​​​​​​I put a new steering gear on recently during my axle swap. They didn't adjust it. It has like 1/2 inch of steering wheel play. Been the same since I put it on. I never adjusted the new gear after installation. They said they would warranty work it anymore due to it being altered. The first allignment was with small tires because I didn't want to put my new tires on before the alignment and have them wear out. The second allignment was with my current rims and tires. The tires I have on now came off of a 2012 to 2016 f250. They are the factory 20 inch rims and they came with mud tires on them when I bought them from a buddy. Again the tires I have on now are what the second alignment was done with.

 

It's definitely the front end. When I let off the wheel the wheel physically turns to the right out of my hand. I did not replace any leaf spring bushings. I did inspect all of the leaf spring bushings and the shackle bushings. Everything is in good shape. I checked the leaf spring bushings while I had to leave springs off when I was first putting my front end on. That was the easiest time to look at everything. The gearbox is new. Also, this last weekend, I posted that I took the front tires off and jacked the truck up by the frame and checked everything to make sure everything was tight and I checked all the bushings while I was in there as well. I also took the measuring tape and took measurements of everything to make sure the leaf springs were not bent while there was no pressure on them. All the measurements were the same from one side to the other.

 

I have 65 PSI on the front tires and 60 PSI on the rear. I was thinking of putting the rear at 65 PSI.

If you think it will help I will buy new caster/camber bushings. What is the factory degree number? Should I go back with factory? Or should I get a different degree of caster/camber? Should I take it to a shop and have them tell me what bushings to get?

I did check the axle but I did not use a straight edge. I will try to find something that's the right length to do that with when I can. My weekend is spoken for with work. Between cutting grass and changing a transmission in a Chevy 2500, my weekend is cut out for me.

So as for what I have and have not changed. If you have been keeping up with me at all / if you have read any of my other forums, I recently converted this truck to a 4x4. It was a two-wheel drive twin I-beam and now it is a Dana 50 4x4. Almost. Minus the transfer case. I have not changed, shocks, tie rods or tie rod ends, leaf spring and leaf spring shackle bushings, and I have not replaced leaf springs. I did measure the leaf springs on both sides in comparison to the frame with no weight on the front end and both leaf springs appear to be the exact same. That doesn't mean the side they took the hit is not more worn though. I still could have a bad leaf spring on the driver side but they are the same shape and curvature. That wouldn't cause my alignment issue as discussed earlier in the forum.

I have changed, track bar bushings, sway bar bushings, sway bar end link bushings, hubs, all hub and axle seals on the outer axle, calipers and mounting brackets, ball joints, steering gear, pitman arm, and the tie rod adjusting sleeve which was bent from the wreck the Axle was in on the truck that it used to be on before becoming my donor axle for my conversion.

 

65psi?! That's way too much pressure methinks. I run 44psi in mine when the truck is unloaded and that gets me the most even wear. Have you got a thermometer? Immediately after running around on a typical drive, measure the outside, middle and inside of the tread across the width of the tire. You want the temperatures to be as even across the width as possible.

 

When mine is empty @FordTruckNoob I run 60psi front, 50 psi rear. I think my setup is closer to his, than yours.

 

check the tires for a broken belt. You’ll usually see a bubble or the tread has a bump in it. Usually noticeable if you look at the profile of the tread and spin the tire
the steering wheel play can be taken out by adjusting the steering gear. ONLY mess with that if you know what you’re doing

 

With the car on the ground.
Position the steering wheel straight with the steering wheel at neutral position. Basically count the turns from lock to lock and divide in half. If your steering wheel turns say 4x lock to lock two turns would put your steering wheel at center.

which way are the tires pointing ? Straight? Or cocked to one side?
imagine the tire as a clock looking from the side of the truck. . Pick 4:00 and 8:00 as measuring points. Or somewhere aroid Rhee. Yiu want the tape to be as straight as possible while clearing the frame

take a tape measure and pick one of outermost tread grooves on the driver and passenger tire. Take a measurement. Measure the 4;00 position. Go measure the 8:00 position using the same tread edge grooves as you did previously. Those two measurements should be pretty identical.
If the measurement is off the alignment isn’t right.

You can also pick a spot on the frame midpoint and measure to the wheel edge. That will
tell you if the wheel is pointing off to one side.
This is what I do when I do front end work. It gets the car close enough to drive to a alignment shop.

 

yeah man I know about heat. It was 107 at my house.
reason I say you need 65 psi is these trucks especially diesel ones weigh a ton on the front end. Add in the 4x axle low pressure on the tires will
make it feelmsquishy and loose steering.
Mal so make sure the psi between your front tires and rear is the same. You only need air in the rear when hire towing heavy. Too much air in the rear will make the back end hop around

 

can you get a better pic of that shackle? That doesn’t look right to me. I gotta take some pics of my gear vendors for a member here and I’ll take a pic of my crackle so you can compare

 

I wasn't sure if you were talking about the front or rear shackle so I took pictures of both

 

What about on the front? It's always loaded.

 

FWIW I run 65psi up front (it’s really heavy up there). Rear depends on load. Seems like it’s around 50psi right now.

Back when I towed “regularly” the rear was set to 70psi and would typically be left there when not towing... Wore out the centers a bit on the back. I knew it would, just too lazy to switch up the pressure all the time.

 

44psi also. It gets me the most even wear. Handling is good too.

 

pretty much same here

the shoulders still feather some on the front on my toyo at2's between rotations. I run 295-75-16's on stock wheels so they tend to want to wear in the middle a little more being somewhat ballooned otherwise I would probably run 70 in the front. I tried 55 up front when I first put them on and they were wearing the shoulders bad.

 

Hmm, I wonder if my lower pressure is because I am running surplus humvee tires and the belts under the tread are stiffer.