twin I beam camber fix

[kx592]

Im gonna put new tires on the 97 in December since ill be able to not have to drive her for a week.I have a pretty bad wheel camber on the front tires. How hard is it to fix my self? i have excess to a lift and all the tools.

[dhanna6powerstroke]

Originally Posted by kx592

Im gonna put new tires on the 97 in December since ill be able to not have to drive her for a week.I have a pretty bad wheel camber on the front tires. How hard is it to fix my self? i have excess to a lift and all the tools.

Depends on what is wrong. If you don't have any worn parts (i.e. I-Beam bushings, weak springs, or ball joints) you can get it aligned and have different camber/caster shims installed to correct it.

[kx592]

how hard are the camber shims to replace?

[dhanna6powerstroke]

Originally Posted by kx592

how hard are the camber shims to replace?

They have to be done when they are doing the alignment. There are different degrees/angles so you wouldn't know which one to use with out the alignment gauges hooked up.

[kx592]

This is a job for a shop to do isnt it?

[dhanna6powerstroke]

Originally Posted by kx592

This is a job for a shop to do isnt it?

Yeah, fraid so!

[elibenson]

It's not hard, but you have to have the right tools to measure the cambre. You also need to have the right new shim to put in. Most shops that work on Fords have a bucket full of shims of every description that they use to fix your truck. They drop your wrong shims in there, and pick out the right shims for your adjustment. Sometimes I have to buy one that they didn't happen to have on hand.

Make sure that the ball joints are good (#1 problem with twin I-beam suspension) and that your springs are not worn out (#2 problem). Axle pivot pushings can be a problem too, but not nearly as much as #1 and #2. If you are going through all that trouble, you might as well do the radius arm bushings as well. Get it all done, then align it once.

Springs are available from Oriellys or other parts stores, but I prefer the Ford OEM ones. They are a lot thicker metal, and they don't compress as much as MOOG. There might be other aftermarket substitutes available, but I don't know what they might be. Some of the other guys might throw out some brands for some better-than-stock ones.

[dhanna6powerstroke]

Originally Posted by elibenson

It's not hard, but you have to have the right tools to measure the cambre. You also need to have the right new shim to put in. Most shops that work on Fords have a bucket full of shims of every description that they use to fix your truck. They drop your wrong shims in there, and pick out the right shims for your adjustment. Sometimes I have to buy one that they didn't happen to have on hand.

Make sure that the ball joints are good (#1 problem with twin I-beam suspension) and that your springs are not worn out (#2 problem). Axle pivot pushings can be a problem too, but not nearly as much as #1 and #2. If you are going through all that trouble, you might as well do the radius arm bushings as well. Get it all done, then align it once.

Springs are available from Oriellys or other parts stores, but I prefer the Ford OEM ones. They are a lot thicker metal, and they don't compress as much as MOOG. There might be other aftermarket substitutes available, but I don't know what they might be. Some of the other guys might throw out some brands for some better-than-stock ones.

It doesn't have radius arm bushings. That was on the half tons and the 05+ trucks. Doesn't need them since it has leaf springs.