So Ive been trying to figure this one out since Ive had my truck. The rear axle was swapped for a 9" and a D44 front. But on the rear axle both the shocks are facing forward. I though this was a little odd as Ive only seen em 1 foward 1 rear. So I know I have to have horrible axle wrap with em both forward. Any ideas or explinations why they did this?

 

I have had 76 F100, 85 F150, 86 F150, 88 F150, two 89 F250s, and a 91 F250 All have had both rear shocks facing forward. I think your use to a Chevy ??

 

yeah probably.. I know the axle wrap is horrible tho. Oh well ford designed it like that for years I guess then its alright!

I have to figure out where the pinon angle is supposed to be as well. Im eating thru a U joint a month. It sucks Im going to have to cut and re-weld everything tho. But hey if anyone knows how much I should change it let me know. Its a 2 peiece drive shaft BTW.

 

Yeah they are supposed to aim forward. Ranger is prob. where you've seen it. Your chewing up rear U-joints? I made my pinion angle almost 0. Meaning it's at the same angle as the D-shaft. I have no problems.

 

well my truck is also sittin on 37s. But yeah this is the 3rd or 4th U joint Ive put in the truck since Sept (since Ive owned it) I talked to one guy and he said the pinion angle was to high so Im not quite sure where to reweld the brackets for it

 

My 88 sits on 35's and I have had no problems. TO be honest It has like 93,000 original miles and Im pretty sure the original U's are still in there. What are you planning on cutting and welding? They make shims to tip your axle to correct pinion angle.... You said its a 2 piece shaft does that denote a carrier bearing in the middle of the shaft?

 

Well the truck was built by someone else and I think the brackets were cut and rewelded where he wanted. So no Im having to go back and fix all the stupid little mistakes he made along the way.

Great example of what Im talking about. He cut the rear leaf spring perches off moved em about 6" forward and bolted em to the frame. So no I have to fix that when I get a real bed again as the axle is moved forward quite a ways

The drive shaft not really sure how to explain it. It slides into the tcase then theres a pivot point right there. Then from there down to the end where it bolts to the rear diff its solid

 

Most of the fullsize fords (cars or trucks) that I have ever looked at the rear axle have had the forward facing shocks. Dodge had the shocks on the rear angled from the outboard to the center of the truck, and GM had them one on each side of the axle (Front and back).

Most of your axle wrap comes from forward movement were the pinion tries to climb the ring gear during take off, i.e. the pinion tilts up during forward motion. So, the shocks are in the right spot if you think they will control axle wrap, but really shocks are only for damping the spring harmonics (keep you from bouncing on the springs), not axle wrap.

 

Yeah well I know thier not going to eliminate axle wrap comletly but Ive had a buddy watch when I start to move and he said that the axle wrap is like 2-3". To me just sounds like way to much to me and him. And Im going to try to get some of the angled shims to try to fix the pinon angle so I dont have any more driveshafts popping out

 

The direction of the shocks have nothing to do with axle wrap. You're probably seeing it because of the huge lift blocks between the rear springs and axle. How big are they?

 

yes it has huge blocks! and it pisses me off! but probably 4" if i had to guess. But the rear axle has been swapped for a 9" and Im not sure how this idiot (the one that built the truck) did this but he cut the rear spring pearches that was at the end of the frame off and moved em foward to use shorter leafs. So when I can afford to Im going to get propoer lift leaf springs and move the pearches back where they belong and delete the huge blocks all togther. Can I use the shims with the blocks tho to fix my pinon angle?

 

Wow Sorry did not pick up on all your other problems. I would say to hold off on the shims until you get your springs redone and correct. That could be a lot of your problem. I am also wondering if the PO welded the spring perches wrong giving you the angle problem.

Sounds like a heck of a can or worms there! I would save the money you might waist on trying to correct some problems with out going back and fixing the root problem. ( the angle shims for starters ) Can't even think of a logical place to start when money is tight. Eating U's is just bad but with large lift blocks, wrong springs, different rear axle, and having the mounting perches cut off and re-welded... I think I would just get parts and stock them until you could just rip in to it and redo the whole spring, axle set up... But I get **** over repairs and Im lazy ... Hate having to do the same repair over later on because I did not fix it correct / complete the first time.

Sorry had to reread it there. I would still wait, get your new springs, redo your mounts and see how far your off after that. No point in buying a shim to run it for a little while to pull it and not need later on or have to pull it and swap for a different angle later on.

 

Well they wernt even welded! Their freakin bolted on so yeah if the trucks front axle swap wasnt right then Id ditch the whole truck for sure. But the front axle looks good other than the ball joints are shot (my fault i wrecked the truck long story but freakin hilarious). So yeah the spring pearches are f'ed. So I have to fix this before I can put a real bed back on it since the rear axle is moved forward quite a bit. So yeah when money rolls in the proper springs will be ordered. I have to figure out how much the front is lifted before buying the rear ones tho so I know how high to go. Thatll be all in due time.