Front shock rubs against tie rod

[Nostalgic]

(03-22-2023 )Bengy88 Wrote:  Maybe the pin that keeps the plate that the shock bolts go in place is worn and has let the plate walk toward the tie rod. Or a center bolt is broken. Or the hole in the plate has worn oblonged. I would ask KW parts department for a breakdown of the front spring and see if something is missing. Make it sound like you need a part and don’t know what it’s called and they will usually text you a picture.

I would also start checking u-bolts, probably loosen them and jack the spring off the axle and take everything apart to make sure nothing is worn or broken. As Rawze stated. Suspension is nothing to play or guess with. There is too much room for error and too many lives are at stake. Especially on the steer axle. If you can’t say that without a doubt your steer axle and steer axle components are in 100% tip top shape then that truck needs to be parked.

From the pictures, it doesn't appear that anything is moving on the spring/saddle, but it's worth inspecting. Just know that any time you loosen a u-bolt, it should be replaced. When torqued correctly, they stretch and the threads distort. Re-using a u-bolt that has been in service and torqued to spec can cause it to become loose by a combination of the distorted threads and/or the fact the ubolt doesn't have the same ... I'm searching for the right term, tensile strength/stretch/ability to hold. No to mention that they usually have rusted threads and achieving correct preload with torque specs is difficult.