46 ford does not steer strait

my car wants to pull to the low side of the road you are always holding the wheel to keep it strait if you put car on crown of road it steers normal if on left side of road it wants to pull to low side king pins and all tie rods good all spring eyes good alignment 1/6th toe in tires 600 16 radials at 40 psi camber 1 degree + caster is low at 2.5 steerig box is tight thinking some leafs missing out of front spring is affecting steering hope someone can help or has corrected the problem thanks dave
 
my car wants to pull to the low side of the road you are always holding the wheel to keep it strait if you put car on crown of road it steers normal if on left side of road it wants to pull to low side king pins and all tie rods good all spring eyes good alignment 1/6th toe in tires 600 16 radials at 40 psi camber 1 degree + caster is low at 2.5 steerig box is tight thinking some leafs missing out of front spring is affecting steering hope someone can help or has corrected the problem thanks dave

I think 40 PSI in the front tires MAY be a bit much but I do not think this is the problem.

It sounds like you may not have enough Caster. It is my understanding that these solid axle cars need as much as 7 Deg. Caster to make them steer straight.

Chris
 
I run 40 PSI in the radials on our Flatheads and have had no problems. Have you checked the drag link?
 
I run 40 PSI in the radials on our Flatheads and have had no problems. Have you checked the drag link?
coker tire said 41 psi is right all tie rod ends are good green book says 41/2 to 8 is good for caster ball is new on radius rod there is a wedge on top of spring could be missing ill look further into it thanks for the interest dave
 
Do you have the original front axle? I've heard horror stories of people heating the axle and bending it to get the alignment back in the "good old days"

You say you have 6.00 16 radials, are you sure? Thats bias-ply sizing. My bias plies find every nook and cranny in the road and pull me right into them.
 
You need to be a little more specific on the vehicle for a more accurate reply but this is my take from the information. First 40 lbs air is way to high, not even a new car from the factory used that much air pressure. Lowering it to 25-30 will increase your ride characteristics and be less jarring. The next is the tire construction, if you are running bias ply tires they are more likely to off track than radial due to sidewall construction. You did not indicate the condition of your steering box so we would have to assume that it is centered and adjusted correctly of free play.

Because your vehicle pulls on a crowned road I would check the toe of the vehicle first insuring it is in the "1/16th inch in" reading range. As the higher driver side tire hits the crown of the road the LF tire rises and the angle of the solid axle creates a greater positive camber on the inner tire RF. Because of the high air pressure, the tire is ballooned up so the center is taller than the outside edges. Because of the increased camber this produces a smaller rolling diameter on the outer edge and the tire favors the smaller diameter. Because the tire is slightly smaller in radius the smaller edge trys to spin faster and the additonal outward camber creates an effect that rolls the tire away from the center line of the car which you interperet as a pull to the right effect. I think just lowering the air pressure may help your issue so the tire sqauts a little and takes away some of the rigidity of the tire. This will lower the camber effect, even the tire diameter and maybe reduce the right pull.
 
Do you have the original front axle? I've heard horror stories of people heating the axle and bending it to get the alignment back in the "good old days"

You say you have 6.00 16 radials, are you sure? Thats bias-ply sizing. My bias plies find every nook and cranny in the road and pull me right into them.

I run 6.00x16 Coker radials on our '39 Ford CS at 40psi, they've been on for four years and except for a tube or two going bad, I've had no trouble with them.
 
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