31 ford TCI front wandering issues

not real sure here but may have found my problem, what do you all think.Car always wanted to lock left front first on hard braking, just felt wrong to drive with quality parts such as TCI suspension, wanted to wander, high speeds are scary don't know where the car wants to go. I checked all the bolts, rack play, wheel bearings both front and back, tire pressures, jag rear for bushing wear etc.friend brought a magnetic caster/camber over These are the figures he came up with: Driver side, Camber 0.3, Caster -0.9, no toe available. Pass. side, Camber 0.2, Caster +1.3, no toe available. He said to add Caster but the adjustment is stuck so PB blaster overnight and see what happens. So my question is do you think we are heading in the right direction?

I have a Fatman MS2 front end on my car. My chassis guy said you need to have at least 3-4 deg caster for the car to handle at speed. So if you get the nuts loose and can get more caster, you are probably headed in the right direction.

Thanx for the reply, was able to get the passenger side adjuster to move this morning, still working on the drivers side. I am going to start at +4 and see what happens, If this is my problem great, at least the car got a good going thru. This forum has been a great help in the past, some real knowledgeable people here. Thanx again Brian

TCI specs are:

Caster = 1.5
Camber = .25
Toe = 1/32 radials, 1/16 to 1/8 bias ply

But of course, that is based on perfect conditions. Tire size differential, front and rear will cause some modification to those numbers and even tire brands. I would start at ground 'zero', their spec, but you will probably end up with more caster and a bit more toe.

Yep--definitely needs castor for stability, however you will reach a point that it becomes hard to steer( as in effort) unless you have power steering.

Also with IRS there can be considerable bump steer effecting tow on the rear wheels!!!!

I had a pantera with IRS that had a bad outter U joint that created handling problems

ok finally got everything broke loose, I am at +4 degrees caster and that made a world of difference tracks much better although I may try a couple more degrees and see what happens. It still steers easy. I don't know if this makes any sense or not but it actually seems to steer easier. I still have the manual rack on, although I have all ready cut a power rack to fit. From what I have read increasing caster should help the steering return to center after turning this still does not happen. Thanx for the jag rear bump steer issue, I imagine that could be occurring and with such a short car it is probably much more noticeable. something else to address. I'll check all U joints etc. Got to love those Panteras! Ic2 thanx for the specs..Yea I started at +4. Nice ride by the way, Is it also a TCI front end?

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Originally Posted by Dq383500

Ic2 thanx for the specs..Yea I started at +4. Nice ride by the way, Is it also a TCI front end?

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Thanks. Yes - it's a full TCI Stage 3 chassis (that I lost my mind on:whacked::whacked:)

If it doesn't return to center, you may have a tight spot somewhere--jack it up and turn from side to side to check for binding, etc--if you find a tight spot you will probably have to un hook steering rods to find out which wheel or maybe steering box/rack

Did the braking get better??? have you checked the corner weights??? also an unbalanced weight (springs) in the rear will effect loading in the front--

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Originally Posted by jerry clayton

If it doesn't return to center, you may have a tight spot somewhere--jack it up and turn from side to side to check for binding, etc--if you find a tight spot you will probably have to un hook steering rods to find out which wheel or maybe steering box/rack

Did the braking get better??? have you checked the corner weights??? also an unbalanced weight (springs) in the rear will effect loading in the front--

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I jacked up the front and found no tight spots., as far as braking I braked fairly hard and it seemed to be better, although being on a small two lane with trees on both sides I decided I better wait for a better opportunity with clear road. I really had not given thought to the unbalanced weight in the rear as this has never been set, and I would imagine with four shocks in rear it could be quite substantial, I think maybe I had better look for some proper resources to get this chassis set correctly, although I would like to do it myself, I just don't have the equipment or knowledge, thanks all for the help!

Here is what I did. I just got so frustrated and gave it all the caster I could, If this car has to go to a specialist, and it may soon, than so be it. Problem is with this much caster if the car rebounds to hard the upper control arms will contact the shock upper spring mount mount aluminum : for lack of a better word retainer: I can only tell you it drives great, no more having to constantly make corrections for, and I hope you never have to experience this.," just where is this thing going".With the expletives thrown in. so thanx again Ya'all ... Mr. Jerry, Sorry for not answering your question "did the braking get better" as of now as close to perfect as I would think possible. It is truly, if you wanted to do this, a one fingered operation. With a fully boxed frame with additional gussets and cross members. Thank you again Brian..... Look.. to be perfectly honest with you I would like to have the weights set up correctly, but ..and the big butt, I do work offshore, and right now unless we are drilling , or towing drill rigs which is what we do with the Tugs than..well you know

Have you checked the toe-in?

