Good morning,

We're working on getting a 1979 F-150 road-worthy again. It has a pretty decent lean to the driver's side at the moment. The driver's side sits about 2" lower than the passenger's side. I'm just not sure if this is a spring issue or a shock issue. I know that springs rarely fail and they appear to be intact but the truck also appears to have been driven into a rock because the front cross member was mashed into the suspension i-beams. The suspension had been held up by this until we were able to heat the cross member and get it kinda straightened out. At least it's not interfering with the I-beams anymore.
I'm hoping to get some opinions on whether this could have caused one of the springs to fail or whether this is just a failed shock.

Thanks,
Dean

Crossmember

Crossmember - Left

Crossmember - Right

Driver's side from front

Passenger's side from front

Driver's side from Rear

Passenger's from front

Passenger's from rear

Driver's from front

 

Shocks do not hold the vehicle up. They simply dampen the bouncing of the spring. Likely something is still bent or the spring needs replaced.

 

x2

Click this, read the diagram, AND the caption:

(phone app link)

 

@Braggs: good, that confirms what I though. Happy to have confirmation though.
@Steve32: thanks. That's a really handy and simple tree to follow.
I'll do some of the recommended checks this evening. One thing I forgot to mention is that the rear leaf spring on the opposite side has been replaced. The rear does not lean significantly so it seems unlikely that this would have an impact.
There's about a 1"-1.5" difference in the height of the springs (from mount to mount) so I'm thinking that the springs are just cooked from years and miles with the I-beam jammed. The bottom of the left spring seems oddly flat compared to the right.

Thanks again.

 

The way it was hit if you bent that cross member you pulled the frame ,if it was bent just 1/4" in the middle by the time you got to the frame it could have pulled that side down, just thinking

 

@2dwoods yep, that thought has crossed my mind too. However, based on the fact that the springs are different heights we'll probably still try replacing the springs first. It probably wouldn't be a terrible idea to check the frame though.
Thanks.

 

The frame is too weak to create a twist, unless it's visibly mangled.

(phone app link)

 

@Steve83 That is pretty amazing (and a little hypnotizing). Thanks. That's good info to have and puts my mind to ease.

 

The frame is designed to flex as a whole but the cross members keep it square bend a cross member it pulls the frame