Just bought a 521

[MikeRL411]

IF [a big if] any of my vehicles has a dimmer, once I have found my preferred level I ignore the dimmer from then on.  It's a useless button on the dash for me.

[mainer311]

Well, I had something weird happen tonight. Went out to get ice cream, and on the way home, alignment suddenly went to shit. I pulled into a CVS to find my left tire pretty straight, and the passenger side tire way toed out. Pretty bizarre. All of the ball joints look fine, and I have non-adjustable outer links. Only adjustable link is the center rod, and that appears to be okay. Something had to grow for the right tire to point outwards…

[datzenmike]

Has to be loose. Garb and twist it

[thisismatt]

Did you look at the idler arm also?

[mainer311]

16 minutes ago, thisismatt said:

Did you look at the idler arm also?

Yeah. Visually anyway. It’s brand new. Plus, the ball joints are directly next to each other on the arm, so I’m not sure how it would fail. Figure it’ll all come apart tomorrow for a look.

Edited August 25, 2021 by mainer311

[datzenmike]

The knuckle arm has two bolts. If one loosened and fell out, the spindle above it that it's bolted to, would be free to pivot on the remaining bolt.

[mainer311]

Those are in place, and I’ve never removed them. I just went out there again and can’t find anything loose. It’s a little unnerving. Maybe I tweaked the arm? The driveway into the ice cream place is a hard right with a bump. Could have pulled the wheel beyond its normal travel limit.

Edited August 25, 2021 by mainer311

[thisismatt]

Do you have beebani parts up front?  Could be that...

[mainer311]

4 minutes ago, thisismatt said:

Do you have beebani parts up front?  Could be that...

Only his brake brackets. All front suspension is factory.

[bilzbobaggins]

Did your wheel come loose?  

 

edit: loose lug nutz

Edited August 25, 2021 by bilzbobaggins

[datzenmike]

If you bent a steering part it would toe inwards. I can't imagine the force needed to bend the knuckle arm.

 

With the left tire straight, are the pitman and idler arms pointing straight to rear? 

[mainer311]

6 hours ago, datzenmike said:

If you bent a steering part it would toe inwards. I can't imagine the force needed to bend the knuckle arm.

 

With the left tire straight, are the pitman and idler arms pointing straight to rear? 

Driver pitman is dead nuts straight. Idler is slightly pointed outwards, which means the center link is too long. The odd part is that the jam nuts on both sides are still tight from where I had it adjusted last. I thought maybe the threads let go on one side or something, but I can’t see any evidence of that. I took a video of the passenger tire from the front as I wiggled the steering wheel and it follows pretty closely. I won’t really know more until I get it off the ground, hopefully tonight.

[datzenmike]

Very strange. Any chance this was out from the start and just became noticeable? (I know, it's a stretch but how else to explain?)

[mainer311]

4 minutes ago, datzenmike said:

Very strange. Any chance this was out from the start and just became noticeable? (I know, it's a stretch but how else to explain?)

 

I've always had a little slop, but the top of my steering wheel has one of those "racing indicator" yellow stripes that has always been at 12 o'clock. It wanders on the road crown, but now it pulls hard right. To drive straight, the yellow line is now at 10 o'clock. I can visually see the toe-out on the righthand side. 

 

Worst case, I adjust the centerlink back and see what happens.

[mainer311]

I climbed under the truck last night and could not find a single thing wrong. Even had the passenger side in the air and everything is tight. I adjusted the centerlink to get the passenger tire straight again and will keep an eye on it.

[datzenmike]

What else can you do?

[mainer311]

Honestly, I’d rather find something obviously bent or broken than have it come unhitched while driving down the road.

[d.p]

@mainer311's truck going down the road...

 

 

In all seriousness I hope you figure it out cause that is some scary shit.  

[Stoffregen Motorsports]

Without reading through all the replies, I would take a good look at the idler arm. Are the bushings bad? Or check the steering arm where it bolts to the spindle. Is that loose or broken?

 

Other than that, it could be something like control arm bushings severely out of whack or even a loose upper control arm.

 

When you have a problem that is serious enough to kill you, don't stop looking until you find a problem.

[Crashtd420]

This just popped into my head... 

Check the bracket that the tierod mounts too near the wheel.... there are 2 bolts that hold it in place under the king pin... maybe that loosened or twisted.....

 

[mainer311]

30 minutes ago, Crashtd420 said:

This just popped into my head... 

Check the bracket that the tierod mounts too near the wheel.... there are 2 bolts that hold it in place under the king pin... maybe that loosened or twisted.....

 

Yeah, Mike mentioned that above. It’s so greasy and dirty in that area, I’m not sure I’d be able to tell if it moved, but definitely a possibility.

[mainer311]

Well, truck is back down. Took it for a ride to the hobby shop today, and the right front brake locked up on me. Well, not completely. I limped it home and it’s cooked. Also had both back brakes do the same thing.

 

Pulled the passenger front apart and the hub seems fine. Disc is cooked and it appears that one piston may be partially stuck.

 

No idea what’s going on with the back drums but I have had this issue before.

Edited August 27, 2021 by mainer311

[datzenmike]

Has the master been replaced?

[mainer311]

5 minutes ago, datzenmike said:

Has the master been replaced?

yeah, about 2 years ago, with dual res 620 version.

[Stoffregen Motorsports]

47 minutes ago, Crashtd420 said:

This just popped into my head... 

Check the bracket that the tierod mounts too near the wheel.... there are 2 bolts that hold it in place under the king pin... maybe that loosened or twisted.....

 

That's the steering arm. I thought of that too.