Steering Straight

Tires, shocks, sway bars, air bags... What crosswind?
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OnTheRoad
Weekend Camper
Posts: 41
Joined: Sun Dec 13, 2009 1:00 am
Location: SoCal

Post by OnTheRoad »

I was just reminded that I should post the followup to what happened here.

So, my initial thought when I had trouble steering after going to the alignment shop then on my trip was that the alignment was off.

When I went back to the shop I brought the alignment specs, thinking that it was possibly toed out causing the steering issues. They hooked it up to the alignment machine and i was told that the van was toed in. The alignment machine had one number highlighted, and the tech told me that was showing it was even toed-in a little extra... They then told me that I needed a new steering box. Luckily I asked for a printout of the alignment.

I ordered a steering box online, and when I got it took it to another shop to get it installed, since I had gotten a bad feeling about the alignment shop. There I was told that the steering was tight so they thought the gear box was fine, and that I really should take it to an off-road place that really knows suspensions to have it checked out.

Luckily there's a place "Action Van Suspensions" in San Clemente (about 20 minutes from me) that specializes in converting Ford Vans for off-road use. They told me they could check it out. The first thing the owner there did was ask to see the alignment printout. And he pointed out that A) the toe-in/toe-out was highlighted as not being in spec, and B) IT WAS out-of-spec TOED-OUT!

I had planned to have him replace the steering box, but the only issue was the alignment, so they fixed that, replaced a torn rubber boot (I forget the name right now), and repacked the bearings. I had also installed heavy-duty mudders that they recommended I replace with all terrain tires for a smoother ride, and told me to send the steering box back.

So that took care of it. The real issue was just the alignment(!). Luckily I could return the steering box and just had to pay shipping both ways.
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Roadhog
Weekend Camper
Posts: 45
Joined: Tue Jul 10, 2007 12:00 am
B190 Year: 1995
WBCCI: 8063

suspension

Post by Roadhog »

I had new ball joints and HD shocks installed recently and I am now having steering issues similar to yours and others. It was perfect before the work was done. I have had it to the Ford dealer twice for front end allignment with pretty much the same results. I notice that you had alterain tires put on. Is your van a 4 wheel drive and why did they recomment them? If not I would like to know what your final alignment spects are so I can compare with mine? If we could standardize the setting for all of the B 190's that would be nice. I had the work done at the local Ford dealer and after the last attempt he said he would be glad to set it up to any specs that I requested. The Ford specs are for 1 ton cargo vans. The B 190 are a beast and are top heavy to boot.
Howard :(
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OnTheRoad
Weekend Camper
Posts: 41
Joined: Sun Dec 13, 2009 1:00 am
Location: SoCal

Post by OnTheRoad »

My van is not 4wd. I wanted off road tires because I wanted to go on some off road trails in the desert, and wanted to minimize the chance of anything happening when I'm on one of the rough less traveled roads. I had installed really agressive tires "mudders" and they recommended all terrain for a better ride if I still wanted off road tires.

The ride would be smoother and quieter with regular road tires.

I'll have to find the alignment specs, but really the only adjustment they have - at least on the '91 - is toe-in, which as I recall was 1/8" toe in.
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