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I would definitely check the axle pivot bushings. Had a similar situation with the camber in my 77 a couple of years ago. Bushing for left wheel and tire was shot (other side wasn't far behind).
with the tire off the ground, the top has play inward and outward. The front of the tire has zero play in any direction. The truck is not lowered, I have 20” dodge wheels on it. That’s what fills the wheel well and gives the appearance of it being lowered.
This evening I took it all apart … it has the dreaded nylon bushing instead of a metal bushing. No wonder is failed 🙄. When I moved the brake caliper I noticed the brake lines are bad. The list never stops growing! While it’s apart I’m gonna clean up everything and paint it to help prevent further rust. It’s not bad at the moment, all surface rust, but every little bit helps. Below are some pictures from tonight’s adventure.
Soooooo … how bad are the nylon bushings? I found ONE shop within 50 miles of me willing to do brass bushings for me. The shop said it would be three to four hours per side and they charge $90 per hour. I don’t have the tools to do it myself. I could buy the tools, but I would never use them again. The truck currently has nylon bushings, and this is the first use I’ve had with them. I have no idea when they were done but I’ve owned the truck since 2005. Are the brass bushings really worth the $300 difference?
I have pressed in the bronze bushings and reamed them to fit the king pin (also called spindle bolt by some old timers).A bit of a time consuming job but it always went fine. As I don't have the proper reamer anymore so I had the local machine shop ream to size the bushings and fit the kingpins.
Press in the bushings yourself in the removed spindle.Make sure the grease grooves/holes in the bushing line up with the grease fitting hole. (if needed)
Bring the spindles with the 4 new bushings installed and the new kingpins to a machine shop. Have them ream the bushings to fit.
The guy I used was an engine building machine shop and used the wrist pin hone for the final fitting.
It cost me $40 for both sides.
I have pressed in the bronze bushings and reamed them to fit the king pin (also called spindle bolt by some old timers).A bit of a time consuming job but it always went fine. As I don't have the proper reamer anymore so I had the local machine shop ream to size the bushings and fit the kingpins.
Press in the bushings yourself in the removed spindle.Make sure the grease grooves/holes in the bushing line up with the grease fitting hole. (if needed)
Bring the spindles with the 4 new bushings installed and the new kingpins to a machine shop. Have them ream the bushings to fit.
The guy I used was an engine building machine shop and used the wrist pin hone for the final fitting.
It cost me $40 for both sides.
I already have everything apart and the shop wants me to put it back together, drive it to them so they can make sure the bushings are bad and then replace them … I know the bushings are bad and I don’t want them back on the truck. I think I’m just gonna buy the reamer off the internet and do the brass bushings myself.
That's fine,ream them yourself. A bit of satisfaction doing that type of stuff. Now my word of advice on reaming the bushings.... (I'll assume you will have an adjustable reamer).... ream in VERY small increments. Keep attempting to get the kingpin to fit into the bushing until you get a good fit. Maybe,say,push it through with a light bit of pressure only. If you get too excited in your reamings you will have a loose fit which means gotta' get another bushing and try again.You can do it,good luck !
