Axle(s) not centered

[billblack]

Hello All. This is my ffirst post to this forum.

I just picked up a 83 k10, long bed, 4 spd, 350 truck.

It's beat but runs and drives great: I just needed a firewood truck and this beast fits the bill perfectly.

Following my son in it last night, I could tell the front wheels are not aligned with the rear. I.e. it "crabs" down the road. My old (95!) Dodge would do this when the track bar was worn. These trucks have completely different front end obviously, and I don't know what causes what.

So: (other than a tweaked frame), what causes the axles to not be centered with respect to each other?


Thanks in advance

[Duster]

Not much other than a tweaked frame. Those old trucks can look like they are "crabbing" but really aren't. The 4x4's front axels make the front wheels stick out farther than the rear, so if you are looking down one side it will give the illusion of crabbing, but it is just the offset of the wheels. If it looks like it's just a little bit tweaked, I will bet that is what it is. If it has a lift and bigger tires, it amplifies the illusion.

Need a picture.

[Keith Seymore]

Originally Posted by Duster

Not much other than a tweaked frame. Those old trucks can look like they are "crabbing" but really aren't. The 4x4's front axels make the front wheels stick out farther than the rear, so if you are looking down one side it will give the illusion of crabbing, but it is just the offset of the wheels. If it looks like it's just a little bit tweaked, I will bet that is what it is. If it has a lift and bigger tires, it amplifies the illusion.

Need a picture.

Agree.

Excellent input.

K

[billblack]

O.k. thanks. I swear I was looking perfectly down the center and it still appeared offset to one side.

Not lifted, slightly oversize tires.

I'll double check. Sounds like if it is out of wack there's nothing to do about it.

No biggee I guess,....as long as I'm not following the truck it won't bother me.

I just got it though so you tend to start obsessing about the things you see wrong.

Thanks for the fast response.

[Keith Seymore]

Don't misinterpret what we are saying: It could be out of whack but even then it can be fixed.

The main point we were trying to make is that the front axle track width is more than the rear axle, so when viewing from behind it looks like it is dogtracking even though it may not be....

You can check this if you have an alignment shop nearby that measures rear axle thrust angle. If the rear axle is not square in the chassis it will track sideways, but you can scootch it by reworking the pin location in the axle spring pad to square it back up.

Just make sure and sight down both sides of the truck before drawing any conclusions.

My additional $0.02 -

K

[bohmankid]

This reminds me of my buddies 84. It looked like it drove down the street sideways no matter what angle you looked at it from. Even from the front You would be amazed because it looked like he was making a right hand turn all the time, but he would just keep driving straight!

We believe his frame was skewed because his bed had a tilt and his drivers side front leaf spring shackle was broken leaving the leaf spring 'eye' touching the frame. He still daily drove it around though... crazy

Good luch with your fix. if it needs one.

[mrolds88]

Front bushings wore out on the rear springs?

[motornut]

try driving on the other side of the road
safely avoiding traffic
is the steering wheel off? the same either side/way

[KQQL IT]

Sheared spring center pin?
Posted via Mobile Device

[LONGHAIR]

Originally Posted by KQQL IT

Sheared spring center pin?
Posted via Mobile Device

That is very possible, I have repaired more than one of them like that. It can happen to front or rear, check both.

[donut]

I'd also suspect the sheared center pin. You can measure center of front hubs to center of rear hubs on both sides, any difference and you have an issue. Not a definitive check, but a down and dirty "yep, there's a problem"

Should be able to get new pins and possibly u-bolts at a spring shop. U-bolts can be a bear to remove, sometimes easier to bit the bullet and get new ones, cut the old ones out.

[6 Door King]

If after checking all those points of possible trouble you're still worried, a frame shop with laser measuring system can tell you if your frame is off. Sounds like it could be diamonded, ie one rail is forwrad of the other or vice versa. Matter of a few clamps and chains and they'll get you straight, literally.