I've seen a few posts discussing the gist of what i've just found, but i figure i'll put my experience out there for anyone having similar issues...

Monday of this week, while heading to my local Wawa for lunch, my steering start acting funny. Basically, it would not straighten out from a turn on its own and then would pull hard to whichever side i just turned from. At first i thought i had a flat, but i checked all tires and nothing was low. i drove it back to work from lunch and with the pulling to alternate sides, i started snooping around under the rear end to see if the rear axle was somehow loose and winding up angled after each turn.

...nothing out of the ordinary under the rear end, so i started looking under the front end. ball joints and tie rods all looked good, but then i noticed that the left front leaf spring shackle was toed significantly inward (i'd post a pic, but i guess i'm too new to the site for that). it was hard to tell whether the shackle was bent or whether its was just that both top and bottom bushings were completely shot, letting the whole setup come to rest out of alignment. it was so bad that the shackle was actually resting against the old snow-plow mount that was on my truck.

So, seeing this, i quickly ordered a new shackle (~$160 from ford), and new bushings and hardware (from LMC, who also had the shackle available for ~$60, but i wanted to go OEM in case the part was hardened steel or something). While waiting for the parts to arrive, i got to work removing the bad shackle, but first had to remove the bumper and snow plow mount so that i'd have enough room to work on the shackle and back out the top and bottom bolts.

Getting the snowplow mount off was a bear, but hopefully not too many others have to deal with that part of the process. the bumper comes off real easy - just 4 nuts (well, 3 in my case, but should be 4). Getting the shackle off was a pain - especially without real tall jack stands. I read the procedure elsewhere on this forum that without a full vehicle lift, you must jack up the truck and rest the frame on a jack stand, then jack the axle such that the weight/tension is taken off of the spring/shackle setup so that you can remove the bolts. Well, the only place you can place the jackstand on the frame is all the way up front where the bumper used to be, and your jack stands better be about 30" tall or you're not going to be able to get it high enough. after putting a cinderblock (sideways, not standing up on end) and some wood under my jack stand, and after taking the wheel off, i was able to get it so that it looked like the shackle was relatively unloaded.

however, the lower shackle bolt (going through the front leaf spring eye bushing) was totally seized to the inside of the metal bushing insert. the nut came right off, but i could not get it pushed out through everything. it would spin when i turned on the head, but i could feel that it was turning against the rubber of the bushing at the same time.

Since i had bought new hardware anyway, i just cut the darn thing out with my grinder - i could get between the shackle flanges and the leaf spring so that once it was free, the spring just popped downward about an inch - guess i had the axle positioned a little low - i was sure to have my hands away from the spring when cutting the bolt, though as i did expect some spring movement.

then, after failing to press out the rubber bushing from the leaf spring end with a cheap HF ball-joint press i have, i remembered another trick posted by someone on this site - to hammer a chisel in the gap between where the loop comes back to meet the flat part of the leaf spring. i had to hammer hard, but eventually it stuck and then i could tap the old bushing right out.

the upper shackle bolt came right out, and after much prying and hammering, i freed the shackle from its cavity inside the frame. in hindsight, i might have taken this bolt out first, then lowered the axle down a bit to have it drag the shackle out of the frame with it - i'd guess the axle would be heavy enough...

once the shackle was out i could see that the metal of the shackle looked like it had just come off the assembly line - no bends, no rust. but, the bushing inside the top was totally shot. the inner metal sleeve (that the mount bolt passes through) was resting on the outer metal sleeve such that there was zero rubber remaining in the load path between the frame and the shackle itself. the lower bushing wasn't quite this bad, but was getting close.

So, i quickly took a peak inside the other frame rail and saw that the other shackle looked like it was sitting at the same height as the other side was - it wasn't angled YET, but i'm sure it'll go soon.

Soooo, hopefully this was the source of my steering problem - i'll be putting everything back together this weekend with the new bushings, so stay tuned.

