Hey folks,
I have a unique suspension/alignment problem with my '95, F150, Eddie Bauer, 4wd, Ext Cab.

I had terrible memory steer and finally diagnosed it to bad ball joints. I replaced them over the course of the last several days and now with the truck sitting, it's showing even more positive camber than before. Now, I know when I had it last aligned, it's was at the far end of 3* positive. And it shows more now. The alignment guy said that where it's at, there is no further adjustment possible.

Here's the question...
Do I need to purchase 2" drop brackets, 4" drop brackets OR 2"-4" Extended Radius Arms?
I only installed new springs and shocks and do not Recall anything mentioning lifted springs or shock's .

I'm at a loss here. I know that with the new TTX Mevotech Ball joints installed, I'm NO WHERE to being centered in the upper alignment bushing.

I'd like to get something ordered so I can hopefully get this thing right. It's been down for almost 2 weeks.

 

What part#/brand were the springs?

Have you double checked with another alignment shop to make sure there isn't anything that can be done?

 

I'll have to look for the part # for the springs, but they were MOOG.

And I trust my alignment guy. Hes been doing this for 22+ years and knows a great deal about the IFS TTB Ford front end.
I may be able to find the last spec sheet for the alignment, but it's was really far out.

 

How much lift did you get out of the springs? I'm at 1.6" or so and have had to sacrifice caster for correct camber. Any higher and I'd likely go with drop brackets.

 

Here is the beginning alignment before springs and shocks were installed.


Here's the spec after springs and shocks and alignment


I installed Moog CC824 springs. Free height was 16.94". I'm guessing it lifted it quite a bit.

 

I had the same problem on a 84 F150 that I installed a heavier set of springs on the front as I wanted to level out the truck. My alignment guy told me the camber was so for off, that other than going back to lighter springs, I would have to install 2" drop pivot brackets. At the time, I didn't have the money for the brackets, so I went back with lighter springs.

 

Maybe the way to do it is let the caster be whatever to get proper camber. It's a sacrifice of easy highway cruising though- they tend to wander without enough caster. Drop brackets are optimal though

 

Ideally, would be drop pivot brackets and radius arm brackets or extended radius arms. Two inch drop should get you back into acceptable alignment numbers.

 

Can I get away with 2" radius arm drop brackets or do I also need to get the drop pivot brackets?

I'm just wanting to get back where the ball joint socket is so completely whacked because of the positive camber and call it a day.

Thanks so much for the help!!

 

Pivot drop bracket is the only way to properly solve your issue, if you are outside the alignment bushings capability to fix it.

 

Maybe I am speaking out of turn, but on my '87 with just a few inches of lift, the camber ended up looking really way off. Ok, so the alignment shop pulled, repacked, and re seated the front bearings. This helped, why I am not sure, but it did. Then he explained that Ford didn't include adjustability on those ball joints as the camber was set by the axle. Well, aftermarket parts houses have camber ball joint fittings which locate the ball joint in its socket. The new ball joint cam fits into the control arm and allows the ball joint to have a few degrees of adjustability as it rotates eccentrically in the ball joint socket. Go to a different alignment shop until someone knows about this and you can get the camber adjusted back to vertical true.

 

I'm confused. You say you ended up with 3 degrees of camber, but the final printout shows .3, in spec.

 

Yea, I'm not sure I understand either. If it was in spec with those springs you shouldn't have trouble getting it in spec with new ball joints. New ball joints should not make the truck un-alignable (don't think that's a word), unless you had it aligned before with very loose joints in it. I have the Moog adjustable sleeves (not fixed, I know they're not favored by many) that allows up to ~3.25° of adjustment. Think they're set around 2.5° camber with Moog CC844 springs.

EDIT: yep just checked, up to 3.25° of adjustment (if you set to 3.25° camber, caster is zero, so you sacrifice caster for camber-- nature of the beast) and bushings currently set at 2.5° camber, 2° caster. Don't know my actual alignment printout but the tires wear even and truck tracks well enough.

 

Your correct Bashby. I was stating that it was @ 3° before the complete alignment.

 

Here's a couple of pics of the new upper ball joint installed.





You can see how diagonal "/" the upper ball joint sits.
It was the same with the previous ball joints too.

The only thing different with the new TTX ball joint is it has an upper portion that has a rubber boot in it. These were a pain to install because the length makes them near impossible to get into the upper socket.

Thanks again for the help!

As 89F2turd stated, axle pivot drop brackets look to be the answer so I can get my ball joints more vertical and closer to OE spec for alignment without adjustable camber bushing's.