1987 Chevrolet V20 front leaf spring replacement

[iamtherealJayy]

I was going to take the truck for a drive today to see how it rode but there’s a clunk in my steering, I don’t know if something is in a bind or if I just finished off my drag link. The clunk makes the entire front axle move. That’s what makes me think something is in a bind, but the drag link piece is completely blown the boot on each end and it moves easily by hand.

 

[Grit dog]

Your last round of pics, I "might" look like the drivers side frame is tweaked up a bit? Honestly, as long as you can align it and it drives straight, probably noone but you (and all of us!) will know.

IMO, the only way to diagnose steering issues is to have someone who can turn the steering wheel for you, as many times as you need to stare at it and figure out which pieces are loose or worn or binding up.

 

[iamtherealJayy]

You see that’s the thing, I had my sister turn the wheel after I got her from school and it wouldn’t clunk for her I don’t know if she wasn’t going as fast as I turned it or what. All that happened when she did it was lower rpm of engine and made the belt squeak at full lock. I might as well try and start just replacing the steering parts. But I plan on getting wider wheels eventuslly (16x10 right now would like to go to 12 atleast) so I don’t want it like a big difference, but some of it could be the drivers side fender is all jacked up. The inner fender has like an inch between the bolt hole and the fender. And the bottom of the fender by the door isn’t bolted in and it’s all bent out from rubbing. The front bumper is also off center. I don’t know if that’s helping or hurting how far out the axle sits. Or well uh how far it looks off centered I mean. I mean this truck will never be perfect, but I’m trying to make it as good as physically possible. After I get everything in good functioning order I’m planning on tearing majority of the truck apart and fixing the oil leak and doing body work. That’s the whole reason for the k10 lol I planned on driving it so I didn’t have to rush and rebuilding my truck but I can’t get the pos to run right. I’ve honestly debated on buying another whole truck just for the frame and doing a frame off build. But the only local one I’ve found was a 79 and I don’t know what differences between a 79 k20 frame and an 87 v20.

 

[Bextreme04]

You see that’s the thing, I had my sister turn the wheel after I got her from school and it wouldn’t clunk for her I don’t know if she wasn’t going as fast as I turned it or what. All that happened when she did it was lower rpm of engine and made the belt squeak at full lock. I might as well try and start just replacing the steering parts. But I plan on getting wider wheels eventuslly (16x10 right now would like to go to 12 atleast) so I don’t want it like a big difference, but some of it could be the drivers side fender is all jacked up. The inner fender has like an inch between the bolt hole and the fender. And the bottom of the fender by the door isn’t bolted in and it’s all bent out from rubbing. The front bumper is also off center. I don’t know if that’s helping or hurting how far out the axle sits. Or well uh how far it looks off centered I mean. I mean this truck will never be perfect, but I’m trying to make it as good as physically possible. After I get everything in good functioning order I’m planning on tearing majority of the truck apart and fixing the oil leak and doing body work. That’s the whole reason for the k10 lol I planned on driving it so I didn’t have to rush and rebuilding my truck but I can’t get the pos to run right. I’ve honestly debated on buying another whole truck just for the frame and doing a frame off build. But the only local one I’ve found was a 79 and I don’t know what differences between a 79 k20 frame and an 87 v20.

Your axle and bumper might actually be straight in line and the body is off. The bumper bolts directly to the frame and doesn't have a whole lot of room to be off, same as the springs. The body can slide around on the frame by quite a bit depending on how worn out the body mounts are. Especially after an accident.

 

[iamtherealJayy]

I know nothing lines up lol, my drivers side door hits the fender and the top is in and bottom is out and I fixed it but the door seals were flat so it was windy beyond reason so I pushed the top back in. I don’t know exactly how the fenders and stuff move around, but I know the hood on drivers side is either up or the fender and stuff is down because there’s always a gap and meeting a semi on a windy day is scary not gonna lie lol. Hood wobbles a bit. I don’t know how much dad removed from the frame when he put it all back together but he said he painted the frame when he had it all torn apart, cab and all I don’t know. I know bed bumpers fenders and hood were off at one point but I don’t know about cab, I know I’ve had the bed off and it is slightly off too I can’t remember which side but I kinda wanna say it’s sitting out the passenger side too but I can’t remember. I’ll try and show a pic with the bed off. It’s really not a bad looking frame lol. And the second photo is where you can see the bed is slightly off. Maybe the cab is actually off center? Is that a possibility? Maybe the bumper and axle are center but the cab and fenders are off center?

 

[Bextreme04]

I know nothing lines up lol, my drivers side door hits the fender and the top is in and bottom is out and I fixed it but the door seals were flat so it was windy beyond reason so I pushed the top back in. I don’t know exactly how the fenders and stuff move around, but I know the hood on drivers side is either up or the fender and stuff is down because there’s always a gap and meeting a semi on a windy day is scary not gonna lie lol. Hood wobbles a bit. I don’t know how much dad removed from the frame when he put it all back together but he said he painted the frame when he had it all torn apart, cab and all I don’t know. I know bed bumpers fenders and hood were off at one point but I don’t know about cab, I know I’ve had the bed off and it is slightly off too I can’t remember which side but I kinda wanna say it’s sitting out the passenger side too but I can’t remember. I’ll try and show a pic with the bed off. It’s really not a bad looking frame lol. And the second photo is where you can see the bed is slightly off. Maybe the cab is actually off center? Is that a possibility? Maybe the bumper and axle are center but the cab and fenders are off center?

