D60 swap? Or is there a way to adjust the lifted OBS toe in?

[IDI Diesel7.3]

Hey guys,

After putting the 4" Rough Country lift onto my f-250 with the TTB front end I noticed how bad the wheels are toed in. A wheel alignment fixed the side to side pigeon toe, but is there any adjustment to bring the top or bottom of the wheels in and out?

Second question, what all is involved in swapping a Dana 60 from a f-350 in place of my TTB? What all will I need for parts other than the diff and steering linkages, and will my Rough Country lift springs be suitable for the SFA with the middle pivots gone. I have read other threads but they are not very clear, some say front driveshaft needs changing, others say no, etc.

If the swap isn't an overly costly job I would like to go through with it, but there's always alot more to a project than you think!.... so i discovered after building a truck from frame up

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Heres a pic of front end before motor was dropped in, which I thought would bring the wheels out alot more. Not a great picture of how much they are really toed in now but its all i got right now

 

[oregon96psd]

who aligned it? that should be part of the alignment, the camber adjustment.

 

[chris142]

Can you put offset ball joints in it?

 

['94IDITurbo7.3]

yeah, the only way to adjust the camber is to get offset ball joints.

did the kit come with drop brackets for the TTB pivots? that would help out some as well.

 

[IDI Diesel7.3]

We just eye balled the wheel alignment in the shop I'll do a proper one on the machine at the college as soon as i get this front end sorted out. So you would just have to change the bottom U joint to an offset one to bring the bottom of the steering knuckle out to correct the camber correct? are the offset ball joints as durable as the standard ones?

Yes the kit came with the pivot drop brackets. A friend of mine just installed the same lift kit on his 97' f-250 powestroke, and his wheels are the exact opposite, his wheels are sitting at a negative camber.

 

[fsr7]

if you have the alignment with the tires 'toed in' (pointing towards each other slightly) the truck will prop itself up as it moves forward - as your truck's stance is. If they are 'toed out', the truck squats while moving forward - which sounds like what your buddy's powerstroke is doing. With enough time making slight adjustments, you can usually find a happy medium where the truck doesn't appear to do either when moving forward. Or you could get a real alignment and be better off altogether.

 

[riotwarrior]

First the issue your are seeing is CAMBER or inward/outward tilt of wheel

Caster is the forward or rearward inclination of the ball joints

Toe In is tires closer together in the front and wider at rear...Toe Out is tires splayed outward at front and closer at rear...

What you have to deal with is CAMBER and it is a big issue with TTB axles...those springs may settle in a few hundred miles...or take one spring leaf out of the pack and see if that helps you out.

Once you get the CAMBER under control, then you can deal with other parts of the equation.

My choice...pull a leaf or two...test....and see how that works out....once you get those wheels near vertical, then you can worry about the caster which should be close to spec...again offset/adjustment cams for ball joints are very nice for this...

Lastly toe in is simple tie rod adjustment....

Good luck...

Al

 

[IDI Diesel7.3]

alright I just wasn't sure if you could adjust camber angle at all with the factory ball joints, thanks for confirming. What companies will i be able to source the offset/adjustable ball joints from? I used all MOOG front end parts.

 

[Mulochico]

I put the same kit on my '90. The alignment shop had to order special parts (sorry, not familiar with parts names)(adjustable shim for top pivot) to get it right. They were about another $40-$60, but it tracks straight and lined up properly.

A good alignment shop should be able to source the parts.

 

[Wicked97]

Did you remove the caster camber bushings when you installed the kit? If the pic on the left it looks like a zero bushing will fix it.

 

[riotwarrior]

Your camber is such that at this point IMHO it's not going to get set correctly with the addition of off set/adjustment ball joints.

Those are for FINE tuning things when it's time. You seriously need to have this looked at professionally, or remove a leaf or two...see the results that occur. This will do two things...get camber where an alignment shop with the right tools will get it setup, and also this should be a nicer softer ride for you too. Allowing more flex and better ride excellent results in my mind!

Al

 

[MUDKICKR]

a lot of things said in this thread is incorrect, you dont use adjustable ball joints, you use camber bushing.

http://napaonline.com/Catalog/Resul...rd&Nty=1&Dn=0&D=camber+bushings&Dk=1&Dp=3&N=0

camber bushings will fix what problem you have. i have done many frt end alignments on these type of frt ends, and some of them had lifts. usually with a 2" add-a-leaf a 2.5 degree bushing will correct the camber.
first thing you need to do is put it on an alignment machine to see how far the camber is off, then you replace the camber bushing to put it into specs.

here is also a short video on how the frt end works.

http://youtu.be/_D_vg8gnMms


here is another video i fould on the camber bushing, he starts talking about it at the 6 minute mark.
http://youtu.be/vTyS9unPx2A

 

[riotwarrior]

IIRC...adjustable ball joints/ or off set bushings work to fine tune either camber OR caster...tip and tilt of wheel axis...

Not sure but I know for my TTB coil sprung front end it's what I had to deal with to get in proper alignment.

JM2CW...

 

[MUDKICKR]

IIRC...adjustable ball joints/ or off set bushings work to fine tune either camber OR caster...tip and tilt of wheel axis...

Not sure but I know for my TTB coil sprung front end it's what I had to deal with to get in proper alignment.

JM2CW...

adjustable ball joints are for solid axle vehicles, and yes, you are correct in saying that camber bushing also control caster, but camber bushings don't only work just for fine tuning, they work when you have an issue like this as well, the camber bushing can fix your camber/caster if you have worn out springs, or if you have either lifted or lowered your vehicle. i have a 96 F150 with 2" lowering springs in the front, and i used a 2.5 degree camber bushing and it put it back into spec. my F350, i used 2" add a leafs and it also required a 2.5 camber sleeve to be back in specs.
the best thing to do with the truck is have it aligned and install camber bushing to put it in spec, drive it for about 6 months and have the alignment checked again, and adjust if necessary.