Leaning truck

So as I prepare to move forward with my truck, my next problem is the truck has a lean too it. I'm looking for anyone that might have ran into this. Here's what I've done.
New front coil springs.
New rear leaf springs.  
New radius arm bushings.  
New ball joints.
2 inch lowering shackles in the rear.
New shocks

As the truck sits it's 1 inch lower on the passenger side, than it is on the driver's side.

I've measured the frame to ground at several points,  and I'm close very close on both sides.

I have New axle pivot bushings but hadn't installed yet,  truck needs an alignment after installing new components just hadn't  done it yet, hadn't been driving it just yet.

Body mounts are original and I'm sure replacements could certainly benefit but, and I'm not sure if this matters,  but even those measured at the same thickness,  atleast the ones on the front of the cab did.

Lastly,  and I'm unaware of bullnose trucks all had them or not, but there's no sway bar on my truck, front or rear, I do intend to install them eventually,  but wanted to add that there isn't one on either end, might not add or take away to the problem I'm seeing.  

No change if the gas tank is full or empty,  and currently I have the passenger side rear shackle lowered 1 inch while the driver side at 2 inches,  that was in a effort to combat the unevenness.  

Sorry so long of a post, anyone dealt with unevenness?

Mark wrote

So as I prepare to move forward with my truck, my next problem is the truck has a lean too it. I'm looking for anyone that might have ran into this. Here's what I've done.
New front coil springs.
New rear leaf springs.  
New radius arm bushings.  
New ball joints.
2 inch lowering shackles in the rear.
New shocks

As the truck sits it's 1 inch lower on the passenger side, than it is on the driver's side.

I've measured the frame to ground at several points,  and I'm close very close on both sides.

I have New axle pivot bushings but hadn't installed yet,  truck needs an alignment after installing new components just hadn't  done it yet, hadn't been driving it just yet.

Body mounts are original and I'm sure replacements could certainly benefit but, and I'm not sure if this matters,  but even those measured at the same thickness,  atleast the ones on the front of the cab did.

Lastly,  and I'm unaware of bullnose trucks all had them or not, but there's no sway bar on my truck, front or rear, I do intend to install them eventually,  but wanted to add that there isn't one on either end, might not add or take away to the problem I'm seeing.  

No change if the gas tank is full or empty,  and currently I have the passenger side rear shackle lowered 1 inch while the driver side at 2 inches,  that was in a effort to combat the unevenness.  

Sorry so long of a post, anyone dealt with unevenness?

All vehicles out there sit un even.  You only notice it when the vehicle is low to the ground but when they are high up you dont really notice the variation in height side to side.

There are ways to remedy this such as cutting coils off of a coil spring to fine tune the height.  The best way to get a level look is to upgrade to coil over springs as you can adjust the spanner and get side to side height even.

At work I dont think I have ever seen a truck that was less than 1 - 2 inch lower on one corner.

Thanks, that actually makes me feel a little better,  it just seems so obvious to me. Like I came out of the parts store earlier and all I could look at was the lean.

Mark wrote

Thanks, that actually makes me feel a little better,  it just seems so obvious to me. Like I came out of the parts store earlier and all I could look at was the lean.

I run into that from time to time where it just looks like my truck is leaning more than it really is, its been too long since I measured mine and I dont have the paper anymore of what the difference was between the corners.

I do need to do the measurement again for after I replace all the springs front and rear to see what difference I have before and after.

it is true that none are perfect but mine do not "lean". it is very doable to get a truck to sit right but many factors need to be considered.  tank capacity and location. battery location. driver weight (more critical than we are comfortable talking about) and cargo (location).  these are a few.
sitting level in a lot vs. over the road too. another good point already made is when you lift a truck the variance gets perceived to be absorbed by the distance yet when lowering one the perception is to exaggerate it.
I had a time 25 years ago where my truck was leaning on the passenger side and measuring showed the spring was collapsing and had lost its rebound strength. I replaced the set and that solved it. the originals standing together on the bench were 3/4" different unloaded which was a great second opinion.
I would say to let the alignment get done first and express this to the person doing the alignment. depending on how much camber you may have altered as a result of component replacement it's possible that much of what is visible will get corrected. again, I have lowered many and the fender " fit gets much more critical to avoid rubbing etc. and it's important for the looks also

mat in tn wrote

it is true that none are perfect but mine do not "lean". it is very doable to get a truck to sit right but many factors need to be considered.  tank capacity and location. battery location. driver weight (more critical than we are comfortable talking about) and cargo (location).  these are a few.
sitting level in a lot vs. over the road too. another good point already made is when you lift a truck the variance gets perceived to be absorbed by the distance yet when lowering one the perception is to exaggerate it.
I had a time 25 years ago where my truck was leaning on the passenger side and measuring showed the spring was collapsing and had lost its rebound strength. I replaced the set and that solved it. the originals standing together on the bench were 3/4" different unloaded which was a great second opinion.
I would say to let the alignment get done first and express this to the person doing the alignment. depending on how much camber you may have altered as a result of component replacement it's possible that much of what is visible will get corrected. again, I have lowered many and the fender " fit gets much more critical to avoid rubbing etc. and it's important for the looks also

Springs can help, problem is unless you go to a spring company such as Eaton Detroit Spring, you may end up with no change or a change in the wrong direction with leaning.  I've seen it way too many times with part house springs which are just simply generic springs made to fit all applications and doesn't take into account options.

