IDI FRONT END

[I-HFreak]

FOR THOSE OF YOU THAT DONT KNOW , I HAVE A 1986 FORD F-250 4X4 6.9IDI 4X4, WELL WHEN I GOT THE TRUCK THE TWO FRONT TIRES WERE LEANING IN, BECAUSE I GUESS OVER THE YEARS IT JUST SAGGED, WITH ALL THE WEIGHT, AND THE HUGE BUMPER, WELL I BOUGHT TWO ADD A LEAFS FROM SUPERLIFT, PUT THEM ON, AND GOING DOWN THE ROAD THE TIRES LEAN OUT , INSTEAD OF BEING LEVEL LIKE THEY SHOULD BE, IT HAS A BRAND NEW SET OF DUNLOP A/T RADIAL ROVERS, WELL , YOU CAN TELL BY LOOKING THAT THE OUT SIDE LUGS ARE ALREADY WEARING, AND INSIDES STILL LOOK NEW,AND STILL HAVE THE LITTLE SPIKY THINGS ON THEM, IF ANYBODY KNOWS A WAY TO BRING THE WHEELS BACK IN PLEASE HELP, CAUSE I DONT WANT TO WEAR MY 700$ TIRES OUT, THANKS

 

[DragRag]

Try taking out one of the add a leafs you have gone to high without relocating the inside pivot points down on the front end. Your front end will be lower then it is now, but may end up closer to the ride height the truck originally had, and is aligned for. I doubt you will be able to align that out sitting so high in the front now.

 

[dyoung14]

He only put one extra leaf spring on each side

 

[franklin2]

1st thing to do is check the spring bushings, especially the ones up in the front of the frame that you can't see. Look at the metal sleeve and the bolt that goes through the bushing. If it's not in the center, it's pretty much guarenteed they are wore out.

After you get new bushings in it, then take it to a alignment shop. They can put it on the machine, and tell you if they can put the correct upper balljoint bushing in to bring it back in.

 

[91f2504x4]

If you take your stock springs out and have them rearched to make up for the sag, and do a whole front end tune-up (ball joints, bushing and alignment) it will put everything back in good shape. Add-a-leaves are a sort of band aid fix for this type of front end, and without the adjustable IFS center drop brackets there is no good way to get it back to the proper camber.

 

[sassyrel]

and ih--turn off your caps lock. it makes it hard to read, and it makes people think your shouting----

 

[Sycostang67]

Chances are you wont get it to align properly with the AAL's. If your bushings are in good shape, you should be able to get it close though(mine was only 5* off). I would align it and drive it that way for a year, rotating your tires a little more often and then get it aligned again. The AAL's will settle a bit after some use and you may be able to get it within spec. When I did mine, I used 2" AAL's and end up 2.75" higher than before. The motor in that truck died before I could get my second alignment done, but the AAL's had settled noticeably.

 

[DragRag]

He only put one extra leaf spring on each side

Oh, I read that as two adds as being 2 per side, my bad.

 

[dyoung14]

Yea he just ment one per side, i know by the way it was typed it sounded like 2 per side but its not just one per side i see it everyday

 

[bowedup2003]

My 2wd F350 front end was the same as yours, looked more like a motorgrader going down the road than a truck w/ the tires leaning!

I replaced the coils, added airbags (blew out going down highway!), and for the last year limped by w/ those twist-in coil spring spacers, 4 on the left and 6 on the right. Got tired of fighting it and swapped in a solid front axle out of a 1987 F-Superduty and couldn't be happier!

Bowedup