I can't stand it anymore. I'm tired of the front tires on my 97 f250 4x4 leaning out. I need info/tips on replacing the axle pivot bushings. Any tips? anyone know which parts/bushings I'll need? what about special tools? just a ball joint press if I've researched correctly.

 

best tip is getting D60 and leaf springs

 

....says the guy with a 350 lol

Honestly, unless you just spent a bunch of money on your D50, a swap would be the end all solution and probably be cheaper in the long run. The only problem is you need to have all the parts and you could run into an extra expense if you don't do the work yourself.

Also, if you do the D60 swap, you could get a Reverse Shackle Kit (RSK) which changes the leaf spring articulation and provides a much smoother ride than stock.

 

I did it by myself on my 93 f350 2wd dually, not sure how different it is but it sucked even with a lift. I had to air hammer and cut the bushings to get them out. Basically hole sawed the rubber out, air hammered the sleeve inward to reduce diameter and hammered out. I couldn't get them out with any configuration of ball joint presses I had. I got them back in with a ball joint press. I did the trailing arm bushings too or whatever you call them. Did all this and front springs are the same time so I took my dually wheels bolted them on backwards raised and lowered the lift as necessary to roll stud out, then had to ratchet strap the trialing arm back in.

 

I'd love to do a d60 swap but I just cant afford it right now. I've found a couple but they are north of $900. I've already replaced my front leaf springs.

 

This was more or less my experience too on my D50. I used urethane bushings from Summit. Not an entertaining job but along with your new springs it should fix your camber problems for a long time. Make sure your ball joints are good since a bad one will mess with camber and tire wear too.

One of life's small pleasures is looking at my truck and seeing the front tires pointing straight up and down.

 

I replaced all of the front bushings on my TTB with poly.

It was more work than I expected, but most of the effort was wrestling out the old rubber and in some cases (though I don't recall which) the metal shell.

I used pieces of pipe, threaded rod, nuts and various flat washers to pull the rubber out of its location and into the pipe. After tension was applied, a propane torch around the outside of the metal shell would give a popping feedback that the rubber was releasing from the shell.

For the metal shells I had to remove, after the rubber was removed, I used a hammer and chisel to collapse it on the non-flared end, then it pounded out the other direction.

Re-assembling everything required a come-along to pull things, a pipe wrench to pry/twist things and a floor jack to force things upwards.

A sturdy set (or two) of jack stands goes without saying.

I ripped my whole front suspension off and then reassembled...it is sort of how I tackle projects. I am sure that there are much more systematic, smaller stepped, ways of doing this.

 

I'm actually going through the same situation right now. After getting the hair-brained idea to rebuild my D50 front end I realized I should have just found a D60...

That being said if you were to go the route of swapping front ends you also want to keep in mind you have to match gear ratio's. I'm sure there are only a few front end ratios but it's still something that has to match the rear axl ratio nonetheless.

All in all I opt'd to re-spring my front end. I did ball joints a few years back (only got 10,000 miles on ball joints) and I did the steering box and tie-rods. All that's left is the pivot bushings and to avoid the hastle I'm taking it to a shop to have done. They quoted me a few hundred (like $300-ish) to do the bushings. Sure I could probably do it myself but for $300 I'm saving myself from a months worth of lumbar pain.

Good luck and keep us posted. I think the hardest part will be getting the old bushing out as they tend to get rust-welded into their socket.

 

I stubbornly refused to listen and replaced all bushing on my D50. Ball joints and tie rods were still tight. Nothing wrong with the D50. Just that I wanted some lift and also to run SD leafs.

Replaced the ball joints when the D60 was installed...they are worn with about the same milage.