I have a 97 f 250 power stroke and have always had trouble with the front end. It eats up my tires. I have the best luck with Mitchlen tires, but the allignment shop says that the weight of the engine causes the tires to kind of tilt in,( Camber or Caster maybe ) and there is no adjustment for that on my truck. Even the mechanic at the Ford Dealership said it is a problem. What can I do? I now have 102,000 miles on it and I would sure like to find a way to fix this problem. Does anybody have a suggestion? Thanks.

 

I seem to remember adjustment ovals were the ball joints are into the axel on a 2 wheel drive. I would think the 4x4's would be the same.

 

>I have a 97 f 250 power stroke and have always had trouble
>with the front end. It eats up my tires. I have the best
>luck with Mitchlen tires, but the allignment shop says that
>the weight of the engine causes the tires to kind of tilt
>in,( Camber or Caster maybe )

Camber



and there is no adjustment for
>that on my truck.


Yes there is.
It will take some parts,some extra time and some extra money.There are camber bushings in your front suspension.The factory installed ones are probably not adjustable(fixed).Different bushings with different offsets can be installed,some of the aftermarket ones are indexable to provide a range of adjustability.
Find an alignmenmt shop that is willing to spend the time to give you a complete alignment.You must also be willing to spend more money than a basic alignment costs.For the best results,you want them to shoot for the middle of the allowable tolerance range.If it is within the allowable tolerance but towards one extreme or the other from the "preferred" settings your alignment won't be ideal.

Make sure that they check out all of the components in the front end first and are all good before they align it.Good shocks on TTB suspension are a must for good tire wear also,because of the operating geometry of this suspension design.

 

When you're checking out the front end take a good look at the springs. If they are sacked at all it creates a lot of negative camber and will kill the tires. A good alignment shop will check the ride height before they check the alignment to see if it is close to what it should be. I've seen them bad enough that you couldn't get a camber bushing big enough to adjust it properly.

 

Thanks for giving me your openion, I certanily appreciate the help. But unfortunatly on my 4x4, the bushings are not adjustable. Have a wonderful Christmas and a Terriffic new year!

 

WOW, sounds like you know whats going on for sure, I will certanily do as you suggested! Now if I can just locate a really good allignment shop! Have a Wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year!