That was my thought

 

[Grit dog]

^ That's a real possibility. Straight chassis, tweaked body. But one of those pics I looked at looked like the bumper aligned well side to side with the fenders, maybe not.
Either way, even with the bumps n bruises, it's a good looking truck. But for the love of all that is right in the world, don't put 12" wide wheels on it! LOL

 

[iamtherealJayy]

I mentioned it to dad and he said we need to set up a string line and make measurements and see what’s actually off but now that you mention it the Frame is bolted to the bumper or well other way around but, and the axle is in a set position as well, but the fender are adjustable. I may checkout all of my body bushings and stuff and look into replacing them and see if that’s the issue. Do the fenders have bushings of any sort? I’ve never done body work to this extent so I honestly don’t know what all goes into removing the fenders

 

[iamtherealJayy]

@Grit dog il not going with like big wide wheels I want the low wide look I think I have a picture

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These are 14 wides from a truck off google but I really dig the look. I don’t off-road the truck a whole lot so I don’t need tall tires, but I like the stance look. I had 20x12’s and hated it. I’d love to have a set of factory steel wheels widened or banded or something and keep the factory hun caps but I’ve heard they’re an absolute pain to get off of widened wheels.
Edit: no the bumper is off to passenger side some, it sucks when waxing the truck because I can’t fit my hand between the drivers side fender and the bumper but on passenger side I can fit my hand with wiggle room.

 

[Grit dog]

^ Ok, that looks good! I was just giving you a hard time....

 

[iamtherealJayy]

I get it, not everyone has the same taste lol. I love the look of like a 15x14 and a bogger but problem one is I can’t run a 15 and problem two is I couldn’t stand boggers going down the road lol and problem three is I can’t find shiny! I don’t like black wheels lol they have to be shiny. I’ve thought about getting inch and a half spacers for the rear to get rid of the bulldog look but I don’t have center caps and I think it would look weird. My k10 has spacers front and rear and i hate it. Not my choice on the spacers tho lol the wheels had wrong offset and hit the tie rod so on went spacers to get it rolling. I’d love to get some Bart wheels on it and like a 31 or 33 but that costs more money than I’m willing to put into a beater right now.
Edit: man what I would really love is a set of 16x14 welds or 16x12 welds and a 33x14 tire but you can’t find such thing anymore best I can find is a 16x12 Mickey Thompson wheel and they’re similar to mine. I like the lip better over a concave wheel. That was one thing I liked about the 20x12’s the stance and the vertical spokes so it had a smooth barrel. But I’m too hard on stuff to make expensive big wheels last lol

 

[Redfish]

Is the longest steering linkage bent or does it just look like it in the pic?

 

[iamtherealJayy]

Yes, center tie rod is bent in the middle upwards some. I have a new one sitting right in front of me. Along with all the other tie rod ends and drag link and drag link adjustment sleeve. I’m hoping to clean up some play in my steering. And my wheel is very uhm interesting? One day I’ll be driving and it’s straight then you look down and it’s turned to the right a little and next day you hop in take off and it’s slightly left. I’m hoping replacing all the steering will fix that. If I still have play I’ll check the rag joint next. I’m trying to slowly but surely fix her up.
Edit @Redfish im surprised no one mentioned that sooner in all honesty. I never mentioned it because I never thought of it. Good eye

 

[Redfish]

If your steering wheel isn't staying straight my first question would be, "Are the clamp bolts tight on the turnbuckle for the drag link that is just inside the driver's front tire?" Of course you mentioned that you have enough play in some of the steering joints that the tires could just be following the road crown.

With your determination and courage to tackle issues I can only imagine what you could do with some money and a decent workshop. I am really hoping to see this truck move forward.

 

[iamtherealJayy]

Oh most definitely if I had a little more spare change in my pocket and a nice roof to work under, not even an enclosed building, just a roof would be nice lol. I’m trying to get serious about getting this truck done because I honestly plan on keeping it forever. My only concern is with the body work lol. I can’t weld nor find the factory paint in an affordable quantity. I’ve thought about international harvester red since dad has some of that for some reason, but if I do get it painted I wanted some kind of metallic but I really don’t know. I love the original look. I want to get the trim down the side again and the wheel arches but all that stuff is too pricey and not needed right now lol. I’m focused on driveline parts right now. I’d love to get a little more power out of it but there’s no way for a tbi in my opinion. I’ve looked into the holley tbi units and also carb swapping it. I don’t want 500 horse power or anything but a nice idle would be cool lol. Have you heard about banding wheels? Or widened factory wheels? I saw a 67-72 k20 with widened factory wheels and the dog dish hub cap and it looked great but I’ve heard they’re a pain to get the caps back off.