T-roy K10
Member
- Joined
- May 9, 2023
- Posts
- 43
- Reaction score
- 73
- Location
- mississippi
- First Name
- Troy
- Truck Year
- 1985
- Truck Model
- K10
- Engine Size
- 350
My 85 SB 4x4 had a 4” lift when I bought it. It also came with an annoying bump steer. I removed one leaf from the front and it got worse. Let me explain for the people that might confuse this. It is not hitting something with one tire, it’s when you hit a bump or dip in the road with both tires and it causes the truck to pull one way or the other. one tire Hitting something and pulling the truck is a different subject.
Some say that the drag link should be level, well that’s only true if you have leaf springs that have no arch (flat). If you have a lift and the springs are arched, then you need a few degrees downward slope from the pitman arm to the steering arm. That is because an arched spring gets longer as it compresses, and since the front eye of the spring doesn’t move (the rear does because the shackle) the axle will move slightly rearward as it moves up. If the drag link is level, then it will pull the steering arm causing the wheels to turn slightly left, then back right as the suspension extends back out. That can get real freaky if you hit a few consecutive dips on the highway as I did once. The whole truck was pivoting Left to right pretty bad and had my butt griping the seat. That had to be fixed before I let anyone else drive it for sure.
so, the truck came with a 4” raised steering arm that had the drag pretty much level. I found a used OEM steering arm and swapped that. It was too much and just changed the direction of the pull, So I ordered a 2” drop pitman arm. Sweet spot, no more bump steer.
if anyone needs the exact degrees I can measure it when I get it back (it’s at the shop getting the transmission rebuilt…again). but that’s another story.
Some say that the drag link should be level, well that’s only true if you have leaf springs that have no arch (flat). If you have a lift and the springs are arched, then you need a few degrees downward slope from the pitman arm to the steering arm. That is because an arched spring gets longer as it compresses, and since the front eye of the spring doesn’t move (the rear does because the shackle) the axle will move slightly rearward as it moves up. If the drag link is level, then it will pull the steering arm causing the wheels to turn slightly left, then back right as the suspension extends back out. That can get real freaky if you hit a few consecutive dips on the highway as I did once. The whole truck was pivoting Left to right pretty bad and had my butt griping the seat. That had to be fixed before I let anyone else drive it for sure.
so, the truck came with a 4” raised steering arm that had the drag pretty much level. I found a used OEM steering arm and swapped that. It was too much and just changed the direction of the pull, So I ordered a 2” drop pitman arm. Sweet spot, no more bump steer.
if anyone needs the exact degrees I can measure it when I get it back (it’s at the shop getting the transmission rebuilt…again). but that’s another story.
Last edited:
