For the 4 years I've had my F250, the RH front wheel has always leaned out slightly at the bottom - it's not affecting tire wear but I want to fix it, so I'm installing new coils.

Taking a few measurements etc, I discovered that the RH spring seat is about 1/4" taller than the LH.
A quick look at my parts truck - & it's RH spring seat is also taller (both trucks are 2WD).
I presume this is to compensate for the road camber? If so, I"ll swap seats side-to-side when I do the coils........we're driving on the left over here.

Does anyone know if this is the reason for the difference?

Also, did tow or camper packages (this truck has both) involve heavier front coils?

Thanks

 

I would take your truck in for a wheel alignment first before you install new coil springs.

 

Personally, I would take it in for an alignment after installing new coil springs. If the old ones are really worn out and the alignment is done to compensate for them, then the height difference of the new ones might through it back out of alignment.

 

New springs will likely affect camber.I would also get an alignment after spring install.

 

Ken - They are different, but I don't know what the differences are. The attached drawing ID's the part a 5A307. The 2nd listing (the 1st listing is inc'd for completion) shows a LH and RH part #, which are indeed different. So, you may be right as to why. But, wouldn't an alignment shop know?

 

Thanks for the replies - I'll definitely do an alignment.

Gary, I've asked a few - & they all presume that's the reason too.
But very few operating now, have had experience of this era pickup, even though the Aussie built trucks were marketed here - Japan ruled then (& still does largely).

They seem more familiar with dedicated right & left hand springs, instead of a common spring with a taller block on one side.

 

The taller spacer makes up for the engine offset. ?

 

You might be right, Don. The engine is offset 1 1/2" to the right.

But, as it sits now (with the RH spring sagging slightly, & the LH having no sag), the truck is dead level on a flat floor.

So, with a new PAIR of coils, the RH side should lift slightly higher than the left........which would make sense with U.S. road camber.
But on our roads (driving on the left) it would presumably still be correct to swap the coil seats/spacers, despite the engine offset.

Anyone's thoughts?

 

I'm thinking you should swap them. And it isn't too difficult to swap them back if you don't like it - but I think you will.

Back when I had the 72 Explorer we had a 9 1/2' self-contained camper as well. It didn't sit level when on level ground so I started checking. Turned out that several of the tanks were on the passenger's side, like the water tank and the honey tank. One day on a business trip I wound up sitting beside an engineer from a RV company on the plane, so I asked him about it. He said that's where they put them, but didn't have a good reason as far as I could tell. Anyway, that's what appeared to be causing the thing to lean to the right even on level ground, and more so on most cambered roads. So, I know the feeling and think it would be worth a shot to correct it on your truck.

 

I'm thinking that the engine offset has more to do with the different seat hieghts than road camber. The engine offset means the RH spring will be carrying a higher percentage of the engine's weight. The springs are the same, so there has to something else to make up for this.

I've replaced springs under 2 different trucks, both Ford Twin I beam. But 1 was a 1970 model, and the other a 1980. The springs for the 1970 were clearly labeled for R/L and were different lengths (not 100% positive, but I believe it was the RH spring that a but taller). The springs for the 1980 were not labeled, and had the same free height.

Most vehicles are not built with a 50/50 R/L load distribution on the suspension, so there are either different length springs, or different seat hieghts used to make up for this.
Road camber can vary greatly, depending on region. Wetter climates need more drainage, while colder climates need less so vehicles don't slide downhill into the ditches as easily. Manufacturers are not going to even attempt to engineer a solution for keeping the vehicles level, for different regions. Yes, they may do so for different regions of the world, to account for RH/LH drive. Unfortunately, you're at the mercy having a vehicle that wasn't originally engineered for a RH drive country.

That said, it's *possible* that swapping the seats could correct part/all of the road camber issue, or it could just make it lean the other way. You may find that you need to make a "shim" to fit under the LH seat in addition to, or instead of, swapping them side to side. You're sort of in uncharted territory in this regard.

 

Thanks Gary & RW

I have a friend with an Aussie-built F100 (it was a six cylinder truck originally, so the engine-offset aspect may be different) I'll ask him how it's coils have been set up.

I think you're right - I'll just have to make the swap & go from there.

 

I have an US built F150 with a 6 cyl, and the engine is offset the same as a V8. Therefore, if his engine is offset differently than yours, you'll know where they made a change.
I'm betting it has not only a different engine offset, but also different spring seats, if it was truly engineered for driving on the wrong side of the road.....
We drive on the right side of the, but the wrong side of the vehicle. You lot drive on the right side of the vehicle, but the wrong side of the road.
There's right and wrong, no shades of gray. So just admit to driving on the wrong side of the road...... LOL.

 

Uh oh, here it comes. I can just feel the explanation: In olden times, when people met on the road they naturally moved to their left as the vast majority were right-handed and it is natural to defend yourself with a sword or knife by moving to the left. That created the protocol of riders on horse-back doing the same, which then...... That's the only reasonable explanation, of the many I got while on Great Britain.

 

Evidently, until the very early 1900's, the US did drive on the correct side of the road!

Actually, I might be wrong there -with some googling, it seems that maybe U.S. driving was always on the wrong side of the road; but that, early on, the steering wheel was on the correct side (Model T's anyhow) - alas, now nothing over there's right!

 

Lets examine the word "correct". It means something that is true, valid, or right. The opposite would be incorrect, or false, invalid, or wrong.
If correct = right, and incorrect = wrong, then left = wrong as well, since it's the opposite of right, and nothing can be both correct or right and incorrect or wrong at the same time.
Therefore, you lot drive on the wrong, or incorrect side of the road, since it is not the right side.



Yes, I love to pick at all my Brit, Aussie, and Kiwi freinds about this, as well any other region that doesn't drive on the right (correct) side of the road.
The people that I don't bother picking at, are not freinds, regardless of where they live or how they drive.....