1987 Chevrolet V20 front leaf spring replacement

[iamtherealJayy]

Tightening both of the tie rod ends fixed the steering issue but it needs aligned lol the wheel is almost 90° to the right when going straight. @Bextreme04 the center tube between the connecting tie rods. It’s visible in one of the videos I’ll try and pinpoint it

 

[iamtherealJayy]

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This photo shows majority of it, one tie rod end is really short(passenger side) and one is a little longer with a hole for the stabilizer(drivers side) the center piece for me is bent, quite badly if you’re looking from the side(back and up bend) I can’t find the part online anywhere to try and order one.

 

[idahovette]

You can center the steering wheel by adjusting the drag link, BUT you MUST have the steering wheel CENTERED on the gear first!!!!

 

[idahovette]

Also if you get the jam nuts loose and rotate the center rod bend to the bottom, then tighten the jam nuts, you could put a bottle jack at the bend and push it up to a straighter position. Or just take it out and set it up in a press to straighten it.

 

[iamtherealJayy]

@idahovette elaborate… to my understanding that means have the steering wheel straight and have the pitman arm straught? I had the same amount of turn left to right lock to lock, from the wheel being straight I had about 1-3/4 turn to lock in both directions. So I assume everything is straight just the drag link is turning wheels slightly left. I did still have a bit of play in the steering but that could be the other tie rod ends since they’ve never been replaced. But I’m working on replacing everything.
Edit: the steering wheel was straight before I torqued everything down if that gives you a sense of how loose the castle nuts were…
Edit2: the first video showing the “shaft play” you can see the tube being bent

 

[iamtherealJayy]

So help me understand how to adjust the drag link, do I need to make it shorter for the steering wheel to be straight? That’s how I’m picturing it in my head. And what do I do just disconnect one tie rod end and thread it in some and then torque back down?

 

[Grit dog]

From what you said if I got it right, when steering wheel is centered, so is the steering box, same turns ish, lock to lock both ways. But when the wheels are straight, the steering wheel (and steering box) isn't centered.
That's good, means the steering wheel is clocked right with the steering box
The right way, is center up the steering wheel (and steering gear), then use the drag link to adjust the wheels back straight (wheels off the ground). Remember tie rod only adjusts total toe on your type of truck, so I'd get the toe centered first it you haven't and still need to do that. Otherwise it's like someone with a lazy eye, you never really know which way they're looking!
Since your steering wheel and gear are clocked right, you should be well within the adjustment limits of the drag link to get the wheels straight.
Once all that is close, if the steering wheel is off a smidge, I just take it out of the drag link again, assuming I'll still get 98-99% full turn even in the short direction.

 

[Redfish]

So help me understand how to adjust the drag link, do I need to make it shorter for the steering wheel to be straight? That’s how I’m picturing it in my head. And what do I do just disconnect one tie rod end and thread it in some and then torque back down?

There are a couple different ways to do this, someone will certainly know The Right Way.

What I suggest is to drive the truck down your driveway so that you more or less "know" the wheels are pointed straight. Then loosen both clamp bolts on the drag link and turn the center (female) part of the drag link one way or the other while checking to see what your steering wheel does. If you are moving the wheel the wrong way, turn the thing the other way! Just think of the entire drag link assembly as a big turnbuckle.

What I did was have my son sit in the driver's seat and he kept me informed up to the point of getting it perfectly straight.

If you get finished and you can see that your steering arms are ridiculously out of alignment, simply undo what you did and spin the tube the opposite direction until you get the wheel straight. You are going to need an alignment when all of this is done anyway.

 

[idahovette]

Which way is it off? right or left? IF, this is a big IF, the drag link is still on correctly(factory installed) you turn the sleeve clockwise to get the wheel to the right and counter clockwise to get it to go left. You need to get the tie rod sleeve straightened before you do any thing, that will change the position of the steering wheel. Set the left(Drivers) side tire straight ahead and then adjust the steering wheel to that. You also need to measure the toe in...........never mind you got more information than you need now

 

[AuroraGirl]

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@iamtherealJayy like this, this is what i think they are trying to get you to picture the whole sertup

also, note, mine is not a good thing to be like.

 

[iamtherealJayy]

The steering wheel is probably 75° turned right, almost straight up and down a quarter turn right. And when the wheel is perfectly straight the truck veers slightly left. I do have equal amount of turning from straught to lock left and right, approximately 1-3/4 turns. So around 3-1/2 turns from lock left to lock right. I also noticed if I’m at lock and let go of the wheel(truck not moving) the wheel turns the opposite direction a little bit and straightens back some. So I don’t have to remove the tie rod ends to adjust the drag link? I just have to rotate the sleeve? I guess that makes sense since they’re opposing threads. I need to make mine a tad bit shorter to my under standing to pull the tire to the right a little bit or the wheel to the left. I’m working on sourcing a tube to just replace mine.

 

[iamtherealJayy]

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@iamtherealJayy like this, this is what i think they are trying to get you to picture the whole sertup

also, note, mine is not a good thing to be like.

I dunno how I just did that^ but the center pieve I have is like what you have pictured but what’s on my truck is one short tie rod end(passenger side) and a longer one with a hole for stabilizer(drivers side) and a tube with a hex on each end that a lock nut butts up to. I compared the center piece I have to tie rod end for passenger side to see if I could just get an adjustment sleeve to connect them but the tie rod end is a smaller diameter than the long rod.

 

[AuroraGirl]

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[Redfish]

I dunno how I just did that^ but the center pieve I have is like what you have pictured but what’s on my truck is one short tie rod end(passenger side) and a longer one with a hole for stabilizer(drivers side) and a tube with a hex on each end that a lock nut butts up to. I compared the center piece I have to tie rod end for passenger side to see if I could just get an adjustment sleeve to connect them but the tie rod end is a smaller diameter than the long rod.

I think you have exactly what you should have.

 

[iamtherealJayy]

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Sorry for taking so long, been working. This is my current setup. The center tube center tie rod center whatever you want to call it is bent, doesn’t exist cant purchase a new one, I tried to show everything possible of it but it’s also dark outside being almost 10pm. The pictures are passenger side, middle from passenger side, drivers side, and middle from drivers side.