I've put new ball joints on my 97 f250 and had it aligned but the tires actually lean out worse now than before. The top is leaning in and the bottom out. What causes this. It looks bad.

 

That's what we call negative camber and a solution would be new camber bushings I beam bushings, radious arm bushings and new springs, or you can do a Dana 60 swap.

 

Forgot to mention I did put new front springs and new leaf shackles on it. Guess I'll try some new camber bushings. Any idea on which ones o use?

 

After market will be my guess l, just make sure you get adjustable ones because there are some that are fixed. Why not adjust the camber your self? Use a level to do the camber.just make sure when you get the truck back to the ground move it forward and back so the suspension can settle in its place.
By any chance does it do it when you back up into a parking space? If so that is normal.

 

It is worse when you back up. But is still like it when you pull foward. When I had it aligned the shop said he adjusted the camber as much as he could but it was still in the negative.

 

If you've already changed the springs and shackle bushings (did you also replace the upper shackle bushing, it was completely trashed on mine), the next thing is the Dana 50 axle pivot bushings, assuming you have 4WD but I think the principle is the same on the 2WD TTB?). They are probably contributing to the camber problems and need to be replaced before you try adjustable camber bushings.

DIY adjustable caster/camber bushings are kind of a project to get the caster and camber right, at least they were for me. But probably still better than taking it to a front end shop that won't get it right. I got mine from Specialty Products.

 

Yeah I just replaced the whole shackle and it had new bushings in it already. I was suspect of the axle pivot bushings causing this. I looked at them but they don't look bad. Can you press them in and out with a ball joint press?

 

Camber bushings are selected when on the alignment rack. The difference needed is determined by the measurements taken. The big issue is why the half baked alignment you just paid for sucked so bad. They did not do a proper job. The camber bushings are for camber but can also adj caster as well based in position. This is a job for an alignment professional that has his cranium removed from his posterior. This is not a driveway job unless you really want to screw some stuff up.

 

I did mine at home. Got the Specialty Products adjustable bushings and invested in a $200 caster camber gauge. It was a project but I got it right without screwing things up. Probably depends on how much patience and interest someone has in doing the job but I'd say that anyone who can change their own ball joints can do it. Again, I think patience is a big part of the equation but I managed to squeak by.