The take home lesson here (I think), though is that i'll certainly be doing the same job on the other side sometime soon. and will probably go ahead and do the rear bushings on the front leaf springs as well at the same time - and maybe even replace the leaf springs at the same time - i have the same front end sag that most people talk about with these trucks and i see that Rock Auto carries all kinds of replacement front leaf springs for ~$150/side. i'm not sure which leafs go with our truck, but with this big cast iron navistar engine sitting on top of them, i'm going with the strongest springs they have.

In regard to this front end sag though - while my leafs are almost certainly worn out (~190,000 miles on the truck) - i was definitely giving away about 1" with the sag in the shackle bushings - and probably about 1/2 - 3/4" at the rear bushing of these front leaf springs. So, average those two numbers and that's ~ 3/4 - 7/8" of sag in front end height just from the worn out bushings! once i get this side shackle done, I'll get some measurements on the two sides to see what the actual difference is. i'm curious if my front end will look crooked until i fix the other side. I'll post my findings back here once its done.

Sorry for the long read, but hopefully this helps someone else out who may be having similar issues.

and, again, i'd be happy to post pics, but i don't seem to be allowed at present.

 

250 or 350? It matters on the springs. 250's with the ttb have heavier springs than the 350 with the straight axle.

 

It's a 250 (with the ttb)

 

So, i replaced the driver side shackle over the weekend as planned and my steering is back to normal, so i'm happy about that. The shackle that came out was definitely shot and i swear i can actually feel the extra rubber between me and the road now.

However, i'm not happy about the fact that the new shackle isn't sitting straight under the weight of the truck. its not as cocked as it was before, but its definitely still toeing inward (with the the bottom of the shackle pointing toward the center of the truck).

it appeared to go in straight during the install - i put the shackle into the frame first and snugged the bolt, and it appeared to be vertical relative to the frame. then, i lined up the leaf spring and re-attached that. the spring seemed to pull the whole setup slightly inward, but it didnt seem that bad and i figured maybe it was because i only had the one side jacked up and the whole truck was somewhat cocked.

then, i put the wheel back on and set the whole thing on the ground and the weight of the truck and the compliance of the two new rubber bushings at either end of the shackle let the whole setup toe inward pretty siginificantly.

the truck does drive straight, though, so i'm guessing the old shackle was about at this same angle the last time i had the truck aligned. So, i'm drive-able for now, but i figure its only a matter of time before these new bushings are toast and need replacement.

Has anyone dealt with any similar issues? its almost like my driver's side leaf spring has developed a twist to it - or like it actually has a curve to it when viewed from above. anyone ever find this? Orcould it have cocked itself where it mounts to the axles with the u-bolts? Or perhaps less likely, my frame is twisted where the shackle mounts so that it can't sit striaght (though, it really does seem like its the bushings allowing the whole thing to sit funny, not the top mounting point).

So, considering the other side shackle and leaf spring bearings are complete shot (but the shackle is still vertical), in addition to changing out all front suspension bushings with polyurethane ones, i figure my options are (or some combination of the following):

1. install 2 new leaf springs and hope everything sits right when i'm done

2. install a front shackle reversal kit to get rid of the suspect front shackle mount point - and see if i can keep my old springs or replace if they do turn out to be badlly twisted when i disassemble the whole thing. (note: i'm not really interested in lifting my whole truck though, so i'd like to keep my old sagged springs if i go with the 3" skyjacker FSR kit so that maybe i don't also have to lift up the back end to make it all look right)

3. make up a big ole steel bar to slip into the upper shackle mount, bolt it in place and check to see if its vertical against the truck frame. if not, use it to try to twist the shackle mount back to true.

Any thoughts/advice would be much appreciated.

Thanks.

 

I guess i'm still not allowed to post pictures embedded in posts, but i have found that i can post albums, so if anyone is interested in some pics of this project, you can find them here (i hope):

Ford Truck Enthusiasts Forums - OldWoodsDiesel's Album: ShacklePics

 

I replaced the springs, shackles, etc. all a few months ago. The shackles are still sitting kinda like yours is, but not as bad now as when it was first assembled. My opinion is you need to get the rest of the front end fixed up, then align it. Having one side fixed and not the other isn't going to help matters.

