Any way to improve the turning radius?

[Bobby Pootz]

I'm curious if there's any way to improve the turning radius of the squarebody without having to replace the entire front axle to a Porterbuilt or rack and pinion.

It's a long shot I'm sure but I thought it's worth asking! I know I need to get used to this old truck but wow is it not very nimble in small spaces!

Thanks folks!

Rob

[Bandit130]

I am currently sharing your pain with my 74 C10. Had a 72 C10 prior and it had more turning radius than the 74. Is hard to deal with at times.

[Nessmuk]

Connect a separate parking brake to each rear wheel. Works on the Farmall...

[my56chevytruck]

Originally Posted by Bobby Pootz

I'm curious if there's any way to improve the turning radius of the squarebody without having to replace the entire front axle to a Porterbuilt or rack and pinion.

It's a long shot I'm sure but I thought it's worth asking! I know I need to get used to this old truck but wow is it not very nimble in small spaces!

Thanks folks!

Rob

Hey Rob, just curious, do you know what steering box you've got? What's the gear ratio on it? that's where I'd be looking into. my .02

[bilfman]

Get posi and burn a doughnut 😮

[donut]

Donut abuse!

Try a 4x4 CCLB, you'll appreciate how nimble a C-10 is. Over the years, I've just learned the limitations and dealt with them.

[andrewmp6]

You could replace your steering box with something with a faster ratio in it.Companies like https://www.redheadsteeringgears.com/ and http://leepowersteering.com/ can do it for a fee tho.Or their is one or two rack and pinion kits for the stock stuff but both are kinda pricey.

[cadillac_al]

Lots of guys are running around with extended cab trucks wishing they had our turning radius. I don't think there is much we can do.

[andrewmp6]

A faster steering ratio helps but sometimes your kinda sol also.

[Keith Seymore]

Originally Posted by Nessmuk

Connect a separate parking brake to each rear wheel. Works on the Farmall...

Nice!

[Ziegelsteinfaust]

My 74 C20 rclb was to me no different then my 07 GMC rcsb. Both had the same OD for tires.

Also the steering boxes can make a big difference.

[Bobby Pootz]

All great suggestions! I appreciate being a SB but can still dream can't I? And I'd love to pull a donut into a parking space, that would be so badass!

[Pontiac1976]

Not sure but if you ever drove a ford or dodge of the same year you will see that chev/gmc are much betterat turning. There big wide to hold the road. If you want to make solomon truck of one of those years trucks you have to spend money.

How good is your frt.bushing do you have swaybar in the frt. change your steering shaft assembly (up grade it) What your set up rims tire. Stock rim size of 15x6 up front 235/75 . The 2wd turn better then the 4x4 but not buy much.

[andrewmp6]

Yeah about same year ford crew cab long bed feels like your parking a 747 lol.

[SkinnyG]

The steering stops and designed-in Ackerman are the limiting factor in turning radius.

[LT7A]

Help me out on the quick ratio steering boxes improving turning radius. Is this right? I don't think the limitation is in the box, I think it's in the linkage.

The two things I know that make a difference are that wider tires widen the turning radius (so narrower would improve it). And that the slower you go, the tighter you can turn. Seems obvious, but when the tires are at that extreme angle, they push out/slide forward very easily. I have to crawl slower than I like when making a u-turn at a light.

Beyond that, I would turn the wheels to lock, see where the linkage stopped, and see if there was any grinding I could do -- within reasonable limits of course. I couldn't recommend the grinding, but maybe there is a margin of safety that can be worked within.

[Tom]

Yeah I'm really curious for a techincal explanation how a faster steer ratio helps with turn radius? It doesn't matter what the ratio is, full lock to full lock is the same you just get there with more or less turns of the steering wheel. The spindle and steering linkages have everything to do with radius and I have no idea how you'd modify them for more angle.

[75C10]

Quicker steering is not the solution. Shorter wheel base helps. I found that my spindles had stops that were not allowing as tight a turn as the stock spindle. Removal of some material from the stops will improve the turn radius. Be reasonable with your grinding.

[Gmc.guy]

Quicker ratio steering helps with turns like the Austin Powers 10 point turn in the hallway

[Axle]

How does quick ratio/variable ratio help? If it is while moving, it lets you get the wheel to the stops faster and you _perceive_ a tighter turning radius.

My 1983 had the factory variable ratio box, it felt like I could squeeze into any place needed cause I could get it turning faster and to full lock very quickly.

My 1981 with a standard box feels like it needs a football field to turn. Once I get used to flinging my arms around at ridiculous speeds it gets into the same spaces the 83 does, just takes longer due to needing to drive slower and turn the steering wheel a lot more. One thing that helped a bit, both for perceived turnability and actually speeding things up was going to the 15" diameter steering wheel. It wasn't much of a diameter change over the stock 81 wheel, but it was enough to notice it.

Alex.

[cheap]

Faster ratio will not change turning radius, the turning radius is set by the factory with spindle stops on the control arms as well as linkage limitations and extreme ackermann effect at high steering angles. The only way to make a shorter turning radius is to remove the steering stops on the control arms, but the linkage will probably not like that much angle in stock form