Hey all, I need to get my 77 in for an alignment but my local shop is booked for a couple weeks out.

I have new ball joints, new track arm bushings, new pitman joint & tie rod ends are tight but she drives like crap and wears the tires on the insides.

If I do a home alignment to help better the driving while I wait my turn at the local shop, what do I want? Slightly toed in or?

Any advice will be appreciated, Thanks

 

'had the same issue a few weeks ago after getting my 73 on the road. Typically, vehicles are slightly have slight toe-in anywhere from 1/16th to 3/16ths. I used 1/8-inch toe-in until I could get to the alignment shop.

Google for toe-plate alignment-DIY and you'll see some setups. All I did was mark and measure from tire to tire on the back and then rolled the truck forward so that the marks were in front and then measured the distances again. Of course, your measurement on front should be 1/8-inch shorter to result in toe-in. My alignment shop is only five miles away so tire wear wasn't a big issue... all I wanted was a ball park figure.

Alternatively, support your rig under the front axle and remove both tires. Take a two lengths of aluminum bar and bolt them horizontally to the hubs. Cut a horizontal slit on each end of the bar for your measuring tapes. Now span the slits side to side with a measuring tape. Voila.. home made toe "plates".

Sounds you have a camber issue with the insides wearing. I don't thing these things are have adjustable camber or caster. I'm sure someone will correct me if I am wrong on that statement.

 

Well I think the caster is somewhat established with the C bushings and the camber some what with a tapered shim ring at the spindle base?

But yes toe in was what I was mostly wanting to ask about.

I measured for a rough idea before I started tonight & I had over a half inch toed out.

I'm about 1/8" toed in now and it drives so much better.

The tires are all junk now from me not knowing about this and my kid driving the truck this way. I'll rotate front to back maybe tomorrow and that should really help bring things around until I can get it into the shop.

 

Rotating the tires is an excellent idea. You'll want the front tires to be worn evenly so the alignment is as accurate as possible.

I have gone as far with my other vehicles to have a 1/2 tank of fuel during an alignment to simulate the most common weight distribution. I'd sit in it if I could but most shops don't like that.

 

I'll bet you still have the original style inverted Y steering setup? If so, toe changes on every dip / bump. It sucked.

I changed my '77 over to '78/'79 style with one long tie rod and a sleeve and short end to go from spindle to spindle, the drag link from R ight end over to pitman arm, and it takes a '78/'79 pitman arm. All std parts for a '78/'79.

Much better driving, and unless stuff wears out like with huge tires, etc, once toe is set you're done.

 

yeah she bump steers, which sucks. My 78 was rock solid. Was it a direct bolt on swap for you to convert to the 78-79 style steering linkage? I'd like to do that some day.

 

Yes, direct bolt in using what they call two tie rod ends (the one is really really long), an adjustment sleeve that connects them making the whole tie rod, a drag link that bolts to the tie rod over on the pass side and comes up to the pitman arm which you also need ... all for a '78/'79. Need a good puller to pul that pitman arm off after removing the nut as I recall.

With the '78/'79 setup, the tie rod ends only move when you turn it, with the '77 setup they are moving on every bump and turn and wearing 10X faster. The axle is solid and that inverted Y setup is only holding toe correct at only one precise point, otherwise it';s either got them toed in or toed out.

I remember that I could have gotten all 5 pieces in a package deal from a big 4x4 place in Pheonix, Az back in the late '80s but by the time shipping was included, cheaper at my local NAPA store.
At the time, there was a big 4x4 store in Pheonix that offered the whole deal as a package but with shipping, NAPA was as cheap, I think all of it was near $150 then. It was an easy decision at the time, at 35,000 my truck already had three loose ends, the two tie rods ends and the joint where they came together up near the pitman arm were all shot.

The new stuff I put on is as tight now 20+ years later as it was the day I put it on. I still find it hard to understand how anyone keeps tires on that original setup .... but you still see them?

 

tbear853; Thanks for illuminating us on why the 78/79 T-style is tons better.

I did an integral PS swap from a 79 Bronco and ended up with the preferred T-style. It cost about $200 for used parts (tie rods, drag link, steering box) but it works like a champ. I did find out near the end that the tie rod studs are thicker on the later models than my 73... a tapered reamer took care of the problem for an extra $70. Learning curve!

