Over the last few months I've been looking at 4 " suspension lift kits for my 96 F-150.
Some kits state I need new eccentrics, Others don't. What are the true facts here ??

The kit I have bookmarked has the quad shocks included for the factory quad shock setup as well as extended radius arms, new bracketry, relocated torsion bar connections, a 4 inch drop pitman arm and related parts, Really nice kit for 1100 bucks.

My big question is about the alignment eccentrics and what they actually do in the front suspension.

Would I be better off finding a set of air bags to put inside my front coil springs ??

I only use my snowplow in the winter time but I'd really like to have a beefier suspension. My front end drops about an inch or so when I lift my blade up and I would really like the front end to be a bit stiffer than that.

I am also going to put steering stablizers on the truck soon too.
I found a nice dual set by Rancho for 150 bucks.

 

The eccentrics are adjustable cam bushings maybe if you just want a beefy suspension try using f 250 coils it will lift and be heavier duty, you'll probably need some cam bushings or eccentrics too, which are used for camber alignment

 

The cam ecentric is a sleeve that moves the upper ball joint in or out at the top. Most alignment shops can dial it in within reason, sometimes not perfect(Nature of TTB). The F-250 coils sounds like a good idea if you dont want the lift kit.

 

Well, The other thing I was trying to acheive along with some mild lift is to level my truck a bit better.
The front is still maybe an inch of so lower than the rear sits.
Would the 250 springs give me about an extra inch of lift for this ??

Also, Is there any worries about caster on this type of suspension ??
I know the camber is the relation of the tire to perpendicular to the ground which will affect the tire wear and how much tread makes contact.
How do they adjust this and how does it affect the front tires ??

Sorry for all the questions, I am more into rebuilding the engines and stuff, Not suspensions. I'm trying to learn tho.

 

If I can find even a 2 inch lift, I'd be plenty happy.
As I said above, This is more to level my truck out than to really jack it up for rough off roading use.

The camber is adjusted with these eccentrics, I'm following that.

How are these adjusted ??
How much adjustment is there in a new set of these cam eccentrics ??
A 1/4 inch or so in and out at the top of the tire ??
Less ?? More ??
I'm guessing here that by turning them, The shop finds the corrrect angle for the tire to sit on the pavement ??

The last time I had my front suspension looked at after new tires, The guy said my eccentrics were pretty worn out, So I may need new ones anyways.
My upper and lower ball joints were replaced 3 years ago just before I moved back to ohio. Will the eccentrics being worn out affect the new ball joints in any way ?? Just being cautious here.

 

I had one other question after seeing this specific comment.

What is the TTB you mention here ?? Twin traction beam ??
I should get my chiltons and haynes manuals out here and read up on this type of setup.

 

Yes, Twin traction beam. You can run these springs and get it aligned with correct camber bushings from alignment shop. I ran these on a 85 4x4 and got more like 1 1/2 of lift in the front.

Suspension lift kits, body lifts, leveling kits, shocks and other 4x4 products - Jackit.com

 

Thanks for the link, Looks like it'll do the job.
I did find a set of air bags.

Air Lift Front Air Suspension Springs For Ford Pickup Truck And Suv 80590

Pretty reasonable price too.