Steering wandering & Frame flex?

[rocmoc]

I have been trying to correct the wandering in the steering of my '69 CJ5 . Has sag power steering with '78 CJ7 column. I have went back to the stock shackles, installed caster (started with zero shims but now have +6 degrees), corrected the camber, adjusted steering gearbox and checked for loose tie rods, ball joints & such. Front rod links are all nearly parallel & centered so bump steer is not the problem. There has been some improvement but still unacceptable for safe highway use. I do understand suspension setup, road raced (SCCA) for 20 years and did all my own work. What I have found is I have A LOT of frame flex at the steering gearbox. Pretty sure that is my problem at this point but need support I am headed down the correct path. OR any other suggestions.

Thanks,
rocmoc n AZ/Mexico

 

[PaRenegade]

What if you drove a front tire up on a cement block, or something similar. Then had someone sit in it and move the steering wheel extreme left to extreme right while you lay at the front looking for movement around the steering gear box. Maybe a stress crack will expose itself in either the frame or the box mount itself which are notoriously prone to breakage.
Just a thought. Maybe you've already done that.

Is it a quick jerking by chance? That could be a frozen front u-joint, even without being locked in.

 

[rocmoc]

Thank you for responding PaRenegade.

I believe I have found the problem. After all the shims added, 6 degrees, I still have at least - 2 degrees of caster. The front diff pinion is still point up, tho not a lot, toward the Transfer Case . The front frame horns had some bad repairs and cracks when I purchased my CJ. I cleaned up a lot and weld a lot but never thought about the frame horns being bend. I believe the frame horns are bent, only thing that is left to be considered. I am going to put more caster in and if that works, I will reverse shackle the spring hangers. This will put positive caster in without shims and I will fine tune with the shims. CJ was really abused by the PO but I am bring it back!

Any opinions?

Thanks, rocmoc n AZ/Mexico

 

[tarry99]

I have been trying to correct the wandering in the steering of my '69 CJ5 . Has sag power steering with '78 CJ7 column. I have went back to the stock shackles, installed caster (started with zero shims but now have +6 degrees), corrected the camber, adjusted steering gearbox and checked for loose tie rods, ball joints & such. Front rod links are all nearly parallel & centered so bump steer is not the problem. There has been some improvement but still unacceptable for safe highway use. I do understand suspension setup, road raced (SCCA) for 20 years and did all my own work. What I have found is I have A LOT of frame flex at the steering gearbox. Pretty sure that is my problem at this point but need support I am headed down the correct path. OR any other suggestions.

Thanks,
rocmoc n AZ/Mexico

Romac

Pretty common on the older Jeeps with the Saginaw conversion to have frame flex if the process of properly plating & bracing the left side frame rail at the steering gear install point was not done correctly...........and then also adding a steering brace from the steering gear housing to the opposite side frame rail that effectively cancels the steering gear sector shaft force from side to side.....in either case if not done correctly it will crack your frame and flex those joints.

 

[rocmoc]

Thanks tarry99 for the pic. I'm adding the brace and our pic will help a lot.

rocmoc n AZ/Mexico

 

[rocmoc]

FIXED!!!!!!!!

After I found that I still had at least 2 degrees of negative caster after installing 6 degrees of shims, I moved up the mod of reversing the shackles. The mod of reversing the shackles results in positive caster, a lot of it. Took me two days working part-time and the results are SUPER. Wandering is gone! End result is no shims, diff is sitting on the spring pads flat. Also in the process I found a quarter of an inch difference in the distance between the spring hangers on the left side when compared to the right side, FIXED! Both are now the same, 39". I also found the spring hangers on the right side were not hanging correctly. One pointed inward and the other outward, FIXED! Both repairs were to the right side. The right side is the frame horn that the PO repaired.

My take on the ride & drive of the reverse shackles is very positive. I feel minimal nose dive if any and the the bumps are MUCH smoother. The downside is I have to redo my new front driveline as it is not the correct length but that is an easy fix.

I still plan to build the brace for the sag steering box to correct the frame flexing.

rocmoc n AZ/Mexico

 

[micrablue]

Glad you found the mod. I was about to recommend this. I did it years ago and have never looked back. I also use a 1/4" aftermarket bracket to mount my box to the frame. I can drive with a few fingers now.