 

I've had a 78 before, infact I did a complete resto on that one which included replacing most of the wearing parts in the front end so I am pretty familiar with the settup and yes it is rock solit. I just didn't know if that pitman arm would fit on the 77 steering box and I didn't know if I needed a reemer for the steering arms to put the 78-79 style tie rod on the 77.

Dammit, I just put a new pitman arm on my 77 last summer to. If I would have known this was a direct bolt on swap I would have done it all last summer when my pitman arm joint was sloppy.

 

I'm debating this on my truck as well. So what is the difference between a 77 pitman arm and a 78/79 pitman arm? I was going to attempt to keep my stock pitman arm but it sounds like thats not an option. I guess I'll go ahead and get the drop 78/79 pitman. My cousin bought a 1977 lift kit for his 89 F-150 that he swapped a 1977 F-150 front axle in to. I'm gonna get the drop trac bar bracket from him since he didn't use that on his 89 frame.
I'm wanting to buy new tires but I want to make sure my front end is perfect before I buy them. I just installed the C bushings earlier this week. I still have some positive camber on the RF wheel that I need to address.

 

N-Dave, Yes, the '78/'79 pitman arm is a direct bolt on to the '77 steering box, and you will need it to do the swap. No reamers needed at the tie rod ends, the hole and bevel is the exact same .... as the '77 steering knuckle is the same as a '78 / '79.

Blown, not sure about the panhard rod (track bar) bracket, I've never compared a '89 frame. Might work? As to differences between '77 and '78 / '79 pitman arm ... been 23 years ago I did the swap on my '77, while I can go get a picture of the new setup off my '77 ...
... I forget exactly what the stock '77 pitman arm was like but I know there was no way it was going to work with newer style steering.

This is a '78 / '79 style pitman arm on a '77 F-150 steering box. I thought you might like to see?



HIO, .... Thanks!



Just to add .... If you lift the truck over a couple inches .... use a drop pitman arm .... and drop the panhard rod same.

If you don't, the front axle moves sideways through an arc but the steeper angle will amplify the movement, and you may run out of room at the joint where the draglink meets the pitman arm.

You want that panhard rod (track bar) and the draglink as near parallel to each other (same angle from left to right). If you can find the dropped pitman arm, you can fabricate the panhard rod (track bar) mount to match using some good steel and the stocker.

Also, some addtl bracing of a longer mount would't hurt as it's trying to twist the frame rail and when you make it longer, more stress when side force is applied.



Also .... .... I also earlier said all was tight?

Well .... I discovered today that there is just the smallest amount of slop developing in this one ball joint on this end of the drag link, and only here .... so I guess I'll be getting a drag link soon. My truck may have some rust, but I don't drive stuff that wanders .... and it's starting to. I thought it was a worn steering gear but while I was taking pics, had wife climb in and start it and rock the wheel.

I guess it's because this ball joint sees the most movement on every bump or dip where as all the others see little unless you steer?

 

i've been following this and am close to doing this mod on my 77...but does anyone have a pic zoomed out of the entire t style steering so I can get an idea of what it looks like all put together?

 

Two more pics of 78-79 steering on a 77 F150 ..... looks like a 78-79. The Pittman arms are definately different and the 78-79 linkage requires a 78-79 Pittman arm. Steering box itself is the same. These pics are BEFORE I replaced my drag link and before I removed the old front sway bar brackets and worn out junk second steering damper. Still have the old Moog damper up front though.

 

Since last posting here, just looking through, I see I never posted a current pic. This picture is a combination of two. The small angle above is a tie support for extra trans cooling lines.

I did install the new Moog Drag Link and removed that junk extra damper but kept the old Moog Damper in stock location as it's still working great, still stiff both ways, no leakage. The 78/79 style tie rod ends, adjust sleeve, clamps, pittman arm, and 14 piece poly bushings were all installed in 1986, the drag link is the first thing to werar out. from 35K to 103K.

The original inverted Y 77 steering linkage was plumb wore out at only 35 K when I bought the truck in 1986.



I think those C bushings added like 3 or 4 degrees caster. She drives good now. That is a NEW Moog Drag Link, even if it looks old. You'll also see the sway bar brackets are gone, they mount with a large U bolt and years ago I had spot welded them in one place so when I tapped them with the hammer, they come off undamaged. At one time I had F & R sway bars off a '79 Bronco on it but they made the truck less happy on rough ground so I yanked them off 15-20 year ago.