Question for people that done solid axle conversion?

[forcefed]

Ok I got my dana 60 in my truck and having some questions? My tires will start to wobble at about 30mph so badly that the front of the truck is out of control. So I went and bought a twin shock steering stabilizer. NO HELP. All my steering parts are new. Now what is the toe setting on the tires supposed to be. I did some measuring and my front side of my front tires are 1/2" closer than the rear side. Wasn't sure what toe setting you other guys were running. Its a king pin dana 60 and my buddy checked everything out before I installed and he said everything seemed to be fine. Am I missing something here because I'm not very educated on the whole suspension deal. Also some other guy I talked too said I may need to put shims under my leafs springs that are tapered to get my camber (I think he said) back the way it should be since I got a Lift. Just curious if anybody else had this problem when they did the swap?

 

[tractorman86]

have it aligned on a laser rack, it'll cost you but in the long run it will be worth it. with what i call a death wabble you will eat tires and posibily tear something up.

 

[fsr7]

The last kingpin 60 I put under a TTB truck had a lot of death wobble issues as well - When it had the wobble, I had the best luck keeping the tires toed out slightly rather than toed in, like yours are. My wobble went away when I did a shackle reversal - I.E., moved the shackle to the rear of the spring and had the springs mounted solid at the front of the truck. It seems like the slightest amount of wear in the front spring/shackle bushings wreak havoc on TTB trucks when you swap to a solid. My front bushings were relatively new, but it still shook like hell.

 

[RedTruck]

After looking at your signature I'm guessing you went from 4x4 twin to the D60...is that right?

Are you using the springs from the D44/D50?

If so, D44/D50's sit differently on a set of springs than a D60. You'll have to use a huge shim to make it work. A lot of aligment shops don't know how to do this (or won't). I had the same problem and bought D60 springs for mine. It's hard enough getting a good alignment.

Please keep us up to date with your progress, and let us know if you have anymore questions.

Paul

 

[supervert]

i went from 2wd to a d60 and have absolutely zero d.w. and i dont run a steering stabilizer.
there are a few things you can do but we need to know what exactly has been done to you truck. and you don't need to go to a alignment shop with a straight axle. i do all of mine with a tape and a angle finder.

now, do you have a a trac bar ?
whats your caster angle ?
how tight is your king pins ?
how tight are all of your steering linkages ?
what kind of shape is your steering box in ?

you need about 5 to 7 degrees of caster.
you also should have your toe in set around 1/8".
if your king pins are to loose you can put a washer under the spring cap to tighten them up.
if at all possible you should try to make a trac bar the same length and the same angle as your draglink.

 

[subway]

do you have the track bar from under the engine to the axle hooked up.

a properly set up steering should never need a steering stabilizer to fix things. it just covers stuff up if anything.

like mentioned that toe in is way out at the least it should be toed about 1/8" in at the front.

 

[u2slow]

You're still running the worn-crooked tires from the TTB? ;p

If you have a kingpin D60, you may need to get new springs and cones for it. Than seems to cure death-wobble for some folks.

Adding a steering stabilizer cured 3 of my trucks of death-wobble - 2 chevies with KP60s, and my '95 F350 with the balljoint D60.

FWIW, even the '90 IDI in my sig has death-wobble now... with the D44TTB.

 

[hesutton]

If you did not use the track bar (which must have a relocation bracket with lift), that is a big problem. You can use a steering stablizer, go to an alignment shop, adjust this and that, but you got to have the track bar or it's still going to death wobble on you.

Like stated above, is your lift for a F350 or TTB F350? There should be a relocation bracket for the track bar in any good F350 4x4 lift.

Heath

 

[RedTruck]

This Link is just an example of how many springs are available for these axle combinations. Each spring can provide different caster, height, weight, etc depending on the axle. I had new poly bushings in my old springs and shackles prior to finding the right ones. The old springs worked fine for the original axle. With the new D60 at 40 mph...death wobble.

