Front End Alignment Adjustment Points?

[Quarterwave]

Can anyone show me where I can find the front end alignment areas on an 85 bullnose F150?

My truck has a 6" lift and I've taken it to two shops that were supposed to be "truck" shops to get it aligned and it's still messed up.

Thanks.

[Rembrant]

Quarterwave wrote

Can anyone show me where I can find the front end alignment areas on an 85 bullnose F150?

My truck has a 6" lift and I've taken it to two shops that were supposed to be "truck" shops to get it aligned and it's still messed up.

Thanks.

The truck is 2wd though, correct?

I'm not sure what comes into play with the lift kit, but with an '85 2wd, the main alignment adjustments are made via adjustable bushings that the upper balljoints are mounted in. I'm assuming that is where the problem is, and not the toe-in...

Did that lift include new radius arms as well?

[85lebaront2]

Do you have king pins or ball joints? Ball joints can be aligned using offset bushings, king pins require the axle to be bent to adjust and very few places even when these trucks were new could do this, toe-in is easy on either system. FWIW, Darth was last given a full alignment in 1994, not long after I bought him, current front tires have been on since Dec 2014 and (a) still have plenty of tread left and (b) are worn perfectly even across the tread.

[ArdWrknTrk]

Ask Bill Vose about having the beams bent if you really want to get it to where bushings can help.

That is going to take an OLD school alignment shop.
Find the oldest crankiest sob you can and pay him well for making it right.

[ArdWrknTrk]

Of course, you were right there while I was in the reply window.....  

[Quarterwave]

Thanks everyone.

It's a 2WD, ball joint setup that I have installed a Federal Mogul caster/camber kit that gives an extra 2 1/4 degrees of adjustment over the factory clearances - which is what the company that made the lift kit recommended. It did NOT come with new radius arms.

I'd like to fix the camber first then sort out the toe-in, but the latter is not so bad.

Can I do this with the truck not on a jack/lift?

[Quarterwave]

Funny that you mention bending the beams - my transmission guy said the same thing!

Agree on finding an old school shop - hard to find in South Florida unfortunately, but I have a lead on an apparently good Ford-only mechanic that is a muscle car specialist, so he may be able to help.

[salans7]

The problem with lifting a 2wd I beam truck is the same as lifting a 4wd TTB truck. It's pretty rare for the drop brackets to correctly match the lift that the springs provide, so alignment issues like camber are very common. If you can't get the alignment in spec with the camber eccentrics, about your only option is gonna be to manipulate the beams.

[Steve83]

Post several well-lit pics of your front suspension, ball joints, & steering linkage.

[Quarterwave]

Ok, will do. I won't get a chance to take pics until the weekend as I get home pretty late, but appreciate the help in advance!