Steering Gone Wild with Front End Block Leveling Kit

[BossCat]

Hello All,

I am having trouble with my steering. It goes extremely hard LEFT and I must constantly battle it the entire time driving around. It also seems like a really rough ride and certain road conditions make it sway really bad. I noticed that my steering wheel now sits at a slightly canted position and not straight up with my wheels.

When installing my front end shocks, they were an extremely tight fit and I had to beast it on there. I feel that this might prevent the spindles from properly sitting upright. I've also thought that maybe the OEM shocks were not at proper length to accommodate the 1" aluminum block leveling kit. (JUST MY THOUGHTS) Does anyone have an idea or perhaps a LINK - to a pair of Front End Shocks that would fit along with my front end leveling kit ?
Or perhaps it could be a completely different problem.

I rebuilt 90% of my 2006 Club Car DS from the Frame up. I did not replace any of the steering components. I did take a steel brush and clean the steering shaft and entire front suspension area. I also re-greased all grease points.

I did replace my front end shocks with the standard OEM shocks, a heavy duty front end leaf spring, and I installed a 1" aluminum block front end leveling kit to accommodate 12" street tires.

(1" Aluminum Front Block)
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1
(Heavy Duty Front Leaf Spring)
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1
(OEM Shocks)
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Any ideas or suggestions would be GREATLY appreciated.

[S-N-R Customs]

I believe the problem is the angle that the outer tie rod ends are at now. … like anything, when the spindles moved down (creating the lift) the steering needs to move down also, if you’re to maintain the original steering setup.
I’m aware that a lot of people do not move their steering, but it is the right way.


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[Fairtax4me]

I would ditch the heavy duty front spring. That's your rough ride right there.

The camber needs to be adjusted. It's so far out I can see it in the pic. It's gotta be bad if I can see it from the other side of the internet.

Your lift block and spring combo is placing the spring much much lower in relation to the control arms, which pulls them down at a steeper angle. This pulls the camber into negative state. This will cause awful tire wear on the inside edge of the tires and terrible handling characteristics. The cart will "hunt" and will bump steer badly especially on uneven road surfaces. the camber will only go even more negative when the car is loaded, which compounds the problem.

Going back to the original or a standard replacement front spring (not the HD) will get most of your ride quality back, and will get your camber back into an acceptable range.
You will also need to adjust the camber to get it Equal on both sides.
Camber adjustment is done with the eccentric adjuster bolt in the center of the spring. Loosen the nut in the center of the spring. Then loosen the 4 bolts that hold the lower tow plate. Adjust the center bolt of the spring left or right until the camber is Even on both wheels. Use a large square placed one edge on the floor with the other edge standing up touching the tire. Compare to the other side and adjust as necessary.
When both sides are even tighten the 4 bolts tat hold the tie plate, then tighten the nut in the center.
You may also need to adjust the toe angle. Measure and adjust to 1/8" of toe in.
Then adjust the center position of the wheel by adjusting the short tie rod sleeve that comes off the right side of the steering rack.

[BossCat]

Thanks guys,

I believe I will just replace with a brand new NON HD front leaf spring and take off the aluminum block. Get it back to normal. Should fix all problems ?

[BossCat]

REALLY APPRECIATE YOUR DETAILED POST. I will follow your instructions! Rock on! You are the man!

[Fairtax4me]

I probably wouldn't remove the lift block just yet. Try going back to the original spring first With the lift block on, and make the adjustments to the camber and toe angle and see where that gets you.

[crash12888]

Originally Posted by Fairtax4me

I would ditch the heavy duty front spring. That's your rough ride right there.

The camber needs to be adjusted. It's so far out I can see it in the pic. It's gotta be bad if I can see it from the other side of the internet.

Your lift block and spring combo is placing the spring much much lower in relation to the control arms, which pulls them down at a steeper angle. This pulls the camber into negative state. This will cause awful tire wear on the inside edge of the tires and terrible handling characteristics. The cart will "hunt" and will bump steer badly especially on uneven road surfaces. the camber will only go even more negative when the car is loaded, which compounds the problem.

Going back to the original or a standard replacement front spring (not the HD) will get most of your ride quality back, and will get your camber back into an acceptable range.
You will also need to adjust the camber to get it Equal on both sides.
Camber adjustment is done with the eccentric adjuster bolt in the center of the spring. Loosen the nut in the center of the spring. Then loosen the 4 bolts that hold the lower tow plate. Adjust the center bolt of the spring left or right until the camber is Even on both wheels. Use a large square placed one edge on the floor with the other edge standing up touching the tire. Compare to the other side and adjust as necessary.
When both sides are even tighten the 4 bolts tat hold the tie plate, then tighten the nut in the center.
You may also need to adjust the toe angle. Measure and adjust to 1/8" of toe in.
Then adjust the center position of the wheel by adjusting the short tie rod sleeve that comes off the right side of the steering rack.

Thanks Fairtax, that's a lot of typing for us two finger guys!!
I agree with loosing the HD spring. Also as you lower the spring the outer upper A-arm swings down and toward the center of the cart causing the tire to lean in at the top causing all kinds of squirrely reactions from the frontend.
There really is no easy way to do it but to keep your leveling block you need to lower your upper A-arm pivot points as well as lower your steering rack to keep the geometry correct.(Ackerman Principle)