivers side bumper bracket could be incorporated with the ps box mounting as opposed to just being trimmed.
Mounting a sway bar shouldn't be much trouble either as I'm sure theres an inch or two up front to fit the mounts.
The engine-radiator situation doesn't even come into play with this fix other than locating new holes for the mounts(which you were going to do anyway).
IF turning radius is going to be an issue I don't think it's anything an inner fender mod wont cure,maybe someone that only has the inner assy on their truck could take a look at.
Just some thoughts I've had about this since this subject came up last time 'round.
T

[markeb01]

Originally Posted by raycow

Markeb01, if your truck is a 60, your crossmember has already been swapped at least once. I am wondering if that's where your front wheel problem could have started? Of course this still doesn't explain anything about the rear.

Ray

Actually the misalignment between the axles and the fender wells on my truck remains identical to what it was with the torsion bar suspension. When I installed the 1975 crossmember back in 1997, I leveled the frame on jack stands and using a plumb bob and carpenter square marked the spindle centerline on the fenders, frame, and the concrete floor. The new crossmember/spindles were aligned using these marks and once in place, I discovered at least one of the original frame mounting holes on each side lined up with the new suspension.

And the truck lived a very sheltered life since new, never suffering the abuse most trucks of the period received. I think it was just assembled with indifferent fit when new. The original owner bought it after he retired, put a shell on the bed and used it mostly to go fishing. It was later willed to his nephew who sold it to us. I never really paid much attention to the fender well to axle alignment until I started disassembling the truck for full chassis and body paint. I noticed both the cab and the bed were slightly out of alignment with the frame, which combined to make the bed quite a bit closer to the cab on one side. This exaggerated the rear axle offset on one side more than the other, and gave the truck a dog tracking appearance from the back. It was obvious it had never been hit or repaired, appearing instead to have been plopped on the chassis and bolted down wherever it landed at body drop. I wonder if they even had assembly standards for body/bed fit when these were new.

While changing the body mount cushions, I realized there was so much slop built into the design I could shift the cab into correct alignment with the frame. When the bed was reinstalled, I squared it up as well with the back of the newly positioned cab and the frame, eliminating the crooked look. There was a lot of adjustment available. Had I realized at the time how annoying I would later find the wheel well offset, it might have been a relatively easy task to open up the holes in the body mounting brackets further to the rear, and push the cab back even farther.

All these years later I don’t have the enthusiasm to try and make it better, but for someone in the process of building one of these trucks, positioning the cab correctly on the chassis to align the front fenders might allow everything else to fall into alignment without any further effort.