This vehicle has only 74000 miles, and new tires which are the correct size. Yet, the vehicle wanders all over the road to the point you cannot look away for a second! I am told these independent 4x4 front ends are somewhat different than most trucks, and should only be trusted to the Ford dealer for a correct alignment. Any similar experiences?
thanks

 

Well yeah,the 44TTB's are different than the straight axles of the 70's, but I've never had any trouble taking my truck to get it aligned at Schwabs. Which way does it pull and what year is it?

 

Do you have play in the steering wheel??

 

took up the play at the gear box, but still wanders,.....just doesn't seem to track real well at all. Was told by the ford svs mgr. that it may need a cam kit to corect the alignment!?

 

Is the front end sagged.. the wheels look like this... /--\. If so you need new front coil springs. If not, check the rear sway bar links. A broken rear link will make for an exciting ride, especially if the roads are rutted.

 

font end looks stout and normal.( |---| ), but rear may be down a little.

 

check and see if the balljoints are bad. Its called memory steer. The truck wont glide, but rather jerk to get them back straight. Any alignment shop should be able to do it. Technology gets it done well

 

my 96 has about the same milage and the front end is a little sagged like mentioned above. what you are telling me is an alignment wont fix this and i need new coil springs. sorry for the hijack.

 

Incorrect caster can cause wandering. Does the steering wheel have good return to straight ahead after exiting a turn??

 

To answer the original question, and good alignment shop will be able to bring your truck back to spec. Incorrect caster & camber, unless they're way out, which is very unlikely, generally will not cause wandering. What will cause it are loose, worn out parts like tie rod ends, steering box, ball joints or incorrect toe-in. Both the TTB and the twin I-beam are notorious for drifting out of alignment over short periods of time. I'm surprised more people don't know this. I'm actually about to take the Bronco right now to get an alignment. The tires are starting to wear on the outside edges.

 

the steering returns to center good. it also holds the roads pretty good if i take my hands off the wheel. i recently put new 31's on the truck and i noticed that the inside edges are wearing a little. if you look at the truck straight on from the front i notice that the whees are a little sagged. /--\. i was gonna get the wheel bearings replaced anyway so i figured an alignment would be in order too. after reading the above i was just afraid i was gonna need coil springs also. it is a 4wd drive. also, every ford from this era i have owned seemed to have this problem. this truck would be my fourth.

 

There are rubber bushings at the end of each axle that can get worn out and cause wandering and difficult alignment. They are located at the end of each axle at the pivot point. To replace mine, I had to do a lot of grinding b/c the rubber had caused the steel to swell and it would not pass back through the whole. When worn out, these bushings can contribute to the /--\ look as well as wandering. When I changed mine at 120,000, the bolt whole was elongated to nearly twice its diameter.

If you decide to replace these....here are a few tips. (I had to learn the hard way)

1. Support the truck on jackstands and remove the front wheels.

2. Only work on one axle at a time.

3. Unbolt the end of the axle at the pivot point...also the location of the bushing.

4. Place a floor jack under the ball joint or any other point outside of the coil spring and lift. This will cause the axle end to move downward so that it is more accessible. Be careful with the passengers side axle to avoid pulling apart the axle....it is a slip yoke with a rubber boot on it.

5. For me....a grinder worked well to remove the metal part of the bushing that stick out. After that it was just a matter of popping out the bushing and popping in the new one.

Good Luck

 

its not hard as you think to replace the coil springs, take wheel off, disconnect shock, take upper retainer off coil, get some 1/2 in. extensions, and take retaining nut and washer off the bottom of the coil, take out, be carefull if there is any pressure on it, put new one in YOU DO NOT HAVE TO DO ANYTHING WITH THE FRONT STABILIZER BAR, the books say you have to, but you dont, and they are a pain to put back on.
If you want your truck to sit nice, i was lucky to find a 2002 1 ton econoline van with low miles for my replacement springs and it sits real nice up front

 

Did this level out the front end or put it back to stock height? I have been wanting to level mine.

 

it did a little more then level it out,if i can figure out how to put a picture in my gallery i will,its kind of hard to explain, it looks like it sits higher in the front, but my rear suspension is stock, with 180,000 miles on it, ill post a pic