Ok, so ive got a 96 f150 2wd, and the front passenger side was sagging a little so I replaced the coils with new HD coils, which picked the front up about an inch and a half and leveled her up nice. Also replaced all the tie rod ends, drag link and ball joints while i was in there. Installed new ADJUSTABE camber/caster bushings, and took it to Tire Kingdom for new tires and an alignment.

Problem:

On the way home i noticed that with a small movement of the steering wheel either way it pulls pretty hard both right and left, with a constant pull to the right.

Also noticed after I got her home that there is a good bit of positive camber going on on both sides and seems to be equal. Then noticed that in the front, the outside edge is wearing already especially on the passenger side, with only about 200 miles on the tires.

I have a 2" drop shackle on the rear to level things out and am running 31x10.50x15 Michelin LTXs.

Does the 2" drop change the alignment specs that much, or is there something else going on here that I dont know about? The tires were too expensive to have a crappy alignment wear them out before their time.

 

Take it back to the tire shop and have them recheck their alignment. They should have a limited warranty on their work, I would think, and if there is a problem they should fix it at no charge.

 

yeah, i got the six month alignment package and thats what I plan to do.

does anybody know the particulars on the specs they should be within?

also noticed on lunch that things change a good bit if I back up. Thats normal though with TIB, right?

 

Backing up changes it normally yes. So check it after pulling forward only. But the rear shouldn't affect anything. The rear wheels can't be aligned anyhow. They might not have adjusted the ball joint bushings. That's not a stock item, so most places don't mess with it. You may have to ask them to, or they might tell you to adjust that part yourself.

 

What kind of shape are your pivot bushings in? The ones that connect each axle to the crossmember of the frame.

 

Pivot bushings are a couple of years old as well as the radius arm bushings. Everything suspension wise is now pretty much new.

I guess Im not worried about the parts really, just about a hatchet job on the alignment at tire kingdom. Do the twin I beams look like they are kicked out at the top when they are within spec?

Gonna take it by today and get them to double check it. I almost ran off the road 2x on the way home yesterday! It really feels like you are riding on a ridge.

 

Ok so took it back to tire kingdom left it there from 5 pm to 9:15 pm the next night and the guy told me he just didnt know how to adjust the adjustable camber/caster bushing. So gonna get them to give me my money back.

Took it to the ford dealer and had their guy look at it. They hadnt had it an hour till the service guy called and said my ball joints are bad. The ball joints arent bad because I replaced them about a month ago. So he went back in and looked harder, like he should have the first time and found that there was play between the stud on the upper ball joing and the camber/caster bushings. He tried Ford factory bushings which were also loose around the stud (they didnt give enough adjustment either, which i already knew). Drove it 3 days and went to rotate my tires to get the worn front edges (from the tire kingdom alignment) on the rear, and noticed that the alignment bushing on the driver side was about to fall out. Evidently tire kingdom stripped the pinch bolt that tightens up around the bushing and the ford dealer just left it (loose).

Took it back to the dealer after putting in grade 8 bolts and he aligned it again and it is good now, not perfect, but good. it has about a degree positive camber on driver and passenger. should be less than .8

dealer recommends axle pivot and radius arm drop brackets to get the alignment "perfect" with Ford bushings. he also said that the AutoZone ball joints arent factory spec, and thats why the studs are loose in the bushing. anybody had issues with aftermarket ball joints, and is there really any need for the drop brackets with only heavy duty coils up front???