Agree with torque1st about the weight issue, if the trailer is pushing down enough to cause weight to come off your front end, that is what is causing the problem. Since you have a shortbed, that makes it worse. With a longer wheelbase the trailer has to work harder to raise the same amount of weight on the front of the truck. I don't know what advice to offer you to fix your problem though, except put some extra weight on the front and try it again.

 

Okay, lots of replies overnight...very cool, thank you.

I towed with an '86 F-250 diesel with no issues other than the crappy engine. Replaced that with a '90 F-250 460 and that was wonderfull truck but we sold the trailer and the truck just sat in the driveway. Now after 10 years my wife and I want to start towing a travel trailer again and have been working on the '67 towards that end. The dissapointment has been thick with the handling the truck has exhibited after all the work we have done to it.
Yes, the weight issue has been thought of. When I spent a whole evening try different combinations of hitch height and bar tension. To be honest with you the 450 pounds of tongue weight barely drops the rear of the truck after all of the mods to it.
One thing I have not done is add weight to the front of the truck. I have access here at work to all sorts of lead weight in all shapes and forms, anybody care to guess on how much is enough?

Thanks again for the replies everbody,

Scott

 

Okay, you had kingpins and everything else redone and the alignment checks fine. Though it sounds to me like like you might have a caster problem, it might be front and rear since you have changed springs (coil front ? leaf rear). An alignment at many places is basically toe in front tire alignment.

You need someone to check the caster on both sides of both axles and to measure to make sure the axles are centered both in the frame and to the front and back of the frame. You might be better off bringing it to a bodyshop for this that has its own frame and front end alignment machine.

With a 117 WB your truck is perfect for a 3-5k trailer, except for the armstrong steering.

 

rebocardo,
After the sway bars and urethane bushings were put in the day after Thanksgiving the guy who specializes in IBS did a four wheel alignment and it came out 5/32" off in the rear end. He said this was well within spec and was not enough to spin any wrenches for. Not an expert here but it sounded good to me.

Scott

 

Adding extra weight to the front may solve the problem but it is not good for a performance and fuel economy standpoint. It may point out where the problem is tho.

Many of those alignment shops still do not know how to align a TIB suspension. The only shops I have found that have the equipment and knowledge are the HD truck alignment shops. A frame shop may have the equipment but not the knowledge...?

 

It could be that all it needs is the weight of the spare tire on a front bumper mount. You wouldn't be adding weight, but rather transfering weight which is better yet. The only problem here is that you have to deal with the "Grandpa Truck" appearence.

 

Yeah, really, now I have to look the part too? I might just try the weight thing out but I do not have much confidence in much improvement over what is going on now.

Thanks though,

Scott

 

Do you have a friend with truck that you could hook onto your travel trailer and see if it tows properly or not?
How old are the tires on the trailer? Would wore out or busted belt tires on the trailer cause this issue?
Is the trailer listing to one side indicating wore out springs?
I don't want to make any one ugly, but the ~60lbs off the nose of the truck seems an odd culprit. The difference between a skinny driver and 3 large occupants could make more difference than this in a towing situation, and Ford never rated tow capacity to entail a full cab of big folks. Adding weight to the front of the truck might be a bandaid fix, but 'my opinion' is something else needs addressed.
In re-reading the entire post, I'm having a hard time pointing the finger at the truck.

 

I just read the entire post also..I have been towing campers with trailers on the back of my 70 F250..With no problems for over 30 years..(knock on wood) Head!

Just something know one has touched on? How is the rake on the trailer when it attatched to the truck? if the trailer tounge is slightly up in the front..that will make it ride past center on it wheels..

It should have just a slight rake lower in the front of the trailer than in the back so it rides on the leading edge (front of tires) so your not trying to steer from the back of the tires...Causing it to dog tail.. JMHO-Russ

 

You didn't relocate your gas tank to behind the rear wheels?

 

> IBS did a four wheel alignment and it came out 5/32" off in the rear end

I am sure the camber and toe-in is fine if they say it is, what I am talking about is caster, how the axle centerline is vertically. Being off 1 or 2 degrees can make a big difference in handling.

Example: Sometimes rear springs are not punched exactly in the center of the spring and can be off, sometimes they are made that way on purpose, and if you put one spring on one way and the other the other way, it relocates the axle and its centerline.

If you look at your spring pack, you may see one leaf (2nd one down) that extends all the way to the back spring hanger, but, it does not in the front. Then you go to the other side and see the other spring pack backwards. Or you measure from eye to eye and then from eye to locating bolt in the spring pack and find it is slightly off-center between the eyes and both spring packs are not put on the same way.