Its also hard to tell on lean, some people can pick up a lean in a vehicle and its not really a lean but just one side lower than the other.  It does sound like a lean is indicating a good 4" difference but I can spot a lean of 1" - 2" with my eyes on a stock height vehicle and on a lowered vehicle I can spot as little as a 1/2" lean.

Getting the alignment is my next move.  Im Sure the "lean" is more noticeable to me than it likely is to others. Not many people have seen the truck,  and even fewer have seen it that truly knew what they were looking at, and so far I've had to point it out for them to say anything.  I won't have an opportunity to get it in the alignment shop until this coming Friday,  so I'll have to wait.

The leaf springs I purchased were from general spring,  the only thing I wasn't really happy about was with the factory old springs,  and the drop shackles it lowered the rear-end to the rake I was after, the new springs, even with the drop shackles it seems to be back closer to the factory rake. The new ones had an additional leaf than what the factory ones did.

My coil springs I got from LMC, they didn't show leafs or I likely would have gotten them from there as well.  My ignorance might show here, because while I've been shade tree wrenching since I was a kid, this was my first time ever swapping out leaf springs,  I've just never owned anything that had them to swap out.

Try switching the springs over. Left to right and right to left.

Just a thought.

Oh, bullnoses can have swaybars, my bronco had front and rear… but my suspicion is installing them in this situation will only mask the underlying issue.

My money is on variance in spring rate, it doesn’t take much.

Mark wrote

Getting the alignment is my next move.  Im Sure the "lean" is more noticeable to me than it likely is to others. Not many people have seen the truck,  and even fewer have seen it that truly knew what they were looking at, and so far I've had to point it out for them to say anything.  I won't have an opportunity to get it in the alignment shop until this coming Friday,  so I'll have to wait.

The leaf springs I purchased were from general spring,  the only thing I wasn't really happy about was with the factory old springs,  and the drop shackles it lowered the rear-end to the rake I was after, the new springs, even with the drop shackles it seems to be back closer to the factory rake. The new ones had an additional leaf than what the factory ones did.

My coil springs I got from LMC, they didn't show leafs or I likely would have gotten them from there as well.  My ignorance might show here, because while I've been shade tree wrenching since I was a kid, this was my first time ever swapping out leaf springs,  I've just never owned anything that had them to swap out.

When it comes to off the shelf springs they wont be the same as your OE springs.  The part houses carry springs that are middle of the road that will work on any application of truck.

For example RockAuto for my '82 F150 Flareside has only one leaf spring listing for a 2wd truck and its the Dayton #43769 that is a 1,850 lb load rating that is a 4/1 leaf.  My truck is actually a 3/1 leaf.  Only way I could get a 3/1 leaf is to go with a 4wd leaf spring which wont fit as they are 3" wide compared to the 2wd which is 2 1/2" wide.

Eaton whom I will be buying my springs from has all the plans and can custom build the springs for you for your specific application as well as increasing to decreasing the height from stock.

For my truck the following is what I could buy from RockAuto which is generic.

Moog CC820 coil spring : fits every truck out there with and without AC.  $80.79 pair
Dayton 43769 leaf spring : 4/1 leaf 1850 lb per spring rating.  $347.99 each
Total : $776.77 not including mounting hardware.

From Eaton this is what I have on my list to buy.

MC508 coil spring : w/o Factory AC Heavy Duty ; W/ Factory AC Standard Duty +1" above stock.  $224.00 pair
ML2749 leaf spring : 3/1 leaf 1250 lb per spring rating 125/226 spring rate stock heigth.  $410.00 each.
Total : $1044.00

Sure, I could save money and go with the cheaper option, but it would also make my truck ride very different than it does not especially in the rear with the 4/1 leaf vs the 3/1 leaf I currently have.  Most people aren't concerned with something like this and will get what they can but for me I will spend more money to get what's right and I do want a leveling kit for my front end for a level look with the new leaf springs, but I know as a fact leveling blocks hurt ride quality and having taller springs to raise the front actually makes the ride softer.

Curiosity got me, I went and pulled up what I got. They are 4/1 Dayton springs load rated for like 1600+ pounds vs. From the factory I had 3/1 rated for just over 1300 lbs. Also my new ones spec out at 1 inch longer, so essentially I'm thinking that is why I'm closer to factory rear ride height even with the drop shackles.  There installed so for now I'll just go with it and see what the alignment does.

Mark wrote

Curiosity got me, I went and pulled up what I got. They are 4/1 Dayton springs load rated for like 1600+ pounds vs. From the factory I had 3/1 rated for just over 1300 lbs. Also my new ones spec out at 1 inch longer, so essentially I'm thinking that is why I'm closer to factory rear ride height even with the drop shackles.  There installed so for now I'll just go with it and see what the alignment does.

