I've had my truck about a month now. It's got a 4" Skyjacker springs up front. Going straight down the road the truck pulls to the right so it needs to be aligned but when I hit a bump, it pulls hard to the left. What causes this?

Bumpsteer... fix your steering angles.

Originally posted by FYRMAN
Bumpsteer... fix your steering angles.

And for the turning right during braking, check your u-bolts. If they are loose, the axle will shift during braking.

both those steering problems are BUMPSTEER

What's up Scott!

Any suggestions on that? This is my first SFA truck so sorry for being a moron.

Why don't you take it to get aligned and while it is there ask them what you can do to fix it.

Do you have the sway-bar hooked up?
Do you use disconects?
What is the angle like of the Draglink (goes from steering box to axle)?

An alignment sounds like an excellent place to start. The sway bar is hooked up. No discos on there. Drag link angle is almost parallel with the truck and the flat ground. I'm gonna go pull the bolt on the steering stabilizer and see if it's still good or not.
*time passes*
Yeah I took it off and the steering is just easier without it. The bumpsteer is no different. Maybe it was put on to correct it and has just worn out? It had some play in it. There was like a dead area of about 3" where at first it was easier to push in. It was as difficult to move after those 3" as it was to pull out to begin with. I'll probably get that alignment this week.

If the steering linkages are good and parallel, I would start looking into ball joints, tie rod ends, etc... Might be why the guy before you got rid of it. Sometimes that can run you hundreds of dollars.

And yes, the steering stabillizer was a band-aid. A truck with good steering should not have to have a stabillizer, IMHO.

the parallel to the ground draglink is why you are having BUMPSTEER.
no alignment is going to fix it.
your draglink should slope towards the rear with positive arc lift springs.
the axle moves rearward on compression due to the springs flattening and elongating.
having the draglink angles down to the rear it will 'more closely' follow the spring path.
if the draglink is parrallel, as the spring elongates the draglink effective length shortens as it arcs up. BUMPSTEER.

there is a theory that goes along the lines of having the draglink and swaybar arm angles equal as the swaybar forces the axle to travel in a bound up arc.

It is angled down very slightly from the steering box back. Are you saying it should slope upwards or further down?

probably a bit further down.

I called a guy I know that usually knows his stuff on 4x4s. He said I need camber blocks??? Never even heard of them. Any info you guys wanna offer?

well that has no effect on your bumpsteer problem.
reduced CASTER can cause high speed wander and reduced return to centre.

have to correct this.
I was refering to CASTER not camber.
as I have no idea what a camber block would be, shims under the spindle mount could change camber

I went to a front end shop today. First things first, the shop pointed out both ends of my draglink are worn so I bought those and I'm replacing them tomorrow and then next week I'm gonna go back to the front end shop and get it aligned. I really appreciate all the help, MJ and everybody else!

Rod ends, just like I thought. I had an old 66 Chevy Biscayne that would get Death Wobble every time I hit a bump at highway speeds. Rod ends were the problem there too.

I replaced the draglink ends for something like $50 with TRW ends but so far nothing's changed as far as the handling of the truck. I'll get that alignment in a week or two once and go from there.

Things that contributed to my bumpsteer problems, Worn ball joints, worn bearings, improper caster(I think), bad tie rod ends, a loose steering arm, a bad steering gear box(1/4 inch vertcal movement), and finally a cracked frame. The 35s I had were to much for my 10bolt for the offset I had. Ofcoarse this didnt all happen at once. good luck

ok, that list is for bad steering problems NOT bumpsteer.
bumpsteer is a geometry problem