1971 F-100 2wd stock
Just got kingpins (brass), control arm bushings, and all other front end bushings replaced this week. Runs down the road very smooth and quite.

My front end seems week side-to-side. I can rock the truck with ease. I am getting fairly significant body roll around tight turns.

What should I look to replace, add or tighten?

Thanks Guys

 

Heavier springs and/or swaybars.

 

Weight transfer is controlled by springs and shocks... springs typically sag over time... in stock form, there is typically 2 to 2.5 inches between the top of the I-beam and a stock bumpstop. Does the truck bottom out?.. wrap the I-beam with masking tape and then wipe some grease (or lipstick) to the bottom of the bump stop. Go out for a drive over some rough roads. Inspect the tape for any witness marks.

Didn't ya check the shocks while doing the kingpins and bushings? It would have been rather evident. Good shocks will have rebound... bad shocks compress and stay compressed... you can also hear them gurgle when compressing.

2x on swaybars.... But I would replace the shocks before I replace the springs unless the springs are worn/sagging at static height.

 

I don't feel like its sagging, it has not bottomed out over any of the local potholes or train tracks.

Are there any recommended replacement front shocks?

What year trucks do I pull the front sway bar from? Is it a bolt on type install?

Thanks again

 

Hmmm. With a stock '71 F100 front suspension, I'm not sure how well a factory '75-'79 F100 - F350 front sway bar endlink bracket (C-bracket) will work with the stock '71 radius arms (?).

The factory forward-mounted sway bar was available for all '75-'79 F100s through F350s but, it wasn't installed on all the trucks. On the '75-'79 radius arms, they had a protrusion with a notch in it. There's a pin on the C-brackets that engages with these notches.

The radius arms on the Bumpsides don't have this protrusion on the forward ends of the radius arms and so, there's no material there to make a notch in them for the locating pins on the C-brackets.



The swaybar endlink C-brackets look like this.



Diagram of the swaybar assembly. The C-bracket is part 5C499 in the diagram.



This would be more definite of a straight forward installation if you had a disc brake front suspension from a '75-'79 F100/F150.

I installed a '77 F100 front disc brake suspension under my '69 F100. I also installed a front swaybar from a '78 F250 Camper Special.







At the time I installed the Dentside disc brake front suspension, I installed new Moog CC808 progressive rate front coil springs. My shocks are new but nothing fancy. They're just Monroe Gas Magnums. They were yellow out of the box. I painted the shocks Ford Semi Gloss Black.

The swaybar and the new springs greatly flattened out my truck's handling when going around curves. It doesn't feel like I'm riding in a boat anymore.


....theoretically, since an F100 through F250 Dentside's rear frame rails are wider (4" overall) than a Bumpside's rear frame width, a Dentside F100/F150/'78-'79 Bronco rear sway bar shouldn't fit a Bumpside but, I did install a rear swaybar on my truck from a '79 Bronco. --I had the front swaybar on the truck before I ever installed the rear swaybar. The front swaybar, by itself, made a big difference in the handling (flatter in the curves) and no longer feeling like the door handles were going to scrape the pavement. The rear swaybar just helped even more.

 

In the early 70s my truck felt unsafe over 35 mph when going through the Mohave Desert with an overhead camper in the wind. I liked the ride and bought a rear swaybar. That helped so much that I bought the front one also. They're both Helwig and I can safely go the speed limit for the past 40+ years. I have replaced the front springs many years ago when they were sagging. The back I just added a leaf. It's a 68 F250 CS.