Adam Posted December 8, 2006 Share Posted December 8, 2006 i was just on my way home, i was driving down one of my neighborhoods, and there is a section of road that has 3 intersections, and each intersection is like a ditch, the main road is higher than the road intersecting i guess, so its really bumpy... so i got to the last one, doing probably 30-35, and as i start descending i hear a noise and by the time i got to the bottom of the bump my steering was veering right and it was obvious the front end wasn't level... so i get home, it drove fine besides the steering and bumpier ride, and look at it, but i can't really tell whats going on... i don't honestly know anything about this front suspension, i pulled out my chiltons, and i see something about torsion bars, and torsion bar springs, is that the mechanism that is the "spring" for my front end? and how could i tell if the shock was what failed? taking it out seems like it might be the best bet, but that would have to wait till tomorrow... i can jack the car up and the shock still extends, so its not stuck or anything... heres some pictures... i looked underneath, compared the passenger side to the drivers side, and nothing looked different or broken on the passenger side besides that it was sitting way low... shocks are cheap enough i could afford that, but i want to be sure of what it is before i go purchasing something... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
88pathoffroad Posted December 8, 2006 Share Posted December 8, 2006 Shocks won't make it steer funny. Looks to me like your torsion bar has either stripped out an anchor, the adjuster broke somehow or it's broken altogether. Time to jack it up and take a look. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
govols74n Posted December 9, 2006 Share Posted December 9, 2006 as 88 said, definately torsion bar issue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mws Posted December 9, 2006 Share Posted December 9, 2006 Jack it up, pull off the wheel and take some pictures of what you see in there and we will help you figure out what is wrong. Heck, we'll even teach you what some of the parts are! That's what we're for... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mws Posted December 9, 2006 Share Posted December 9, 2006 Oh, and most importantly, don't drive it until you know it is safe! Some things can be seriously deadly dangerous.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam Posted December 9, 2006 Author Share Posted December 9, 2006 erm i've already been driving it, probably put 30 miles on it since it happened... but tomorrow i'll be taking a look at it, supposed to be in the 60's... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slick Posted December 9, 2006 Share Posted December 9, 2006 erm i've already been driving it, probably put 30 miles on it since it happened... but tomorrow i'll be taking a look at it, supposed to be in the 60's... umm.. i highly suggest NOT driving it. and cold or warm, get that wheel off and look, you could be causing irreparable damage down there, and risking your safety, and the safety of others driving a broken truck aorund. cowboy up n get out there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam Posted December 9, 2006 Author Share Posted December 9, 2006 well i've not driven it since i got home last night, which was before i posted my last post lol, i'm getting out there, its gonna be a lot warmer at noon than it is just now, think i can wait 2 hours lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam Posted December 9, 2006 Author Share Posted December 9, 2006 and i can say, that this feels like when i had my front passenger air shock on my lincoln go out, and that did cause the steering to pull to the right, but i know they are totally different cars, totally different suspensions... anyways, i did find a long sleeve shirt, so i'm gonna go out there right now and pull the wheel and take pics Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam Posted December 9, 2006 Author Share Posted December 9, 2006 (edited) so i found the issue, though i don't exactly understand what it is... is this thing the torsion bar? the rest of the front suspension looks good, its identical to the drivers side, nothing looks broken, shock is good... but this bar, i'm guessing the torsion bar, looks like it popped out of place on the rear crossmember? edit: and on the pic from the rear, i see a white mark, looks like for indexing, thats not lined up? edit: so i just googled how torsion bars work, and have an understanding of it now, guess i'll look in my chilton and see if it explains this in there edit: looking in the manual, it mentions a snap ring, could that be what broke? or is there more to it? edit again lol: i just went and looked and the snap ring is still in tact... what actually holds this thing in? Edited December 9, 2006 by Adam Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam Posted December 9, 2006 Author Share Posted December 9, 2006 i pulled the torsion bar out on the front, and this is what i saw... not sure if this is what caused it, or a result? i cleaned it up with degreaser to get a better look at it, it had like wheel bearing grease or something similar on it... as it should i'm sure Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nissandoms47 Posted December 9, 2006 Share Posted December 9, 2006 whats the anchor you pulled it out of look like? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam Posted December 9, 2006 Author Share Posted December 9, 2006 yeah thats what i just pulled, and found this, looks like i need to call a dealer, or find a local bone yard with a pathy... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
88pathoffroad Posted December 9, 2006 Share Posted December 9, 2006 D'oh. If you can't find one, let me know. I still have the anchors off my 89 somewhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam Posted December 9, 2006 Author Share Posted December 9, 2006 i found a import yard, called them up, they said they have a 4x4 pathy, hopefully it still has that on it, or maybe they have more than one, i'm not sure, i can try another yard in the same area too, theres 2 import yards out there Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam Posted December 9, 2006 Author Share Posted December 9, 2006 success! i got the part for 5 bucks at the bone yard, and got it installed, used that index mark to line up the rear, but it was slightly high, i might fiddle with it again next weekend or tomorrow but for now i'm tired and hungry and am gonna go booze it up with friends tonight... learned a lot today, and now i understand how torsion bars work, life is good. took it for a test drive, it drives bumpy as it always has, but much smoother than yesterday lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yozsi Posted December 10, 2006 Share Posted December 10, 2006 hell yea, thats what this hobby is about. yah learn something new everyday. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedPath88 Posted December 10, 2006 Share Posted December 10, 2006 Good to hear that it ws a cheap fix... congrats on the success Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam Posted December 10, 2006 Author Share Posted December 10, 2006 luckily i've only owned cars that need lots of work, so this is actually refreshing cause it needs less work lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeV Posted December 11, 2006 Share Posted December 11, 2006 Thats the Pathy Joy, I might pay a little more in gas, but hardly ever need to work on it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mws Posted December 11, 2006 Share Posted December 11, 2006 Well done, grasshopper! The extra height indicates you may have installed the TB one spline off. But you may be able to just loosen the adjustor and drop it back down. I's OK if the left adjustor is at a different angle than the right - it's just important to keep the truck relatively level. And they usually settle a bit after driving so you may need to adjust it 2 or 3 times. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam Posted December 12, 2006 Author Share Posted December 12, 2006 it actually seems like it settled right where it should be, it looks level now, after 2 days of driving it, roughly 75 miles or so... i'll look out in case it settles more, and yeah, i used the adjustor in the back to lower it when i initially did it, i didn't want to go too far though, so i didn't get it just at level when i did it saturday... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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