Taller springs on TTB suspension?

[david85]

My truck was used as a 5th wheel towing rig in a previous life (if only he knew what it could do now!!!) and I am wondering if it was coming practice to change the front coil springs on the I beams to get the correct wheel camber when the added wight is on the truck. Possible it hauled a camper in the bed as well so that would put even more weight on the front.

I ask because the front wheel camber is off slightly with the bottom of the tires being closer together like so: \---/. I'm thinking this could be contributing to the poor return to center and strait tracking on the freeway. I sort of got used to it, but others are finding it challenging to drive it. Frankly I wouldn't mind if it steered a little better either.

Front end components are all tight except for one factory king pin that has about 1/8" vertical play but is otherwise tight and does not rock and swings easily. Other side was the same and has been replaced with little improvement.

Is there anything that can be done to correct this problem?

Heard of bending the I beams, but would rather not do this.

 

[7.3IDIDSL]

im also dealing with something like this. When i bought my truck it had a 5th wheel hitch in the bed that the previous owner used to tow a flatdeck trailer for work. And when it wasnt being used for work it was regularly pulling a camper trailer as well as holding a camper in the bed.

Now my F250 has 3 leafs in the front and every other f250 ive looked at only has 2 leafs. im wondering if the PO added a leaf due to what he was using the truck for. The thing rides horribly and im wondering if it is due to what seems to be a extra leaf in the front

 

[lotzagoodstuff]

FYI, I just went though all this when I put an add a leaf under my front end and changed the ride height. You need to measure your camber at the current ride height and adjust with offset ball joint bushings, see attached link:

http://www.oilburners.net/forums/showthread.php?t=23525

 

[david85]

Well that solves your problem, 7.3IDIDSL.

But I'm still out of luck because I have kingpins instead of ball joints and those can't be adjusted.

 

[david85]

dang. I think I just found my answer:

http://www.fordification.com/frontend-alignment.htm

Bottle jack, have that.....

Steel I beam, have some of that.....

Aww crap, guess I'll have to wield something up.

 

[david85]

Crawled under the truck and theres no way those beams can be bent. They are much bigger than on the 67-72 fords. The springs can't really be cut because of the bend at the top, so what are my options here? Make a new swing bracket to lower the inside end of each beam?

 

[Mr_Roboto]

Sure the beams can be bent. That is the same way that semi-trucks are aligned and they have much heavier axles.

If you do not want to lower the ride height to OEM, then drop brackets are your next cheapest fix.

 

[david85]

I guess I could make some new brackets.

Actually I wouldn't really mind if I lost an inch in ride height since I use my truck for the freeway mainly and as it is it still has better clearance than some 4x4s out there.

Its also strange that the camber would be off this way, usually they go in a sagging position /----\. Is it common practice to replace the springs with taller ones on these trucks??

I also remember reading in my old manual that the I beams for this year are not supposed to be bent. Sure anything can be bent, but I'm thinking there is a reason why they advise against it in the later ones.

 

[Mr_Roboto]

Come to think if it, there may be bushings for the kingpin front ends to allow adjustment.

The only reason I can think of to add taller springs would be just to lift the truck, or for a snowplow.

 

[Wanderer-rrorc]

the TTB front ends do that when you back up...its normal...you want shorter springs if its further in at the bottom...