Torque Rod

[macattack]

how tight should the nuts be on a transverse toque rod. this is the rod that goes from the rear axle to the frame?

i understand the transverse rod is the one that goes to the frame and a torque rod goes between the rear axles. is that correct?

i noticed my front torque rod is not exactly parallel with the frame, and my front rear tires on the driver side are in more than my rear tires.

the previous owner replaced the transverse rod, but i am thinking it didnt line up proper and thats why my tire is in more on one side. he used washers for spacers do you think i should remove a couple of washers to realign the rear?

thanks

[hatcity]

Check rear springs for broken center bolt, broken spring, or shackle setup. Possible that frame may be out of whack, but check springs first.

Truck is prolly dogwalking a bit

[Lmackattack]

I think Camelbacks over 38K had the torque rod that bolts to the frame rail to the rear end housing. If yours still have axels that "walk" side to side with new rods. check the trunion bushing and all the pads at the spring ends. If they wear out they will allow the axels to move around and off track. It is normal for them to walk in hard turns but they should go back to normal when driving straight. They make diffrent pads to reduce vibration and If I recall they had ones that reduced them walking to one side? may have been an offset pad they made. cant recall if they made them or not but I know they had rubber or urathane versions.... regarding the washers. I know Air ride set ups use shims to align the rears so I dont see why you could not do the same. only problem I see is that if the previous owner used washers to bandaid a bad pad or bushing you will have to replace them at some point to properly fix the issue.

[macattack]

ok thanks guys. i did have the pads replaced and found one broken leaf. had that replaced also. still seems off. but i did notice the one rod from the 2nd to 3rd axle does not seem to run parallel with the frame. this is the torque rod not the transverse rod. do you think maybe the bushings in that torque rod is bad?

what does the torque rod and the transverse rod actually do?

Edited October 12, 2010 by macattack

[Rob]

ok thanks guys. i did have the pads replaced and found one broken leaf. had that replaced also. still seems off. but i did notice the one rod from the 2nd to 3rd axle does not seem to run parallel with the frame. this is the torque rod not the transverse rod. do you think maybe the bushings in that torque rod is bad?

what does the torque rod and the transverse rod actually do?

The transverse rod helps to keep the rear axle assemblies centered under the truck. The torque rod(s) help to keep the drive axles from "wrapping" up under the torque of acceleration against the loaded truck. These keep the rears and hence the driveline in a parallelagram, (square) to the frame rails of the truck.

Rob

[macattack]

The transverse rod helps to keep the rear axle assemblies centered under the truck. The torque rod(s) help to keep the drive axles from "wrapping" up under the torque of acceleration against the loaded truck. These keep the rears and hence the driveline in a parallelagram, (square) to the frame rails of the truck.

Rob

thanks rob. good info. so if my front rear is in a little more than my rear rear, do you think bad torque rod or does my transverse rod need adjustment? my front torque rod does seem to angle inwards a bit. its does not run exactly square with the frame.

i replaced a broken leaf, had all the insulator pads replace and the u joint looks fine. my other problem is, and i think they may be related, is i have a shake/wobble at about 35-40. if i i give it fuel the wobble doesnt seems as bad. do you think maybe bad torque rod would cause this or trunion bushings??

where can i place a hyd jack to lift my rear axles?

[Lmackattack]

the torqe rods just keep the axels from rolling forward and back wards on/off the throttle. they dont do much to keep them from going side to side. I would check the transverse rod bushings,trunion bushing, and pads, Also,you mention that you recently had a spring replaced?

re-tighten the trunion u bolts to spec. I think the book spec is 1200-1400 ft lbs? you will need a torque multiplier to do so.

[macattack]

yes i did have one spring replaced. i will check the torque.

thanks again

[wastenafarmtrucking]

i recently had my trunnion bushings and pads replaced on my RD and my front axle is in a little farther than my rear(looking down from the drivers side mirror). the job was done by a reputable shop that knows it's stuff and they said it is normal.

to check your bushings place a jack under the u-bolt and just jack up enough to take the weight off the axles. then place a 2nd jack under the trunnion brace that comes down from the frame and start to jack that up, while watching the spring mounting pad were the spindle goes through. if you have more than a 1/4" of movement than the bushings are bad.

another thing you will want to check is the lock nut. take off the bushing cap and check the locking nut. when mine were bad they moved enough to knock the nut off the spindle.

[macattack]

thanks everybody. rechecked the u bolts, they were tight. i adjusted my transverse rod and it seems a little better. going to take out another washer and see what happens. i think this is my wobble problem also. the previous owner had the rod replaced, but i dont think the shop had there best working on it. when i got the truck the rod and bolts were new, but very loose. so i am gonna set it up. they used grade 8 washers as spacers and i think there have too many installed.