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Front tires!

h1crwchf

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Stafford Virginia
My front tires are cupping on the outside, more on the right tire than left, is that alignment? I keep the pressure at 50 in all the tires. She has a slight shudder between 50 and 53mph but very smooth above and below those speeds. If it is alignment, is there anything other than toe adjustment? Can you jack it up and measure and set the toe yourself? Any advice would be great, tires are expensive!
 

Jones

Well-known member
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Sacramento, California
Definately sounds like adjustment. The down and dirty way to check is to make sure the wheels are pointed straight ahead then jack up both fronts. Remembering to secure the vehicle on stands so as not to end the test, or your rythmical breathing too soon. At this point it might be good to see if you have play in the steering knuckle bearings by grabbing the top and bottom of the tire and seeing if you can move the wheel up and down. Now that the front wheels are off the ground, draw a chalk line down the center of each tire tread while spinning the wheel. Next, measure the distance between the marks on the front of the tire and the rear of the tire at a fixed distance from the ground as close to the centerline of the axle as you can get. That should give you a pretty good idea of your toe-in.
Hope this helps.
 

cranetruck

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You can measure all the alignment parameters yourself using a tape measure and a carpenter's level.
Toe-in: Measure distance between tires behind the axle and front of the axle at axle height. Should be less than 1/8 inch.
Camber: Hold a carpenter's level vertically agains the outside of the tire letting it touch the lower portion. Measure distances between level and the wheel at top and bottom. Calculate difference. Use trig to figure angle. About 1 degree.
Caster: Clamp the level to the bumper and measure the distances from the king pin bearings to it (top and bottom). use trig again to calculate the angle. Should be the same for both wheels, about 4 degrees.

Leaf springs have built-in damping (never lube leaf springs) and the shocks only damp higher frequency vibrations, that's why they can be small and none used in the rear.
The cupping of the front tires is also caused by the coupling of the rear axles. There is no interaxle differential between the two rear axles and resist the turning effort of the front wheels. It's okay off-road, but on dry pavement it causes the front tires to scuff in every turn.
Remove the interaxle propeller shaft for much less scuffing and smaller turnng radius (will reduce it by about 5 feet). See article in MVM issue #105, Oct 2004 for more on this.

__________________
Bjorn
MVPA 19212

1968 M49A2C modified. 1972 HIAB 765A crane and 1960 M756 pipeline truck bed.
11.00-20 NDCC singles.
M103A3 trailer.

"Some things cannot be made better, just differently"

CURRENTLY WORKING ON: Vehicle wiring, adding relays for headlights and turn signals.
Adding small fuel tank (starting and shutting down in cold weather) and installing heating coil in main tank for biodiesel/cooking oil.
 

cranetruck

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Meadows of Dan, Virginia
One more thing, tire pressure, increase to 60 psi in the front for 9.00-20 tires. Especially if you have a winch and spend time on the highway. With duals, you can run 40 psi in the back.

Bjorn
 

KaiserJeep

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I was having a similar problem with mine a few months back. I threw a new set of shocks on and seems to have curred my problem.
 

cranetruck

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I replaced my shocks last year, but stupidly didn't save the paper work. The shocks are slightly larger than the originals and are marked "Meritor T112 7SA". The mounting hole had to be enlarged to accommodate the larger stud dia. A Unibit did the job.
Hope that helps.
Bjorn
 

h1crwchf

New member
94
0
0
Location
Stafford Virginia
Sure does

cranetruck said:
I replaced my shocks last year, but stupidly didn't save the paper work. The shocks are slightly larger than the originals and are marked "Meritor T112 7SA". The mounting hole had to be enlarged to accommodate the larger stud dia. A Unibit did the job.
Hope that helps.
Bjorn
Sure does, Thanks!!
 
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