hawkfall

It's a 1993 F150 with the 4.9L I6, 4wd.

I bought this vehicle already lifted, it has a 6 inch lift and it seems to be done properly with premium parts (besides the steering dampener and possibly pitman arm which you can see below). No homemade stuff.


The steering dampener is rubbing the tie rod, to the point where it's marking up the dampener badly and breaking loose anything I try to use to secure the boot. I do not know a lot about these TTB axles, steering, and all of that. This is actually the first American vehicle I have ever owned.

It seems like it's the wrong steering dampener, wrong brackets holding the steering dampener on, or the pitman arm is to short. Possibly a combination of all of that.

Let me know what you think after you see the pictures.

Chris_1

iTrader: (1)

That looks like the proper drop pitman arm. Truck's got an awful lot of lift on it. Maybe a bit too much ? Things always get a little screwed up if you go too far with the whole lifting thing.
Looks like the dampener needs a different (frame end) attachment point. You may need to fabricate a bracket if you can't find a better spot for it.

hawkfall

I have seen other OBS F-150's with much more lift, I am not saying it's not a lot but I do not think it's extreme.

Here's a picture of it with the 6" lift, I don't think it is to crazy.



The steering damper kits I have found online seem to have a different bracket that mounts to the frame, maybe this is possibly the issue? Here is a picture of the Moog kit to see what I am talking about:



Any other ideas or suggestions from anyone would be appreciated.

justintendo

i have never seen one attach that way on a ford like that. usually they attach to the frame instead of the bottom of the spring area like that. that way it can move free of the tie rods..

hawkfall

You definitely pointed me in the right direction, thank you!


After some research and looking at broncos with the same front axle, it appears that this is some universal steering damper kit on there which is obviously not working right. Seems like there is 2 types of proper steering damper kits for these trucks which either mount to the frame with some long brackets and/or u-bolts or mount to the engine crossmember.

justintendo

thats how i have seen them, the two ways you mention...sounds like you are on the right track. perhaps you can just buy a hardware kit and use your damper still. might be hard tho with your lift.