I read many comments and a few debates about the twin I beam in our trucks with regards to handling, on and off road, tire wear and all but I wonder if I could get a tad bit of feedback on what I’m experiencing.

History, new to me f100 2wd 4.9l 4spdOD. I live in rural central Texas east of Austin. I have several older and newer fords as well as a Tacoma. This is my first F series and thus first twin I beam.

Many of the roads out here are extremely lumpy, cracked and potholed. This is due to bad soil(black lands) heavy farm equipment and lack of attention from the county. All of our cars handle it pretty well, we avoid potholes and uneven surfaces due to cracks but we’re always subject to lumpy and uneven surfaces both perpendicular and parallel to path of travel.

The f100… it came to me with new outer tie rods and upon inspection the inners and pitman are in good condition. The ball joints also “appear” fine but I have not been able to load them properly for a good inspection. Radius arms and beam bushings are also not horrible looking.

The alignment feels great. The truck cruses down smooth flat roads at all speeds just as one would hope. Steering is responsive and tire wear looks fine. As soon as I hit the lumpy roads it’s all over the place. I’ve read comments that people experience this on highways and nice roads, seems to be part of anti I beam rhetoric… but handles fantastic off road?

Long winded, sorry. I have collected an all moog front end and will do the swap in a few weeks just because… but I am curious if it will make much difference. Could inherent changing camber with the uneven roads while maintaining traction(as opposed to loose off roading)be the issue?

Thanks for your time!

 

What I have a issue with is "appear" but you did say you could not load right for checking so I will give you some slack for the ball joints but for the pivot bushings you need to drop the beams and if you are going to do that you might as well change the pivot and radius bushing or new. Now do you go with factory type rubber or poly is the question?

My truck already had poly radius bushings so I kept them but when with poly for the beam pivot bushings as I wanted a positive feeling steering truck.
As for the ruff ride I cant say as I never had the truck on the road before a total cab off frame rebuild but I dont think it gives a ruff ride, he11 it is a truck not a Cady!
It does not ride any different than my 02 Dodge Durango.
I also went with a Blue Top steering box for a tighter feel with the steering and love it.

The other "appears" is the alignment you cannot tell if it is good or not without putting it on the rack even if it goes down the "flat road" good. Caster or camber being off on an uneven road will make it wonder all over.
On my truck, I have kingpins and to change caster / camber you have to bend the beams. Mine was with in spec but it still wonders. I would like to add more caster but no one bends beams so I live with it.
In your case if you have ball joints that make bushing to change caster / camber but you need to "rack it" to know what ones to get and how they get installed.
If the shop is good and not just a spec card reader, they will know what needs to be done to get it better when driving like more caster as it make the car / truck go straight better and wheel return to center but can make it harder to turn the wheel from center but I dont think anyone would even feel that.

Now what I think beside the above is sway bars. I am guessing your 82 F100 is like my 81 F100 and did not come with sway bars.
They say if you can find them in the junk yards and swap them on or might find new online?
I believe they were standard on F150 4x4's or 87> 4x4 trucks, try and get front & rear bars from the same truck as they are matched set.
I dont have any sway bars but if I come across a set I would add them to the truck. I also pull a 20' enclosed trailer and I dont think the bars would help all that much and why I have not looked for any that hard.

Good luck and let us know how you make out with this as it can help others.
Dave ----

ps what size & shape tires you running? Have you tried to rotate them to see if that changes anything?

 

Thanks for the response Fuzz, I wouldn't have said "appears" if I didn't expect slack ;-) I'm being as transparent as I can. I have put the front end up and pulled on the wheels, in/out, top/bottom and feel no play but I know that's not enough to really check ball joints. I am replacing everything regardless as I want all new under there given my lack of history with the old truck.

My post was really about maybe setting my expectations with the TIB suspension given my total lack of history with them.

On these messed up roads, I wouldn't say "rough" but rather self steering all over the place, different than bump steer. Most any vehicle does wander a little on these roads, but this boarders on alarming... and it does sort of shout ball joints(with my lacking knowledge of TIB) but I'd expect them to be flopping around visibility with a simple yank test based on what I feel on the road. Then factor in how well it drives and steers on smooth flat roads and turns.

I'll forge ahead with the updates, get a proper alignment and report back but it'll be a few weeks at best.

 

Yea if you are going to replace everything anyway so you know it is all good then there is no need to check for play in the ball joints.
Not knowing how the ball joints are installed, it may not make a different now that I think of it, but jack up and get the tire off the ground.
Get a long bar and stick it under the tire and lift up and look at the joints, helps to have a helper if see the knuckle move but not the beam the joint is bad and need to be replaced.