Your best bet is to get the original springs that came with that '89 king pin axle. Or find a good alignment shop, tell them what you did and see if they can help you get it in check.

Just my .02

Paul

 

[u2slow]

If you did not use the track bar (which must have a relocation bracket with lift), that is a big problem. You can use a steering stablizer, go to an alignment shop, adjust this and that, but you got to have the track bar or it's still going to death wobble on you.

Of course.... the track bar must be retained if you stick with the stock shackle configuration. No amount of other correction will help if you don't have it.

However, I think the better way to go is the RSK and eliminate the track bar altogether.

 

[tractorman86]

RSK? what is that? just do a shackel reversal(better handeling, stronger, and more flex avalible) then have a track bar made if you cant make one yourself. this will keep the axle from walking side to side.

 

[riotwarrior]

This sounds like a Caster/Toe issue.

The advice to utilize shims is very very dangerous. DO NOT USE SHIMS OR BLOCKS on a front axle at any time.

The Use of shims is extremely dangerous as the shim could potentially pop out under cornering loads or the twisting / braking force of the front end under load during use. Any competent front end mechanic should be able to explain this. No Lift company would endorse this, Every truck magazine I know and read agree that shims and blocks do not on a front end belong what so ever.

Look into shackle reversal if needed as suggested or have the spring pads removed and re-welded on correctly. The one on the Left side will of course need to be machined to the correct angle.

This is one reason it takes a great deal of engineering to properly and safely convert a TTB or 2WD to Solid Axle 4WD and maintain proper steering geometry.


AGAIN!!!! The advice to utilize shims is very very dangerous. DO NOT USE SHIMS OR BLOCKS on a front axle at any time.

JM2CW

 

[Mr_Roboto]

If angle shims coming loose are a big concern you could always weld them to the axle.

1/2" toe in is obviously way off. The goal is that when you are running down the road and the steering components compress, you have exactly zero toe in. This is accomplished by starting with a very small amount of static toe-in.

Be careful trying to measure toe-in off the tires. A bent rim or wavy sidewall can throw your measurements off quite a bit. Alignment machines have a calibration for each vehicle that takes out-of-true components into account.

If you don't have a track bar the front axle will move side to side and there's no way to go down the road straight.

 

[tractorman86]

This sounds like a Caster/Toe issue.

The advice to utilize shims is very very dangerous. DO NOT USE SHIMS OR BLOCKS on a front axle at any time.

i agree it is a VERY BAD IDEA to use any thing between the spring and the axle on the front. you can get away with it on the back cause it dosen't have near as much stress on it side to side.

Be careful trying to measure toe-in off the tires. A bent rim or wavy sidewall can throw your measurements off quite a bit. Alignment machines have a calibration for each vehicle that takes out-of-true components into account.

this is why i said earlier to have it put on a laser rack

 

[forcefed]

Well I have the drop track bar bracket ordered but still waiting on it. Yes I had the dana 50 IFS and I went to the dana 60 and kept my leaf springs from my dana 50 because I have a lift. I know the track bar makes a world of difference but just driving staight down a smooth road I can give gas and it will start shaking. Now if I coast down a hill above 30mph no problem but as soon as I hit the gas pedal and the weight shifts on the truck to the rear it will start shaking. Also yes I am still running the same tires from my old axle. All my steering suspension is new so no play in that area, but as far as my kingpins, my buddy checked them out for me and he couldn't find any play in them. Sorry i still have alot of variables but like I said before I'm not big on the suspension side of vehicles. I appreciate all the responses and sorry for the long delay but work on is on high demand right now and its kicking my free time out the door. I was trying to get this truck on the road so I can burn my WMO for free and stop buying gas but right now I just can't drive the truck and trying to get free time to work on it is hard right now. I think for now I will wait on my trac bar bracket and adjust my toe out a little bit. Thanks again for all the responses and I will keep you updated on what I find helps the most.