Do all 4wds have that bad turning radius?

[Mopar Man1]

Yes that's what I want to know. The 92 W350 I sold Todd,was a great truck etc but that thing had a horrible turning radius to my opinion,it seemed to me like trying a 18-wheeler having to swing VERY VERY wide all the time,I never did get used to driving that massive thang. I'm wondering if all of these 1st gen 4wds are like that,my buddys '00 3500 will turn on a dime! But it's a '00. . yucky 24valve



Jimmy

 

[TJarecke]

I would say as long as there is leaf springs, turning radius will suffer. I think the new f*rds turn something like 8 feet shorter with their new coilover setup. I don't know the comparison on the 1st to 2nd gens.

 

[Kernel]

In comparing my two, the first thing I noticed was the 1st Gen has a horrible turning radius. I would say the same as above, with the leafs you'll have that.



Scott

 

[BushWakr - RIP]

Hmmmmmm... . well lets just say that the best advise to give onlookers is... ... spread out !!!!!. .







pb. .

 

[royster]

jimmy,



it's definitely a spring thing. howzabout coming up with a marketable coil over conversion for the 1st gens? can you imagine these old tanks doing u-turns and taking up less than 5 lanes? lemme know how much they're going to cost!



cheers,



roy

 

[rdodd]

Do the 2-wheel drive 1st gens turn tighter than the 4-wheel drive trucks?

 

[ARhine]

My steering linkage is not centered so I turn very short to the left, but stinks turning right. It is not really the springs getting inthe way, there is alot more room there. Just the way the steering is setup with either the pitman arm to short or the arm on top the kingpin is to long. Could be remided with a properly designed crosover steering setup.



Friends with scouts and leafspung jeeps turn on a dime to.

 

[RSchwarzli]

You think that your turning radius is bad, you should try the W350 crew. I need a stinkin acre to do a full turn.

 

[Lock93]

I had an '02 before I got my '93, and the '02 turns circles inside of the '93. Waaayyy tighter.

 

[dpuckett]

I've had 2 4x4s- one W250 R-C; one W350 C-C. Neither one of them turned much wider than their 2wd counterparts. Mom's D350 has the worst turning radius of the 6 I've had- the 93 D350 I had with the extended wheelbase (2ft longer than her 92 C-C pickup) turned sharper than hers. I think a lot of it is in the steering boxes- the W350 had a new one just before I got it; my 91 turned sharper after I got a new box for it. I think you just got a lemon. Unless CC autos turn wider... ... Both your old one and Mom's are autos... ... . W250 turned about like the D250 I'd had and my 91 R-C.



Daniel

 

[RBurleson]

My 1993 W250 turns as well as can be expected for a 20-foot long behemoth... but then, I'm running crossover steering, which actually allows you to turn the wheels all the way from one knuckle-stop to the other.



It is enough to be able to spin a U-turn at a boulevard stoplight with two lanes either way, or an undivided 3-lanes each way from a left-turn lane... . but nowhere near tight enough to avoid a back-and-fill operation on the neighborhood streets without blatant disregard for outlawns, fire hydrants, or sidewalks.



Randii (20' long club cab)

 

[Philip]

outlawns, fire hydrants, or sidewalks

also add curbs, parking lot stops. I class them all as just mild speed bumps. :-laf



I have had a 78 W250 gasser CC and this 93 W350 CC both turned the same. Allow for wide turns. But this comes in handy towing and backing. It is very hard to jackknife a trailer with one of these CC W models.

 

[Don in Missouri]

Has anybody tried adjusting the stops on the knuckles? Mine look like they can be cranked down a lot if I break the spot welds.

 

[Joseph Donnelly]

Third gen is slighter tighter than the 2nd gen, even though the wheelbase is 5. 5" longer on the 2003-up.

 

[roadhawg]

I took a penut grinder and die grinder to the bump stops on mine untill I got tire rub both directions on my springs. I'm not suggesting that anyone else do this but I like it. It turns pretty tite to the left.



This is one of those permanent modifications, you can't go back once you grind it out of there! You might consider some posible dissadvantages like



1 increased axle u-joint wear.



2 increased tire wear-binding on springs.



3 increased wear on stearing linkage-stearing box.



4 possible breakage- binding on mentioned components.



If you still think you need to turn sharp, grind away!

 

[BushWakr - RIP]

Hey Roadhawg... . aren't the turning stops adjustable??? I thought they had a locknut/stud type of design???... . must be my meds



pb...

 

[bgilbert]

Hey Philip, I'm sure I read before about the different steering gear box ratios or models offered in our 1st gens- 70's-93??? I know there was something along those lines I read. Since you're the guru along those lines, I figured you'd already chimed in on it. . ? I have two regular cab long bed W250's and the 89 will turn a heck of alot better than the 91, almost describe it as turning circles inside of it. I just figured different sgb ratio if such a thing... ?

 

[KeithTaylor]

You think that your turning radius is bad, you should try the W350 crew. I need a stinkin acre to do a full turn.

No doubt! I collect curbs and bus stop benches regularly!



Keith

 

[MrWinkey]

I'm intrested in the crossover steering setup..... that sounds like a worthy mod to do on my truck

 

[Hohn]

I've been very happy with my truck's TR. It's amazing how tight it will turn for a vehicle its size.

The 3rd gens seem to turn even tighter. The QC LB I drove turned about like my QC SB does!!

jlh