78 crabs down the road.....

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Nov 8, 2002 | 10:30 AM

theonlybull

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From: clementsport canada

78 crabs down the road.....

well dad was following me with our 77 that we just picked up at the paint shop, and he knoticed that my new 78 f-100 was crabbing to the drivers side.... not what i wanted to know...... after a little laying in the snow, i discovered that one of my I beams is bent about 8 inches from the piviot end.... probably from when the truck was hit.. it was hit on the passengers side at one point in time.... guess i'll straighten that for starters....
anyone know the measurement's for alignments on these trucks?? no one here goes back beyond 20 years..

Nov 8, 2002 | 10:35 AM

beartracks

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From: Albuquerque

78 crabs down the road.....

I would advise to replace the "I" beam if it's bent. They are made to be bent up and down for alignment but not the other way. Also don't use any heat on it.

Nov 8, 2002 | 08:12 PM

Torque1st

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78 crabs down the road.....

Replace the beams.

There are probably other things bent including the frame.

A good truck shop with frame tools should be able to align it.

The alignment specs depend on ride height, year, and model.

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Nov 9, 2002 | 08:54 PM

theonlybull

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From: clementsport canada

78 crabs down the road.....

this is bent on the up/down plane... about 8 inches from the pivot point. Can anyone give me a good technical reason for not being able to heat these bars to straighten them and align them(btw i am a machinist/welder by trade and have a fair amount of experiance with such processes).. i know that's how they used to align them around here... these bars are cast steel, not cast iron(like the 85/86 on bars) and can be heated and cooled without causing cracking, or weakining of the beam.
i dont' think the frame is bent, but i'm going to compare measurements to that of our 77 f-100 and that should tell me what things are out of wack..
6 years ago i heated and straightened the bars in my 79( it had landed on a rock pile by the looks of it) and over the 6 years, and 150,000 km's they never changed or bent. i had it checked on a computerized 4 wheel alignment machine every year but last year..since they no longer have the measurements..

Nov 9, 2002 | 09:29 PM

Torque1st

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78 crabs down the road.....

The Ford and every manual I have seen says "DO NOT HEAT!" If you are a welder you know about heat treatment and heat affected zones. All of the frame shops I have used to align these vehicles used hydraulic jacks to bend them. As far as alignment specs, not to insult your age or anything, but the old timer's used to align these things long b4 computerized racks. It seems like the newer generation of mechanics are helpless when the computer can't tell them what to do. You need to find a frame shop that aligns semi's etc and an old mechanic/alignment tech 40 or older to get them aligned properly.

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