Also dont over look the pivot bushings, you need to drop them down to see the rubber.
If you go poly, I would, You dont have to remove the outer metal shell as the poly bushings are made to fit inside them.
The fun part is how to get the rubber out of the shell? I drilled some holes in the rubber. I had bad old gas and I soaked the rubber bushings in it overnight and then set them on fire and burned the rubber out.
A little clean up with a wire brush, little spray paint, lube the poly bushings and put everything back in the truck.

If you go back with rubber you will need to remove that outer metal shell.
Maybe use a saw and cut thru the shell but not hurt the beam and then use a hammer & chisel to work it out ....... way more work than I wanted to do
Good luck
Dave ----

 

I think an alignment will fix it. I can say I have had several of these trucks, and several rangers and Bronco II, they all have twin I beam style frontends, and they all drive fine. Ford would never have sold a vehicle that gave a person a uneasy feeling when driving it. Some people say "it's because it's a old truck". That is simply not true, you fix it up and it will drive like a new truck.

 

Try to find the sway bars.
At least the front it makes a huge difference. Correct ride height in the front is imperative with twin I beams.

 

Its been a lot of years, but ive had a few twin beam fords. All of them responded well to GOOD shocks. If your shocks are old, and everything else looks OK, it would be worth a shot replacing them.

 

I also think part of the problem is most newer cars & truck have Rack & Pinion steering and it is vary tight compared to the boxes in our trucks.
When I went from 86 K5 SUV, old box like ours, to a 02 Durango that has R&P I was lucky I did not get pulled over for DWI as I was all over the place.
I only get a little ov that when jumping between the 02 and the F100 as the F100 is little all over till I get use to it.

I just picked up a 07 Crown Vic with 21K miles and it has R&P steering and this thing is tight and it is like I am DWI all over again
Dont overlook the tires. I had a 76 E350 that had twin beam and going to Cali and back some of the roads it was all over the place and think the tires had a lot to do with it.
Dave ----

 

Oh yes. Tires are a huge handling factor. Tire pressure has to match the load well or they can squab out if too low or if too high will follow every crack and rut in the pavement. I found that out once when I had my tires up at 80 psi for hauling a cord of wood, but after off loading I didn't lower the pressure and driving empty along familiar roads I thought a tie rod must be loose as the truck was all over the road. I was definitely a DWI candidate. I lowered the pressure back to 50 psi and all was well again.

 

This is exactly the kind of feedback I'm looking for. Yes, I'm use to R&P and while I did dial out a bit of lash on that steering box, I can see how it could alone make the difference over my modern vehicles. It's been a couple years since I've had my falcon out but now that I think about it, it is horrible on these messed up farm roads as well. As a point of reference, it is well dialed and as perfect as a 62yo ford can be with original style suspension and steering.

Tires, it came to me with some wide 16" American Racing aluminum wheels and big tires(245/70). I have them at 35psi. I'm looking to go back as stock as possible with a 15" steel wheels, 225/75 but was going to wait till I did the heavy lifting. Now I think I'll do that first just out of curiosity.

 

My 82 sees a fair share of rough roads around the farm. All of my joints are tight, I took the lash out of the steering box, gave it a string alignment and put new shocks on. Alignment made a big difference for me. It is the smoothest truck I've driven over rough roads. Best handling maybe not but the soft springs and new shocks give a nice ride and it doesn't jump around the road. No sway bar on mine. I have considered picking them when I see them at the junk yard but I do not want to change the nice ride and I fear tying the independent beams together with the sway bar will change it some.

 

Aftermarket wheels usually are offset to the outside and a little wider, while a stock wheel will be tucked up under the truck more. While I like the look, it does make the steering wheel kick a little more on rough roads. t
Also there is a imaginary line they draw through the top ball joint straight through the center of the lower ball joint, and this line is supposed to hit the center of the tire at road level. So when you turn the steering the tire pivots on center. When you run offset wheels, the tire pivot is moved outward beyond the factory designed centered pivot. The tire would actually roll a little bit as you are turning in this situation.

 

My 81 F100 has a Blue Top box (tighter than a new box), new shocks, new tires on (235 / 75 / 15), a little wider aftermarket wheel but they are not off set from stock.
My 02 Durango is all factory with R&P steering but has 293K miles so a little loose from when it was new
My 07 Crown Vic is all factory, R&P steering and only had 21K miles and is tight.
It is fun jumping between all of them not only how they steer & handle but in braking also.

I would say after the parts swap, tire PSI checked and truck put on the rack, see how it handles. It may not be like the others you drive but thinking it will be better.
Dave ----

 

Anyone by chance know the offset of those stock 15x6 5 on 4.5? I’ve been searching for OE since I got the truck months ago and gave up, ordered WheelVintique series 62 “oe” 15x7 which are 4.25” backspace with a claimed +6mm.

 

I dont have a set to measure but I dont think they are off set.
It's not till the front wheel drives really came out that they started to offset the wheels and then they did it to everything even pickup trucks that are rear wheel drive
Dave ----