Feels like front suspension 'bottoms out' over speed bumps.

[Dano500]

So, is it the 'anchor plate' that the sway bars bolts to? On the passenger side, I can't get it to go in straight. I thread it and within a turn and a half, you can see the bolt shift and gets out of alignment. From what I can see, looks like beginning threads may be damaged. Is this a situation to rethread it, or get a replacement anchor plate?

Thanks all,
-Dan

 

[Grit dog]

@Dano500
Sorry man, no offense meant. And by resources I was not at all alluding to your finances. And that wouldn’t even make sense.
And you don’t have to justify anything to anyone here, least of which being me. But you have to expect commentary based on the info provided and questions asked. Which if I’m not mistaken you were (and I assumed still are) talking about making this truck a towing monster first, with HUGE plans for it. And now, later, we see that it’s very rough. And begin to learn where you’re at with it physically and “resources” wise.
So my recommendation was in the interest of hitting the easy button for the same $ and FAR less time invested. Maybe it’s because I’ve never even remotely known the concept of copious amounts of free time.
Good luck with the project.
And so as not to continue beating this horse. If you can’t comprehend what I meant by the figurative “needs 1000 things” then glad you have copious amounts of time to work on it!

 

[Grit dog]

So, is it the 'anchor plate' that the sway bars bolts to? On the passenger side, I can't get it to go in straight. I thread it and within a turn and a half, you can see the bolt shift and gets out of alignment. From what I can see, looks like beginning threads may be damaged. Is this a situation to rethread it, or get a replacement anchor plate?

Thanks all,
-Dan

If it’s still bolted to the axle and tweaked at all (real possible with the backwoods lift kit) then it may not line up with a new bushing in the sway bar.

 

[RanchWelder]

Dano500 your first post said you were going to adjust the steering box. It is not sloppy, it is ruined.

The Saginaw box comes properly adjusted when built. Any modification which appears to remove the slop will damage the internal gears and ruin the steering box. When you buy a box it usually comes with white paint on the nut and threads on the adjustment bolt on top of the box for a reason. Change that and you destroy the box. It will lock up on you and you will lose control of steering if you touch it.
The internet is full of bad advice. The box has bearing internally which are destroyed now, this is why you have slop.
If you brought yours to a rebuilder for a core, it's likely they will not accept it, if it has the damages inside which may have already occurred. It is very likely your entire front suspension and steering system, including internal column bearings are shot.

If your axle gears and bearings are smoked, you are looking at a major overhaul requiring a lot of tools and knowledge you may not have for another 6-8 months, on a tight budget. Knowing when to walk away is a lesson learned hard.
Having the guts to do it before things get worse is the dilemma we all face in life.

Good Luck.

 

[Dano500]

If it’s still bolted to the axle and tweaked at all (real possible with the backwoods lift kit) then it may not line up with a new bushing in the sway bar.

So, even without the sway bar, I start to thread it straight and within a turn, you can actually see the bolt head shift to the left, taking the whole thing out of alignment with the plate. I didn't know if it would be easier to try and rethread the beginning threads, or just get another plate.

 

[Redfish]

While it may be true that you should not touch the external adjustment on that Saginaw steering box, there are countless thousands of them that have been adjusted. While there is a possibility that it can lock up and cause a crash, we don't see that happening very often, if ever. In the '70s and '80s almost everyone I knew had adjusted their steering boxes. I don't recall anyone having that box lock up.

Based on the few pictures I have seen of this truck, the steering box is just one component in a long list that needs attention.

 

[Grit dog]

So, even without the sway bar, I start to thread it straight and within a turn, you can actually see the bolt head shift to the left, taking the whole thing out of alignment with the plate. I didn't know if it would be easier to try and rethread the beginning threads, or just get another plate.

Seems like you identified the cause of the problem then. Yes I’d chase the threads. That’s cheap and easy.

 

[Grit dog]

Dano500 your first post said you were going to adjust the steering box. It is not sloppy, it is ruined.

