K30 wont steer left after lift

[Ralphieboy]

A little back ground info. Truck is a 84 K30 with Dana 60, 5" of lift using 4" Tuff Country HD springs and 1" zero rate. Per ORDs advice I went with there drop pitman arm instead of steering block. (And I know crossover is best, just not in the budget right now.)

Now the truck turns great to the right, but barely turns at all to the left. I have adjust the drag link both ways, and cannot correct for this. Almost like I got the pitman arm on in wrong place but arent they keyed to go on only one way?

Pulling my hair out here, any advice?

[jjzepplin]

Disconnect the link from the pitman arm and count the turns end to end and turn wheel half of the turns and see where the pitman arm is.

[kwmech]

Add to that, once the steer box is centered.... the pitman should be at a 90 degree angle to the frame. Make sure the wheels are straight ahead. Screw drag link until it fits into the hole on the pitman, that should get you real close

[Ralphieboy]

Ok I centered the tires, dropped the drag link and centered the steering wheel halfway between lock to lock position. With my drag link screwed all the way in it is still to long. Here is a pic.

Should I take pitman off, and try to move it forward a little then unscrew drag link a little to reach it?

[kwmech]

Doesn't look like the link is screwed all the way in to me

[jjzepplin]

Inner section of the rod threads may be hitting each other... But should be shorter for sure.
If the pitman is at 90 degrees it is good and don't move it on the shaft.

[Ralphieboy]

Yea pitman is pretty close to 90 degrees. And the inner rod ends are touching. Whats wierd is truck steered just fine before the lift.

[jjzepplin]

Get some new ends and they may be shorter. Who says someone didn't change them along the way and they are wrong. Might be something to do with the pitman arm geometry changing too. Might place the old one on there for giggles to see what is off.

[BLAZERMAN]

I've had to shorten the drag link ends before, just cut about 3/4" off of both ends. Since your threading into a sleeve your ends don't have to be perfect.

[Ralphieboy]

I agree the link ends need to be shortened, but dont see that little bit causing me to have very little left steer. Will put back on the original pitman arm and see what happens.

[BLAZERMAN]

Your drag link will fit fine with your original pitman arm because of the increased angle you now have with your lift. You still need to do something to correct the steering geometry. I've used the regular 4" drop pitman arms you can get thru any 4x4 parts house with good luck. I like most ORD products but that arm looks a little excessive on the drop.

[special-K]

I've never used anything but a factory pitman arm and made the heighth adjustment using raised steering arm. Not sure why anything would be different, but don't recall needing to cut drag link ends. That is what I would do here, for sure. You will have all the thread available in use, so no issues there.

[Ralphieboy]

Originally Posted by special-K

I've never used anything but a factory pitman arm and made the heighth adjustment using raised steering arm. Not sure why anything would be different, but don't recall needing to cut drag link ends. That is what I would do here, for sure. You will have all the thread available in use, so no issues there.

Unfortunately I dont think they make raised steering arms for dana 60 axles. I am limited to drop pitman, raised steering block, or S drag link.

I do believe I figured out why my drag link is to long now. I used a zero rate to move the front axle 1" forward. So now will cut 1/2" off the end of each link and try again.

I've used the regular 4" drop pitman arms you can get thru any 4x4 parts house with good luck. I like most ORD products but that arm looks a little excessive on the drop.

The ORD pitman only has a 2" drop. heres a better pic of it.

[jeffahart]

make sure your not using the wrong damper, or it's not jammed.

[jjzepplin]

I used a arm block on mine and a double damper and it rides nice!

[Ralphieboy]

Thanks for everyone's help! Shortened the link, put it all back together, and it works great!!!

[roxxx]

Just a though what about the steering stabilizer ? I have seen them jam

[jjzepplin]

Originally Posted by Ralphieboy

Thanks for everyone's help! Shortened the link, put it all back together, and it works great!!!

Another satisfied board member! Isn't this place just great?

[special-K]

Originally Posted by Ralphieboy

Thanks for everyone's help! Shortened the link, put it all back together, and it works great!!!

Cool Beans! Glad to hear it. I thought about that zero-rate and wondered if you had done any 'centering'

[jjzepplin]

Hijackin a LIL now that you are fixed up.
Why do they call it a "zero rate" block and doesn't it lift your truck if it's a block?

[ryanroo]

Originally Posted by jjzepplin

Hijackin a LIL now that you are fixed up.
Why do they call it a "zero rate" block and doesn't it lift your truck if it's a block?

It does lift the truck. they call it a zero rate because it is actually assembled into the spring pack using the center bolt in the spring. so it is like an add a leaf that adds zero spring rate to the spring. a traditional add a leaf will make the spring stiffer because of the added rate that gets you the lift. this is just a block of steel that is part of the spring, so it does not have the chance to walk out or wiggle and squirm like a normal block on a steering axle would. so, it is an add a leaf with "zero rate"

[jjzepplin]

Thank You sir!

[special-K]

It's a block with the hole drilled all the way though, but block is a bad word and spring sounds better. They are blocks that are ok to use on the front