I have a 1990 F250 extended cab 4x4 with a 460 ci engine in it. I love the truck but ever since I have owned it, it has had the "nose down" squatted down (negative camber) front tire look....kindof like somebody squashed the front of the truck down and bent the suspension...
Anyway, I went in and had the springs rebuilt, they then added a leaf so it wouldn't happen again, which raised the truck up about 2 or 3 inches in the front (actually leveled it out) but made the front tires very positive on the camber angle. I then went in and replaced all the ball joints, then went to the tire store, bought new tires and during the alignment, the mechanic put in the MOST negative camber spacers in possible and the closest he could get to stock specs (calls for .5 degree's positive camber + or - .5 degrees)
was 1.7 degrees positive on each side. The truck rides great and I know that after the springs settle a little the angle will also go down, but does anyone else drive around with that much positive camber (lift kit, etc) and does it wear out the tires on the outside!? Thanks in advance! Randy

 

My '82 flareside had the tires rubbing on the outside too. It happened when I put on new stiff springs, and new stiff shocks. I did that a year ago or so, I just let it sit, and a couple months later when it settled, it looked great, like it did from the factory, it did not wear out my tires at all. The big problem, with trucks from the early 80's, is that from the factory, they came with the brandnew suspension, which was obviously stiff. The people bought these trucks, and had the tires adjusted, to where they were perfectly aligned, when the truck settled the tires were pushed out on the bottom.

Chris
'82 F100 Flareside
300" T18 4speed

 

If your truck rides and handles ok, I would suggest to rotate the tires often (every other oil change or so) untill the new springs settle in. You could install dropped beam brackets to correct the problem now, but they would need to be removed later. Just a thought!

Nathan

 

 

Just replaced front leaf springs for 97 F250 4x4 crew 7.3L. Ford did the work and replaced ball joints as well. Now they can't align it -- way positive camber...they are suggesting that the springs will settle.... really? How long? should I drive off of 1' curbs for awhile? I'm about 2.25" from the bumper on the right spring and 3" on the left spring.

 

If they were equal side to side, I would say "ok, but you owe me an alignment after so many months of driving". Being that it's not level side to side, I would think something is not right with that.

 

There are camber bushings that go all the way to plus or minus 3 degrees in 0.5 degree increments available. Both Moog and Napa have them, but they are kind of hard to find online using standard searching methods. Bronco Graveyard also has "adjustable" camber bushings that are supposed to have a wider range than stock bushings.

So that is an option. But I agree maybe you should wait and see how the new springs settle.

 

Thanks for the replies on my new spring/extreme positive camber issue. I guess I'd better consume some diesel and drive it daily on curvy roads instead of letting it set in the shed for periodic heavy duty. I'll post back to let you know how this goes.