Adjusting Camber on Wheels

[Cole Thomas]

Ive got a 1967 ford f100. When I bought the truck I noticed that it had a severe negative camber on the wheels. I have had the truck on a jack and then the wheels straighten up and look right. The wheels have no movement when I try to rock them back and forth when they are on the jack which eliminates any bad bearings. After I put the truck back on ground the springs settle back into their normal ride height, then the negative camber comes back. Could someone may have put the wrong size springs on the truck causing the Twin I Beam suspension to ride too low in the front? Will new springs fix the issue?

[Mach428]

Anything is possible with these 50+ year old trucks. Negative camber is the top of the wheel facing away from you as you face the Fender; positive is facing toward you. If the wheels have excessive negative camber (tires wearing along inside edge) a PO could've changed springs or installed a heavier engine. The only adjustment to camber on Twin-I beam suspension is heating the arms and bending. I don't know if too many front-end shops that do that anymore.

Did the truck originally come with an inline six?

[Cole Thomas]

Anything is possible with these 50+ year old trucks. Negative camber is the top of the wheel facing away from you as you face the Fender; positive is facing toward you. If the wheels have excessive negative camber (tires wearing along inside edge) a PO could've changed springs or installed a heavier engine. The only adjustment to camber on Twin-I beam suspension is heating the arms and bending. I don't know if too many front-end shops that do that anymore.

Did the truck originally come with an inline six?

The truck actually came with a 352 CID. I have noticed that the truck has a bit of a rake on it towards the front end which makes me think that someone put the wrong size springs on it. I am also hesitant that bending the i-beams is the right thing to do considering that they are not bent to cause the issue, but I could be wrong. I will attach a picture so you can see how it looks.

[Cole Thomas]

Here is a picture of the front of the truck. Notice how bad the camber is.

[jzjames]

That is excessive. Think youre on the right track about the springs.

[Ohiotinkerer]

I would start with changing out the springs - when I got mine i discovered that someone had put those cheap "helpers" in between the coils on it and when I took them out I had the same problem. Moog makes a very good replacement spring for them and they are reasonably priced and see what that effect that has. Finding someone to bend the beams isn't easy to do anymore as mentioned above - the only place I know of that might still do it is Rendel Spring in Mansfield Ohio and I'm not sure they would do it. I will warn you up front changing the springs is not easy and can be dangerous but it solved all my camber problems......when I had it checked afterwards it was almost dead on factory specs...........

[Cole Thomas]

I really appreciate all of the input, I will definitely check out the MOOG springs and get a set. Again, thank you!

[390FE1972]

Here is an interesting and informative article from Fordification in regards to alignment, checking for correct camber, and the bending of the I-beams as mentioned above. http://www.fordification.com/tech/alignment.htm You can click on the pictures to enlarge them. Here are a couple other threads that talk about negative camber and changing out the springs. http://fordification.com/forum/viewtopi ... =5&t=65413
http://fordification.com/forum/viewtopi ... =5&t=86385

FYI

[Cole Thomas]

Thank You!

[68fe360]

While this post almost a year old I figured I would add this for the benefit of others.

I had some positive camber. Way more then stock. Turns out it was my king pins. The shims were complete destroyed and mostly missing. This will change your camber depending on how much ware you spindle and I beams are worn ware the spindle mounts. You may need to order extra shims. Then king pins come with 4 shims. If yours is worn you may need a few extra shims.to achive the correct fit.

I had no movement just like you. They were pretty well stuck. Once I replaced the king pins and shimed it correctly the camber was correct again.

[390FE1972]

Thanks for sharing!