Next week, BertII will go to the front end shop to see what has to be done to improve the drivability of the Breakaway('93 28'). The Spartan data sheet refers to it as a Dana I-60 front axle with a GAWR of 6000#. The steering column is attached to a miter box about 2' in front of the axle. There is a short shaft with u-joints from the miter box to the steering box which is mounted on the axle. I believe there are king pins, ball joints and tie rods. The whole assembly is attached to the frame via leaf springs. Two shock absorbers, one on each side.
My son-in-law looked at it and he is quite knowledgeable. He felt play in the miter box, the u-joints, and the steering box. A front end guy looked at it and said because of the 'Steer Safe' devices attached to the axle, he couldn't tell me what the king pins and ball joints look like. Same story on tie rod ends. My question is
What's the worst case scenario and how much? I've been told that the steering box and miter box are about $500 each, parts only. If I have to have the king pins, ball joints and tie rod ends replaced, how much more? All work would have to be done by a reputable front end shop. My guess is around 2K for everything. The shocks are new Bilsteins.

I had the kingpins replaced with all-steel; they were around $200 for the pair, and labor was around $350. The PO had replaced the Saginaw 710 steering box with a rebuilt. IIRC, the miterbox can be adjusted with shims. The PO also put an additional brace at the bottom of the steering box.

My tie rods and ball joints are tight. The ball joints and kingpins can both be checked with the SteerSafe in place.

Am I confused? Aren't King Pins and Ball Joints two entirely different TYPES of front end suspensions. A solid axle would have King Pins and independent front suspension would have ball joints. You would never have King Pins AND Ball Joints.

Nick

Idler arm, drag link, and tie rods have ball joints.

quote:

Originally posted by Rusty:
Idler arm, drag link, and tie rods have ball joints.

Aah So. But they are normally called just that. The term Ball joint normally refers to the part (ball joint) that connects the upper and lower "A" arms to the spindle on an Independent front suspension.

Nick

Hey Nick, not really, there are a lot of "ball joint" references. The tie rod ends are indeed "ball joints" and are refereed to as "ball joints" correctly.

The "ball joints" that connect the upper and lower "A" arms of an independent front suspension system are internally similar and allow operation in a similar fashion to the tie rod ends. It is only the attachment method that is different.

Jim, on my Breakaway it was a simple matter of the bolts holding the steering gear to frame had worked loose. Thank God, Complete Truck Repair found that problem (among others) shortly before I left MI for CA two years ago.