I have a 1940 Ford with a straight 4" dropped front axle. It takes over 3 lanes to make a "U" turn. The car has a NON SPLIT wishbone with vega style 16:1 steering box and cross steering. Any suggestions about what to do to resolve the problem.
tell us about the steering arm and pitman arm. How long are they? does anything hit at "full lock", or does the steering box run out of travel?
Are your wheels hitting the 'bones, which is the most common or your steering arms whacking the axle? I would see what is restricting radius and start there. Just so you're aware, a very common problem with dropped axles and unsplit 'bones. The two I mentioned are the most common causes. When you know what's hitting I can probably help you on how to fix it.
First thing is to check to make sure the spindles are hitting the stops on full turn. If they are, that's all you're going to get. If they are not, you aren't getting enough throw from your steering box/pitman arm. Also make sure the steering arms on the spindles are not hitting the axle and keeping them from making a full turn.
A stock 40 turned a lot sharper than that, so something that has been done is not letting the tires turn as far as they need to go. Everyone's suggestions are good, just crank the wheel over all the way hard and climb under to see what is stopping them from going further. The backing plates should go far enough to touch the stop nuts that are on the kingpin keepers. If that isn't happening you have found your problem and just need to find out why that is the case. Don
If you drop the tie rod from box and turn my hand see how close it comes to frame should be close both sides. Are the tires hitting fenders.
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