The Saginaw box comes properly adjusted when built. Any modification which appears to remove the slop will damage the internal gears and ruin the steering box. When you buy a box it usually comes with white paint on the nut and threads on the adjustment bolt on top of the box for a reason. Change that and you destroy the box. It will lock up on you and you will lose control of steering if you touch it.
The internet is full of bad advice. The box has bearing internally which are destroyed now, this is why you have slop.
If you brought yours to a rebuilder for a core, it's likely they will not accept it, if it has the damages inside which may have already occurred. It is very likely your entire front suspension and steering system, including internal column bearings are shot.

If you axle gears and bearings are smoked, you are looking at a major overhaul requiring a lot of tools and knowledge you may not have for another 6-8 months, on a tight budget. Knowing when to walk away is a lesson learned hard.
Having the guts to do it before things get worse is the dilemma we all face in life.

Good Luck.

I tried that approach. OP is not interested in that.
It’s ok. It’s a hobby for him that, on the flip side of the coin, will net him much more useful knowledge going forward than most hobbies.

 

[RanchWelder]

"While it may be true?..................."

Redfish, how could you say that then contradict common sense by using a straw man argument of unknown claims, thousands of which you have not performed yourself?

Thousands of idiots are not my go to resource for critical steering failure advice.

I listened to one back in 1995...

When my 76' Cutlass 442 screwed up, in 1996, using the same straw man advice some dope gave me.
My steering broke so hard you could have never controlled it on the road safely. It fractured the internal bearing screw race, backing out of a parking space. I could have been killed on the highway.

Maybe I'm the only one on the internet who will admit it was a very stoopid mistake?
It cost me my favorite car in the world. Back then a new box was $800.
I bought a 1990 Fire Bird for $1000 and 4 years later, with a new axle gear set and a rebuilt transmission, I sold that Fire Bird for $1000.

Read my sig... please then ask yourself after so much component damage in the pics, if this new guy should be screwing with his steering box?

Project or not, buy a new rebuilt box, please. It's only a few hundred dollars, from a reputable re-manufacturer, these days...

 

[CalSgt]

Ok, so remove the blocks. What is normally used for body lift up front? like cab mounts/ bushings & look for a bushing kit.

Maybe the missing missing swaybar bushing is more the cause of the sloppy steering than the steering box?

One more thing to inspect for your steering issues would be to check the frame for cracks, these trucks are famous for that especially when running oversized tires.

Mine wasn't too bad yet, but if they get much worse than this it can really effect drivability.

You must be registered for see images attach

 

[Dano500]

Dano500 your first post said you were going to adjust the steering box. It is not sloppy, it is ruined.

The Saginaw box comes properly adjusted when built. Any modification which appears to remove the slop will damage the internal gears and ruin the steering box. When you buy a box it usually comes with white paint on the nut and threads on the adjustment bolt on top of the box for a reason. Change that and you destroy the box. It will lock up on you and you will lose control of steering if you touch it.
The internet is full of bad advice. The box has bearing internally which are destroyed now, this is why you have slop.
If you brought yours to a rebuilder for a core, it's likely they will not accept it, if it has the damages inside which may have already occurred. It is very likely your entire front suspension and steering system, including internal column bearings are shot.

If your axle gears and bearings are smoked, you are looking at a major overhaul requiring a lot of tools and knowledge you may not have for another 6-8 months, on a tight budget. Knowing when to walk away is a lesson learned hard.
Having the guts to do it before things get worse is the dilemma we all face in life.

Good Luck.

Thanks for the advice! Well, it was already 'slop' before I adjusted it and that is why I looked it up in the first place. I adjusted 1/4" turn and it didn't do anything, so I guess I will be adding a steering box to the list.

One more thing to inspect for your steering issues would be to check the frame for cracks, these trucks are famous for that especially when running oversized tires.

Mine wasn't too bad yet, but if they get much worse than this it can really effect drivability.

You must be registered for see images attach

Thanks, I did read about that some. It is hard to really tell with the box in place, but from what I can tell I didn't see any so far.