alaskafunboy

I have a 1987 F-150 4wd (dana 44 IFS front axle). I flew off the road at about 45mph to avoid some douche bag in a escalade. The snow sucked me into the ditch and I launched over a driveway crossing, and wadded up to a stop in a snow pile. I hit that driveway pretty hard and broke my nose on the steering wheel which resulted in 2 black eyes. Enuf about me. Now the truck: Passenger side wheel cambered out like a kick-stand on a dead whale. I jacked up that side,(put the jack under the axle about where the shock is to keep pressure on the suspension)- the wheel kicked right back in as soon as it was leaving the ground. I checked all the obvios things; ball joints, bearings, spring breakage etc. (shake, wiggle and prybar test) everything seems solid with no play. I jacked it up and let it down several times and can't see anything shifting. Just wondering what else could be tweaked - the radius arm looks fine. any ideas? I just bought wheel bearings, spindle bearing and u-joints- the outboard u-joints have been crappy for a while. Maybe someone has dealt with this before and could give me an idea of what to look for when I tear it down. Thanx, Buck

Fast Hampster

Good question. Usually it's a rim or one of arms to suffer from such impacts. I'm not sure if 4x4 front suspension has a lot of differences comparing to 4x2. I guess that something could happen to the hub wheel axle (one the bearings are on), and maybe also pitman arm (it would not affect that way, but you should check it anyway). Generally it sounds like something particulary separated from it's mount place, so i guess you'll see more when you'll have brake rotor removed for bearings replacement.