Dana 60 turn radius

Nero

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Hey all, back at it again with more shenanigans.
So my dad's crew cab seems to have a much tighter turn radius than my own, which is annoying because I usually am the one with the camper/toys in tow. His crew cab, as far as I know have the stock steering box and axle to the truck when it was built.

My truck however is a Frankenstein's monster truck. The chassis is a 1990, front axle and gear box are out of a 1988. I've already removed the bump stops from the wheel ends, yet my turn radius is still 'requires the full cul-de-sac to turn around' which is difficult, especially when people have parked on the road.

Is this just the nature of the beast? Or is something up?

All drag links/tie rods were replaces when I rebuilt the front axle.
 

Big Bart

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Nero,

We need a little more to go on. Like tire size, lift kit, 4x4, if 4x4 do they have the same Dana axle, both brick nose, same years, stock steering, same pitman arm, both have the Ford or Saginaw steering box, etc.?

So help us understand what you both have so we can noodle on it.
 

asmith

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I have a '93 crew cab long bed with the dana 60 front axle. the thing is a boat. In most cul-de-sacs I have to make a three point turn. It is terrible.
 

WrenchWhore

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First thing I'd do is find the true center of your steering box without the drag link in the mix. Then put the tires dead straight and check to see how far off this is. I've done this buy taking the drag link off the pitman or drag link off the knuckle. I've had to fix this issue for customers many times where the box wasn't perfectly in the center and they adjusted all the steering to one side to compensate. Sometimes even adding another issue of an aftermarket steering wheel being put on wrong as well making turn signals not turn off after a turn. If you're steering wheel was never taken off and moved your problems probably lie in the front end parts. If you can removed the steering stops out of the equation you can start narrowing down the issue. A bit confusing I bet if you're tires aren't rubbing the springs lock to lock this could be your issue
 

Golden Helmet

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The dana 60 has a better turning radius than the dana 50 ttb. My truck is an F-250 super cab with a D60 swapped in, and the difference in turning radius is very noticeable.

As someone else said, compare the pitman arm length on both trucks. If your truck was born 2wd and you converted it to 4x4 with a D60 swap, maybe you're still using the 2wd pitman arm or somehow you got an F-250 pitman arm. That will kill your turning radius.
 

Nero

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Sorry I'm just now getting back to Y'all, both trucks have 235/85 R16's, all 100% stock suspension. Unknown which gear boxes they have. As far as I'm aware, they're both factory.

Both trucks were factory 4wd's, but my truck I had to piece together, as I bought it as a stripped frame with just a cab. I can measure the pitman arm lengths later.
Neither truck drags the wheels on the springs, but I understand how it could be a turn out. Something else I'll look into.
 

Nero

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I do already have a small air tank and electric pump for my air bags... Wouldn't be hard to plumb in! Reason why I want to make my turn radisu tighter is because it's hard to turn around in a cul-de-sac with a boat in tow.
 

Farmer Rock

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One of two reasons I sold my beloved crew cab was the ridiculous turning radius of the d60. And I ground off the stops as well. My super duty dually puts it to shame. Other reason was gearing.
It comes with the territory I guess
Rock
 

Cubey

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Unknown which gear boxes they have. As far as I'm aware, they're both factory.

90s Ford ranger, 80s-90s(?) F and E series, all the same exact steering gearbox (at least for 2WD). You can check the cross reference on O'Reilly's website. I pulled a gearbox from a junk yard Ranger in 2017 and put it on my F250. Had to change the pitman arm, was all. The new one I got from AutoZone for my RV says its F250 too.

Dunno about 4WD but you could probably cross reference them too. It wouldn't shock me if it's the same one.
 

Big Bart

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Ditto on pitman arm. I would check if you both lock out the same left to right distance since you axles seem to be from different years.
 
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