Your caster may be off on one or both axles, since changing kingpins and springs can do it, and then once you are loaded it goes entirely off spec range. With the wandering, I would say the caster is off in the front. Maybe it is set at zero and is suppose to be 3 degrees and noone knows the difference. If they did a true 4 wheel alignment, you should have a printout. Put the specs here so we can compare it to the factory settings ourselves. I think the CD-ROM I have for my 71 lists all the specs.

 

cleanLX--The trailer is a new one and the tires were at the max of 50 PSI.

RapidRuss--I played around with the tension on the bars, the height of the hitch but ended up right back where the trailer dealer had it set up. The trailer is one inch low in the front.

Red2003LT--The gas tank is in the cab behind the seat.

Fellows, this is where this all shakes out now;
I am looking at a '97 F-150 with 32K miles on it. I cannot put my family or other people on the road at risk because of the '67. We are deeply dissappointed to have to do this but I do not have the finances or the storage for two trucks and will have to sell the '67. Hopefully I can find someone who wants a hotrod pickup and can appreciate the vintage.

Thank you all for your help and concern I really do appreciate it!!

Scott

 

I have had my 68 SWB 1/2 ton, 2wd, six (now modified), standard suspension (now with helper springs), for 22 years. In that time I have regularly towed all manner of things and have never experienced any problems at all before and after modifications. In all this time I have done very little maintainence to the front end, certainly seems good to me.

I've always heard the twin I-beam is one of the best designs ever produced. If it is such a dog how did it remain in production such a very long time? The market would not have tolerated it, and Ford trucks were the best selling vehicles for many years running. I don't pay any attention to new trucks, does Ford still use the twin I-beam? If not when did they quit? I would not trade an old Ford in good shape for any new truck period. Will they be around, going strong, 35-40 years from now with so few (and cheap) problems? I don't think so myself.

All big trucks still have and always have had single I-beam front ends, the twin idea just gives a lot better ride while keeping all the other benefits. Simple, strong, long lasting.

Maybe a trip to a long established dealer might find the problem. It's not the design of the truck, something just isn't right. Someplace with lots of Ford experience and all the right specs can probably find it, way cheaper than starting over with a used truck.

 

rmt,
You prompted me to call a guy I know who is a service writer at the local Ford store. He has had old trucks from time to time and knows my '67. He told me the guy who did the alignment on my truck is a "wizard" at these old machines and said the job he did would be perfect. One thing he asked me to try was measuring the front and back of the truck and making sure that it is going "down hill". In other words he said that these trucks do not like to be level, they like to be a couple of inches higher in the back than the front. This is an easy thing for me to change if needed as I can just add some air to the air bags and then test drive it. I will try this tonight.

Scott

 

My truck is much higher in the back. It has always been that way, very noticable. I just went out and put a four foot level on the side rail. 1 1/2" over 4', is what it says right now. Let's say the vehicle is 16' long. That would make it 6" higher in the back and that is probably about what it is. Like I said very noticable.

The one thing I can think of is that you mention your suspension is very stiff. Perhaps it is too stiff. A vehicle with no suspension at all would be useless and the closer one gets to that point the more problems you could expect, I would guess. Suspensions are designed a particular way and all the parts work together, sometimes even down to what tires should be used. Maybe something was "improved" to the point of no longer being compatible with the rest of the parts. It doesn't sound like you went that far though, just something to consider.

Other than that I'd still say take it to a dealership, ask for a complete front end checkup/alignment by their best guy, and don't tell them anything you've done or experienced. By not telling them anything they will not get "tunnel vision" and miss something they might find otherwise. I've done it myself and seen it happen to others where you just don't see something right in front of your face then someone (even a dummy) walks up and says "What about this?" Just takes a new set of eyes to see it.

I am always suspicious of anyone who says "That's close enough." You didn't pay them to tell you what their opinion is of what you brought in, you paid them to set it up RIGHT. If that means turning a wrench well then he has to turn a wrench. It's his job for crying out loud! If someone says that you should come up about $10 short paying your bill and tell him "That's close enough."

As someone here said, some shops think all there is to alignment is toe-in. I agree many shops aren't even going to check, thinking nothing can be done about it anyway, which is not true. They just don't know how. Ask to see ALL the numbers and what the spec numbers are. People here can tell you what they should be. If during all your spring changing, etc., something happened to your caster or camber, then there you go. I'm thinking caster is suspect.

Another place to check into is a "Camping World" store if there is one near you. Or any other long established RV place. They know about towing and any vehicle that ever towed anything.

Anyway don't give up. It sounds like you are very close to having a truck that will last you many years. Way longer than that new thing you're looking at. And way cheaper no matter what you spend to get your truck going straight, and it WILL go straight.