steering wheel position

bugsiegel

bugsiegel

Senior Member
I have a two part question.
I don't know what you call it but I had a conversation with someone a while ago about his drop tank dragster and how far leaning to the rear ( I think this is called raked) his front linkage was leaning. He explained to me how that helps keep the wheels in the straight position and when you turn, it will want to go back to straight.

Then we took that concept and he said it could be done to my F1. And it would help with going straighter down the road. of course not as much as his car was designed to go straight only but a little will help with the truck. Someplace in the conversation he said that the neutral position of the steering wheel would be off a little.

I'm wondering if someone did this to my truck before me and how do I tell?
My truck will want to return to neutral after a turn and my steering wheel is slightly turned to the right. My alignment is good so I don't understand why then steering wheel looks like it's turning a few inches. The bottom spoke of the steering wheel is on 7 o-clock and not 6 o-clock. The truck goes down the road good. Not too much of a wanderer and no real play in the steering. If I let go of the steering it will track straight-ish. If I put that wheel to neutral it will turn left.
How do I get it the wheel back to straight when the truck is going straight?
Not a big issue but if the position of the wheel is correctable, I'd like to make that change. Is it as simple as pulling off the steering wheel and turning it one notch or are they only one position to the column with adjustments done at the front end?
Thanks in advance.
 
What you are talking about meaning Rake is positive Caster a Bicycle front wheel is a good example of positive caster. You should have a couple of degrees of positive caster the right wheel actually should have about 1/4° more to compensate for road crown this will make your truck run down the road straight.
Your steering wheel being off center would be toe in or toe out; it may have proper toe in but your tie rod ends were not adjusted to bring the steering wheel back to the center position; in the seventies when I did alignments ford steering wheels could be removed and centered on the steering shaft since there was no dead spline like GM used. I don’t know if that is an option with your F1, IMO it is better to adjust the tie rods to center the wheel since you would be on the high point of the steering gear which would help to maintain a straight line. You should turn your steering wheel all the way to the left stop and count the turns all the way back to the right stop and then back to the center ½ the turns and see if your wheel is centered. Your wheel may not be centered causing you most of your problems IMO; if the steering wheel is centered you will be on the high point of the steering gear (it is a little tighter there) and it should maintain a straight line.

Regards,

Brian
 
If the F1 has "cross steering" - i.e. the steering box on the left side with the drag link going to the right spindle - wouldn't shortening or lengthening the drag link via the adjustments on each end, as opposed to the tie rod, change the relative position of the steering wheel? Just a thought.
 
Hello, the drag link on the f1 is non adjustable, Henry, the box is on the left and the drag link attaches to the left spindle via the steering arm, it's not considered "cross steering". I use 6 degrees of caster on my front axle and 1/32" of toe in. I drive it daily, runs down the road great, even on bias tires. I centered the steering shaft by counting turns, then once final toe in was set, I moved it one spline to center the wheel. I hope this helps.

Matt.
 
Sorry..busy day at work..yes I removed the steering wheel once the truck was aimed straight, then rotated it one spline on the steering shaft to center it..bolted it back down.

Matt.
 
got it.
How difficult to remove? is a puller needed? I would imagine once the horn button is lifted there's a nut below?
 
Matt - Thanks for the info. I am now better educated. I should know better than to open my mouth when I'm not sure about things.
 
Henry, I like to put my foot in my mouth at least once a week, just to remember how much I like real food. Ha ha, :D.Hope I was'nt rude. Yes you will need a puller, be sure to leave the steering shaft nut on, but finger tight when using the puller, you can mushroom out the threaded part of the shaft with too much puller force if you dont. (ask me how I know).
 
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