Yep, that's why with drop shackles your height is almost like OE, you have that extra leaf that increases the carrying capacity which also will increase the height at rest.

It's one thing I have been dealing with for deciding what coil springs to go with on the front.  If you go to Rough Country, they have leveling kits for 1980-96 F-150/Bronco but it's a 1 1/2" leveling kit.  From Eaton the MC508 is the HD coil springs without factory AC which my truck is not factory AC but I can only get those 1" above stock which I cant figure out if they would provide a level look or not.  I could go with the MC3404 which is your standard duty coil springs without factory AC and I can get those at 1 1/2" above stock.  Problem is I also have more weight on the front than stock, I have dealer AC, I have a chrome Ralley grill guard with a pair of 6" apollo lights and I am adding a bunch of electrical circuits for a Sniper EFI but I also reduced some weight by swapping over to AFR aluminum heads, Edelbrock aluminum intake, GMP high flow aluminum water pump, shorty street headers, etc.  So, I am unsure how the truck would sit and even Eaton couldn't tell me due to too many variables.  It might be one of those things where I might have to get in touch with Eaton and see if there would be any issues if the 1" above stock MC508 springs don't provide a level look if I could return them in exchange for the MC3404 in 1 1/2" above stock.  They might not go for that as those are custom made springs.

That is the same thing we deal with at the shop when it comes to making changes in the suspension system.  Too many variables to know without trial and error and sometimes that trial and error can come at a big expense.

the advice and info here is good. the only thing that I might add is "purpose". what is your intended purpose? you want to rake it with drop shackles, and I have done many including my current build. that tells me that you are not "working" your truck and are more sport minded. 500 lbs of tools can adjust your rake just like excessive tongue load of a trailer can. but if you are building a daily driver or a Saturday /Sunday truck then it doesn't really matter about load capacity. what does matter is springs suited for the front end load. like engine weight and total of accessories. that's why they are spec'd out that way. the danger is poor (unsafe) handling or braking. Or being pushed through an intersection the first time you try to stop with that trailer you never really intended to be pulling.

It's unlikely this Truck will ever see a day of work,  I've got a few project vehicles going at the same time, and like the others I'm going to let this one evolve.  I'll drive it to work here and there and that sort of thing. I feel like I'll end up lowering it front and back at some point, but I'm a ways away from that point.

then i would seriously look at the spring selection further before getting money spent. not only for the stance but the ride quality. keep in mind that spring rates are selected per the expected load, and it often takes that load to get the ride tolerable.  for example, the one-ton flatbed felt as if it had no springs at all when i had nothing but when i had a pallet of shingles on it, it rode nicely.

I've been driving it the past day or two just to put some miles on it, and first impressions are it rides super nice.  

I understand what your saying 👍while this is the first ford I've played with in 30+ years, I'm on my 5th jeep and this one I've been building for the past 6 years. I completely rebuilt the suspension on it. It's all iron rock components, old man emu springs, and bilstein shocks. Most of those brands unless someone has lived in the jeep or Toyota world have never been heard of, but they are the upper echelon of lift components in that world.  So if I get to the point of truly altering ride height there will be lots of thought and reasoning involved.  

For now though I'm not going to do a whole lot more driving until after Friday when I can get the Alignment squared away, the more I look at my stance, the more I really think that's a large part of my lean. After that I'm going with body mount replacement.  

I finally got to get back to my truck,  have had a ton going on, but since Friday I put most everything else to the side and got after my leaning issue.  

The short answer to "can this old truck sit level" and by level I'm referring to side to side. The answer is mine does now.

I did get an alignment,  to my dismay that didn't really impact my issue much at all. There might have been a nominal difference but not enough to correct what I was chasing.  

So I went Back to my initial thought of body mounts. I ordered a set of  poly bushings, they came in and I finally got a chance to install them. As of right now my truck is sitting level. I'm telling ya, this is something that has bothered me night and day, probably way more than it would bother others, I wanted every corner matching it's opposite corner, and it now is.

Some key take aways for me on this part of the project:

If you really dig through forums there are some really handy techniques for removing the old bushings, I had one of the rear ones (passenger side) really fight me, in the end a 3lb sledge and a punch won that fight.

Online, lots of folks make a lot out of the drivers side rear, for me, it was the last one I did, and frankly the easiest,  I loosened the bolt, probably 3/4 of an inch, beat the wham jammy out of it, and in very short order it was loose. From underneath,  I fished the old out, and the new in, and never dropped the tank.

Shims! The fine tuning for me was in the shims. I dug through my tool boxes, junk drawers,  and every nook and cranny of my shop and rounded up shims and fender washers from likely every automotive manufacturer under the sun,   I know for fact there are shims from jeep,  dodge, and Chevrolet installed on my truck now 😆.  

For a truck that truthfully should have went to a salvage yard, I'm satisfied with how it sits now. On to the next chapter of this old truck.  Really not sure what I'm going to tackle next on it.

Congratulations!  Another layer of the onion peeled!