hey guys, i finally got the F-150 i have been trying to get for the past few months. It's a 1994 single cab short bed f150 straight 6 4x4 5 speed manual tranny.

i had a question about the front axle though. being as it has the independant front axle and i seem to see a lot of these with the front tires bowing in at the top i thought i would ask y'all what caused that. the front tires on this truck are bowing and at first glance my guess was ball joints(a set is sitting inside the cab), but then i remembered the independant front axle was a problem with this. i'm new to these front axles so any help would be appreciated. thanks!!

 

probably is bad ball joints. unless youve got MAJOR spring sag (from like 400k mi) id bet money the problem lies in either the ball joints or wheel bearings. For comparison, ive got a 95 F150 w/ 187k on the clock, and there is NO wheel bow at all. put new ball joints in it 2 years ago, and the tires stand straight up and down.

BTW, doesnt your F250 have that ifs up front also anyways?

 

It's the springs, because of how the suspension works as the springs compress the top of the tire tilts in, this is normal. Have a buddy bounce the truck as you watch, you will see the tires tilt in and out. It isn't really a problem until it starts effecting tire wear.

If you had a wheel bearing problem that caused the tires to tip in, the tipping in would be the last of your problems the truck would be undriveable and make terrible noises.

There is a few degrees of adjustment available in the ball joints that a good alingment shop could adjust for ya. It's probably not a wear problem in the ball joints, if they were worn bad enough to cause that the truck would be hard to keep in a lane.

Bottom line, it is normal and common for these trucks to do that a little bit. You can help it with some alignment tricks or springs that would also raise the truck. The only permenant solution is to switch to a solid front axle.

 

Not totally true. Ive had bearings fail to where the wheel was tipped in, and they were not making any noticeable noise when driving.

Again, not necessarily true. bad ball joints on both sides will keep the truck going straight down the road, but will handle turns poorly.

I dont know what kind of trucks youve been driving, but none of my trucks (1 with 187k another w/ 188k mi) have the tires tilted in at the top. If theyre doing that, it means there is something wrong. It is definitely not normal to have the tires tilted in with the truck suspension at rest.

 

I have had 19 plus of these trucks .Funny I've had issue several times . And 99% time its springs . Even when 5 yrs old the springs start to sag . There is a post on here that showed a 50000 mile F150 truck that had new springs put on and it raised truck 3/4 to a 1" .

I put new ones on at 100000 on mine. The waek the spring the more / \ u get backing up also . Mine don't do it aT ALL.

 

Another vote for springs, If the bearings or ball joints are loose enough to affect camber the thing would be all over the road like a dog humping a football.

 

I sure hope your not working on your own trucks wheel bearings or ball joints. With this lack of understanding you'd be a danger to everyone around you.

 

what am i not understanding? Yes my own bearings failed and my own ball joints have failed. replaced both myself. still trying to figure out how im a danger here, just cuz ive had componant failure...

 

my truck had 324000 k on it when i bought it and it had a whole new front end on it (RAs+brackets, coils, buckets, shocks) and it failed a write off inspection 2 days ago because the front shock mounts are hurtin truck currently has 338000 km could have been improper installation though only cuz i didnt put em on :P lol just kiddin

im not goin against you guys but im takin blue rebels side on the wheel bearings my dads peterbilt big rig had a shot wheel bearing up front and it never made any noise but it leaked like a s.o.b. so they replaced the seal same problem replaced the bearing bam fixed...that totally unrelated but it shows that it is possible to have a silent shot wheel bearing

 

Spring sagging is very common and is much more likely to be the cause, IMO. But that doesn't mean the ball joints or bearings aren't worn out and shouldn't be checked anyway.

 

It's not that you had a failure it's the lack of understanding, that you need to understand these things to do a safe repair. If a wheel bearing were EVER loose enough to cause a visible wheel tilt. It would also be loose enough to damage the spindle, hub, and axle. That you can't understand this is the problem.

I don't want a debate,just to get correct info out there so that we can all be safe and we won't give our commy giverment more of an excuse to regulate us to death. If you killed some kid cause you didn't do your repair right some bureaucrat will start calling for a ban on home repair.

 

I think your confused. I never said his other components were going to be fine with bad bearings. I never said repairing bearings means just replacing the bearing cone. Of course major bearing failure like that means looking at and most likely replacing multiple related components. All i said was that it COULD be the cause. Which you have already agreed with me on, if they were loose enough. If the bearing was dry, and the cage was coming apart slowly, it will also cause the wheel to tip in. I NEVER said that FOR SURE is the cause of his problem. Do not assume that because my trucks are dirty rusty and more than one color that i am not qualified to perform safe repairs. I know what im talking about, and i sure as hell know what im doing. If you dont want a debate than watch your tongue before you start typing random crap

 

I think that is possom's style

 

I have never been accused of being timid or otherwise afraid to speak my mind.

 

my f-250 is a 2wd, but i have had the upper ball joints go on it and it made the front tires bow in a little. the f150 tires are bowing in so bad the front tires are wearing out on the inside WAYY before the center.

i wasn't trying to start a fued, but i know that ball joints cause bowing and so do worn springs. it is in NOOO WAY NORMAL ON THESE TRUCKS!!!!! I will have to get it home and check it out when i pull the engine to swap for the 302. thanks guys