What kind of shape are the ttb bushings in?

 

I think I agree with your assessment and it's nice to hear that someone (with an equally massive engine has gone through the same thing. I didnt see the TTB bushings as obviously shot, but considering the shape of all other bushings, they can't be in great shape.

My plan is to replace all front suspension bushings (including the TTB bushings) with polyurethane ones and get it lined up. If while diassembling, either of the leaf springs seem not-straight, I'll replace both of them as well.

Hopefully I can avoid having to mess with the frame or a lift kit.

 

TTB axles are actually not "strait," so nothing really ever looks right with a TTB install. One tire sits further forward than the other, as well one tire sticks out further from the truck than the other as well.

but bushings and everything else make a huge difference as stated earlier.

 

You'll never get the front end straightened out without new springs. 43-498 is the designation on the front TTB springs. All poly bushings and you will good to go. Then getting it aligned might be a bit of a chore. But a good alignment shop should be able to fix you up. I would also plan on addressing the rear springs and bushings soon.

 

well, i'm about halfway done the a full bushing and spring replacement job. My replacement springs (43-498 was correct) just came in the mail yesterday and i got right to work. I wasn't happy to see the big fat 'made in china' sticker on the Husky springs i ordered, but i should have expected it based on the price.

Anyway, getting the red Energy Suspension polyurethane bushings into the new springs was a piece of cake. The trick of driving a chisel in the gap in the circumference of the spring eye works like a charm - thanks FTE.

However, getting the TTB pivot bushing out was darn near impossible. i was debating not changing these as the bushings looked pretty good once i dropped the axle for inspection, but figured, i had it all apart and already had the replacement bushings, i might as well do it. big mistake. at first i tried just pressing the rubber out from inside the sleeve as the sleeve seemed pretty well rusted in place. the u-join immediately behind the forward bushing made it impossible to get anyhing but a medium-sized c-clamp in there witih a piece of pipe on the front. thought i had it a few times, but the rubber just kept popping back. finally got the sleeve and rubber out with a big washer over the back side of the sleeve and a pipe wrench on my c-clamp. after that fiasco, i decided to leave the other pivot bushing as it is. it really does look pretty good and i'm thinking someone might have done these bushings previously...

...because, after freeing up all three mount points of the left half of my ttb, i found the root cause of my angled front shackle - the spring itself was twisted so that the front was toeing inward. and it was twisted because the U-BOLTS WERE LOOSE on that side!!! seems like the previous owner (or his mechanic) did some work up front there but never re-tightened the u-bolts! you'd never know they were loose though until everythign is disassembled since any tension in the system keeps the springs angled enough to take the slack out of the bolts. with everythign loose though, i could swing the spring back and forth about 3 inches side to side at the front eye!

i'll update again once the job is done and i've had time to evaluate any differences i ride height/ride quaility, but if anyone out there is dealing with any similar issues as above, i'd check those u-bolt nuts for sure!

 

got it all back together last night and she drove pretty well into work (~5 miles) this morning. the reassembly was not tough at all. definitely needs an alignment, but that darn shackle is finally straight, and its amazing how much quieter the ride is with all new (except the rearward TTB bushing) under the front end.

as far as front end height goes - i feels like it sits higher when i'm in the cab, but when i look at the new springs, they look to be arched about the same and the distance from the top of the shock mount plate on top of the springs to the frame bumper looks to be about the same. oh well, at least she's back on the road again.

i'm very motivated to do the rear-end bushings before i get it aligned, but i doubt timing will allow that - the old lady is set to deliver our second child any day now.

 

Congrats on getting that front end fixed up. Bigger congrats on the little one coming!

 

Thanks and THANKS!

The truck rides like a cadillac with all the bushings replaced up front. ...ok well, not like a cadillac, but at least like a brand new 96 F250. Even my 9-month-pregnant wife agrees that the ride is noticably better - now that's saying something!

no more clunking up there and no more trying to dodge every little bump and pothole.

now just to get it re-aligned - though that'll have to wait until after my son's birthday (zero-th birthday, that is) on Thursday.