Twin Traction Beam Pivot Angle
03-16-2015, 10:55 AM
#1
Twin Traction Beam Pivot Angle
Hey all, im new here. I am going to attempt to actively contribute, but I do need to start with a question...
I have a 95 F150 with a 302 and 4x4. I just bought the truck about a week and a half ago, and over this past weekend I began fixing some of the pressing issues with the truck. I replaced the upper and lower ball joints on both sides, completely replaced the tie rod linkages, and installed new u joints on the front axle shafts. One major thing I had noticed about the truck (Even before work began), is that the front tires lean noticeably with the bottom inward. While I had the spindle bracket in pieces, I also noticed that the bushings for adjusting the camber was already maxed out in the direction I needed to go. I then thought for a bit about why it was doing this. It appears that the truck has both a small (~3") body lift and a small (~3") suspension lift. This was all there before I bought the truck. I cannot confirm the specifics of the lift however, because I dont know them. So I reasoned, that since there are likely bigger than stock coil springs, the angle at which the two beams are connected has gotten smaller from the added force.
Now, I do not have much experience ripping these axles apart... My question is, what have you folks done in the past to fix issues such as these? I can envision lowering the pivot point to fix the angle, but I dont know how plausible that would be. Ideas?
(P.s. Little tiny side note, does autozone scan OBD1 codes? Because my code reader has an OBD2 jack.)
Thanks in advance guys.
I have a 95 F150 with a 302 and 4x4. I just bought the truck about a week and a half ago, and over this past weekend I began fixing some of the pressing issues with the truck. I replaced the upper and lower ball joints on both sides, completely replaced the tie rod linkages, and installed new u joints on the front axle shafts. One major thing I had noticed about the truck (Even before work began), is that the front tires lean noticeably with the bottom inward. While I had the spindle bracket in pieces, I also noticed that the bushings for adjusting the camber was already maxed out in the direction I needed to go. I then thought for a bit about why it was doing this. It appears that the truck has both a small (~3") body lift and a small (~3") suspension lift. This was all there before I bought the truck. I cannot confirm the specifics of the lift however, because I dont know them. So I reasoned, that since there are likely bigger than stock coil springs, the angle at which the two beams are connected has gotten smaller from the added force.
Now, I do not have much experience ripping these axles apart... My question is, what have you folks done in the past to fix issues such as these? I can envision lowering the pivot point to fix the angle, but I dont know how plausible that would be. Ideas?
(P.s. Little tiny side note, does autozone scan OBD1 codes? Because my code reader has an OBD2 jack.)
Thanks in advance guys.
03-20-2015, 10:54 AM
#2
Kinda bumping this... I took some more measurements and found that its actually got stock length coil springs/shocks. So the only lift is body. However, Im still perplexed as to why the camber is so off. The wheels lean bottom-in like \---/ Ive read up and found that people use drop brackets for these axles, but if there was no suspension lift, why would one need one?