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Originally Posted by IC2

Thanks. Yes - it's a full TCI Stage 3 chassis (that I lost my mind on:whacked::whacked:)

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dont even know what to exactally do

I'm at that point where I just want to cut the front end off, when I said it drove perfectly , It did on jack stands!( look.. just threw that in) actually drove it. now I read that there is a right and left upper control arm, with no indication showing on mine.Could it be that because I went with the show chrome front end and it was polished off? To be fair to TCI I finally got some one at alignment Specialist "Tire Kingdom" to agree to try to get my car on the rack, and this whole thing could very well be attributed to myself, which It probably is, as I'm sure TCI has engineered this to work and work well. If you are interested in the what the alignment rack shows, let me know. I will be bringing a lot of boards with me to try and get this 31 on the rack, as well as removing the front panel for a better chance,as the alignment tech said he needed it at ride height. Thing is I wouldn't think they have the ability to check spring rates as was mentioned. all I can say is at this point the car is pretty much undrivable..., read scared the hell out of myself at 55 mph with a small bump in the road not safe for anybody. sorry HR just guessing, I gave it two turns tow in and I thought I was on the right track but no. I could set up to do the string method but at this point, I think I need more than that, Caster , Camber, toe and all the other. I have never had this problem on any other car. oh.. as an addition bought new tires both front and rear, radial ta 255-70 sr15 rear made in USA and traction TA in front, BF goodrich no longer makes the TA in my smaller size for the front,so had to get the made in where..all I know is not USA

You may have caught on to something. I don't remember the A-arms being perfectly symmetrical. I believe both upper and lower had a right and a left. If that's true and you interchanged them, the geometery would really be FUBAR. Of course, it's been years since I used a TCI IFS, so I could be wrong.

The lowers arms are the same while there uppers have a L&R. I don't recall any problem assembling mine, but I'm sure that there is enough of a difference that they wouldn't, first of all "look" right, nor would the angle of the bushing tube even align with the frame/adjuster eccentric - which is, I believe the only way to tell them apart (its been a couple years since mine went together and I do have terminal OF CRS:LOL::LOL:).

A few more things to look at:
- Is the R&P steering tightly mounted to the frame? Slop in the steering shaft?
- If it is a 2 or more piece steering shaft, solidly mounted support bearing(s)
- Is there a weld fracture somewhere? Front OR rear
- Is that Jag rear end aligned correctly? Springs correct for a 2500# car, i.e. bump steer shoving the car around?
- Loose wheel bearings - rear swing arm bushings or bearings can contribute.

Another question; do you have anti-sway bar front, rear, either, neither?

Have you checked over all the rear mounting hardware as well?

you all have brought up some very important things to check, most not all, I have done.The "tire kingdom" alignment did not work out as the Mechanic was out for the day.I did contact TCI and a very helpful tech told me not to worry about switching the upper A arms, as they were the same, and they hadn't changed the original instructions yet. BP Uh oh...is it OK to use BP sorry but had to.I do have front sway bar, none rear. As far as the rack, it is tight,what I have done is get rid of most of the polished stainless fastners which looked great but just don't cut it in the real driving environment, just ask my driveshaft bolt to yoke, and also my rack to frame which previously had worked loose, no more. anyway to make a long story shorter I may have locally found a shop that can help me, great guy, Billy Carter, Billys auto repair has helped a whole community. guys honest and a street rodder/hot rodder I do believe this will give me the results I want, his words "do them all the time" from a fellow rodder I believe him.

I wanted to post my results.Yea Billy's really came thru.What I got was a four wheel alignment, and I can tell you It's a different car. so I want to thank mother nature for throwing a thunderstorm at me on the way home, no way before would I have been able to drive thru that wind and water before. Thank god for street rodders/drag racers and all around good people who own repair shops. so thanks all for the input. as for the specs they were set to pretty much what TCI recommended with a little more caster.