84 CC 2wd f350

Has anyone used offset radius arm bushings to correct caster?
Napa sells 5 different ones:
npc 2749187hi temp short design
npc 2749186
npc 2749177 short design
npc 2749148 standard
pcc 13510

Moog k8746

All of these bushings have the center hole offset. it has a metal clip with the kit, i suppose to lock it in place.
Looks like you may need to modify the original bushing and install these inside.

Any experience with these bushings?
Thanks ron............

 

forgive me if this is a stupid question, do you have a 2wd or 4x4 and if a 2wd, do you have kingpins, or ball joint front end?

 

I'm in the process of rebuilding my entire front end, so I've been reading a lot of old threads on the topic this week. (I have to order radius arm bushings this week myself). I did come across a post by a guy that had been an alignment tech for 25 years, and his recommendation was to not use the offset radius arm bushings. Take it with a grain of salt I suppose...

I could probably find the thread if I dig around a bit.

Edit: I believe this is it linked below...

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...r-bushing.html

 

Not a stupid question. I should have provided the info.
2wd
kingpins

 

Yea I read through that thread. Mine is kingpin so I have no adjustment other than bending beam, offset bushings , or spacing radius arm bushing mount down away from frame.

 

ok, what is your current caster? allowable caster is a pretty long range on these and aside from return steering effort, the bushings dont serve much but to perhaps give cross caster to help with crown.

get your current measurement (I think allowable is like 1-6*) and get bushings to put about .25-.5* MORE on the passenger side, but dont go crazy with it. they do place other loads on the parts - namely the pivot point.

you can also correct it if you have the kingpin bushings offset milled when installing, but that takes a machine shop tool that just is not found anymore (I myself found 1 guy in 100 miles radius when I did my 81 F100 (which used the same king) and I think he has died since.

and not your fault, I could not read, you did provide the info. I was just dense.

 

Yes, why are you messing with the caster adjustment? Did the alignment guy say it was way off? Caster is what makes the steering wheel want to come around straight when you let go of the wheel. It gives you that centered "straight ahead" feel to the wheel. But like was mentioned it can be off somewhat and still be workable, the important part is that the caster is equal on both sides or it will pull to the left or the right.

 

Quote from Quaddriver.

"ok, what is your current caster? allowable caster is a pretty long range on these and aside from return steering effort, the bushings dont serve much but to perhaps give cross caster to help with crown."

I have not checked it yet,my caster/camber gauge is loaned out but I will have it first of the week. I have other alignment issues to deal with first but like to know what my options are as far as correcting the alignment.

 

Due to my bassackward engine swap 460/c6 to a 300/splitter/t-18, the frontend is out of align. First issue I will address is the positive camber, truck sits about 2 inches higher now so I will change springs to correct ride height and then go from there. When I bought the truck I drove it about 250 miles from Georgia to SC and I don't remember it wondering, but thats all I drove it and that was about 3 years ago. I did the swap and have driven it about 2k miles and It does have a little wondering to it .
When I get to working on it I want to know all my options so I can fix right and in a timely manner. This thing is huge and it takes up so much space in my shop I want to fix it as quick as possible.

 

Correcting the ride height with the springs should be all you need. It would be a good idea to get it aligned after you drive it some more to let the new springs settle(if you buy new). A good shop will check the frontend over for any problems before they try to align it.

With years of having that big engine in place, if you find it still does not have a good feel to it, you can check around the steering box on the frame for cracks, and for loose rivets on the front crossmember ride beside and behind the steering box.

 

The correct way to adjust the camber and caster on the king pin twin I beam is to bend the beams. Finding a shop that still has the tools to do this could be a trick, your best bet is a shop that does heavy trucks.

You will have to correct the ride height first then do the alignment naturally.

The caster in these trucks gradually decreases over time just through normal operation. They do like a bit more caster than they normally came with from the factory shoot for 5° positive caster as it is about ideal and within factory spec's. The caster on the TIB changes as the suspension compresses and extends, low static caster can lead to wandering on rougher roads and is harder on steering components.

The later ball joint beams can be bent if adjustment cams can not get the alignment in to spec. Yes the beams say say do not bend but that was to prevent the old school guys from bending them for minor alignment adjustments as there is a risk of deforming the end of the beam and damaging the ball joints if the bending tool is not located absolutely properly. They are made from the exact same material as the king equipped pin beams

Below is an excerpt from the service manual showing the tools used to do caster and chamber adjustments on the TIB suspension. Do it properly and don't even bother with the offset strut rod bushings.

 

Disregard the comment I had, I did not read the details enough before I posted. Sorry!

 

Only on the balljoint style axles. Kingpin axles require the bending method.