Front end

[BlueThunder]

Ok well my front end suspension or something is messed up...

If I'm driving and a hit a bump my front end starts hoping all around...

I've looked out the window while it was happening and it looked like the tires were wobbling on the axles. So i replaced the bearings...it still happened so i replaced the ball joints...and it got better but it still happens...I don't know what else it could be...

I don't know if this could be the problem but i know that my trac bar bushings are shot and the bar itself is bent and all screwed up...apparently the person who put the lift on it didn't want to buy an adjustable trac bar so he cut it..bent it...and welded a piece into it...i mean the bar itself is strong but the bushings are shot and they are leaving a lot of play...Should i replace the whole bar or just the bushings? Could that be my problem?

Could it be the tires? 38" TSL Super Swampers

I know mt tie rod is good...but my drag link is bent...probably from a rock or something from the previous owner...But that should only effect my steering wheel position right?

ANY input is appreciated...and the faster the better...this is a daily driver....

Thanks

Mike

 

[BlueThunder]

I added some photos of the trac bar...Let me know what you think about that...Eventually i am going to get the Super Lift adjustable Trac bar...But if i don't NEED it right now i don't really want to shell out the $125 for it right now...

Oh and just thinking about it when im driving the steering wheel always moves left to right slightly...

 

[freak]

From the pictures it look's like the trac bar and the drag link are bent. Is that how they are or is it just the picture's.

 

[BlueThunder]

From the pictures it look's like the trac bar and the drag link are bent. Is that how they are or is it just the picture's.

Yes they are both bent...i said that in my post...and the trac bar also has an extra piece welded into it...and the bushings on the trac bar are shot...

 

[crowebait]

loose trac bar bushings will cause that shimmy for sure, they let the front axle start moving back and forth under the vehicle and the stearing sector is holding the tie rods in one place. replace your trac bar bushing and trac bar if needed and check the ancors on the axle and the frame as these can work loose as well. it looks like someone has added a piece in the trac bar to compensate for a lift or something if so you will need to keep that length.

one you get all the bushing and such tightened back up it should fix the shimmy unless you have major out of balance tires on the front from mud or snow

 

[BlueThunder]

loose trac bar bushings will cause that shimmy for sure, they let the front axle start moving back and forth under the vehicle and the stearing sector is holding the tie rods in one place. replace your trac bar bushing and trac bar if needed and check the ancors on the axle and the frame as these can work loose as well. it looks like someone has added a piece in the trac bar to compensate for a lift or something if so you will need to keep that length.
one you get all the bushing and such tightened back up it should fix the shimmy unless you have major out of balance tires on the front from mud or snow

Ok then i think I'm just going to get the new trac bar....and hopefully that fixes it...

Any other ideas?

 

[cmanning302]

Ok well my front end suspension or something is messed up...
If I'm driving and a hit a bump my front end starts hoping all around...

I've looked out the window while it was happening and it looked like the tires were wobbling on the axles. So i replaced the bearings...it still happened so i replaced the ball joints...and it got better but it still happens...I don't know what else it could be...

I don't know if this could be the problem but i know that my trac bar bushings are shot and the bar itself is bent and all screwed up...apparently the person who put the lift on it didn't want to buy an adjustable trac bar so he cut it..bent it...and welded a piece into it...i mean the bar itself is strong but the bushings are shot and they are leaving a lot of play...Should i replace the whole bar or just the bushings? Could that be my problem?

Could it be the tires? 38" TSL Super Swampers

I know mt tie rod is good...but my drag link is bent...probably from a rock or something from the previous owner...But that should only effect my steering wheel position right?

ANY input is appreciated...and the faster the better...this is a daily driver....

Thanks

Mike

it could be the hole on the fruntend that the big bolt go,s in mine was egg shapet ant it would do that. we pute a new grad8 bolt in it and welded in the egg shape hole up and it dont do it no more.

 

[Broncobill78]

Ok well my front end suspension or something is messed up...
If I'm driving and a hit a bump my front end starts hoping all around...

I've looked out the window while it was happening and it looked like the tires were wobbling on the axles. So i replaced the bearings...it still happened so i replaced the ball joints...and it got better but it still happens...I don't know what else it could be...

I don't know if this could be the problem but i know that my trac bar bushings are shot and the bar itself is bent and all screwed up...apparently the person who put the lift on it didn't want to buy an adjustable trac bar so he cut it..bent it...and welded a piece into it...i mean the bar itself is strong but the bushings are shot and they are leaving a lot of play...Should i replace the whole bar or just the bushings? Could that be my problem?

Could it be the tires? 38" TSL Super Swampers

I know mt tie rod is good...but my drag link is bent...probably from a rock or something from the previous owner...But that should only effect my steering wheel position right?

ANY input is appreciated...and the faster the better...this is a daily driver....

Thanks

Mike

Mike,

I just posted about this on the 80-96 forum. I had the Exact same problem and it was the trac-rod. One of my 78/79's did this. It was fine around town at speeds under 30-40 but when I got up on the highway it would drive perfectly until I hit a bump & then the front end would shake viscously & the wheel would whipsaw back & forth. Once it started there was no way to stop it short of completely stopping the truck, slowing down didn't help. Is this what YOUR truck is doing ?

When it happened to me it was in a solid axle truck and the problem turned out to be the track-rod. It was pulling so hard that it actually sucked the bolt head *and the washer* thru the bolt hole in the frame and once it did that it allowed the frame-mount for the track-rod to pivot on the lower mounting bolt (the one in shock-mount) and that's what setup the whole see-saw thing. It scared me enough that I didn't **** around with it at all, I got an adjustable track-bar (K-bar-S I think or one of the Bronco vendors) and a new track-rod drop-down bracket. When I repaired the mounting point in the frame I welded a piece of thickwall pipe between the boltholes on the inside of the boxed frame to prevent the frame walls from distorting or bending inwards when the bolt was torqued down or when 4-wheeling and it also guaranteed that the new bolt & washer wouldn't punch thru the frame sidewall like the original one did. I then fabbed a large backing plate that went on to distribute the stress from the washer & bolt-head. On the 78/79 one of the quad-shock mounts is also used as an attachment point for the track-rod bracket and the bracket had been pivoting so badly that it had bent the shaft of the shock in that mount & I had to replace that as well.

The trac-rod mount on mine was the one that used the rear shock mount in the dual-shock setup. The upper mounting bolt went thru from left to right and the lower bolt went in from fron to back so when the upper bolt got pulled into the frame it allowed the whole bracket to pivot on the lower bolt and THAT'S what let the whole truck see-sew from side to side.

I dunno if this is what yours is doing but if it is look to the trac-rod