mat in tn Posted March 19 Share Posted March 19 I think I'll try and find a place around here that can bend the I beams someday. I know nothing is binding in the steering/suspension as when I had the truck up on my turn plates the steering turns lock to lock with the engine off extremely smooth and effortlessly. One thing I will say, the truck has always had really exceptional tire wear. I've always heard about twin I beam being hard on tires, well I can't say that's been the case with this one. I do have to grease the kingpins about every 1000 miles for optimum steering I have noticed. Switching to Schaeffer 274 aluminum complex grease also made a very noticeable difference in how it steers and stays in the king pins a lot longer. Where the pins used to take 3-4 pumps of grease to see anything come out now only takes 1-2 pumps of grease. The truck doesn't really wander much at all, either. I have seen many twin I beam vehicles that just eat the tires. usually on 250 or larger yet smaller are not immune. more often than not, my experience has been that it was from wear on the many joints and/or too much camber. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nothing Special Posted March 20 Share Posted March 20 I think I'll try and find a place around here that can bend the I beams someday. I know nothing is binding in the steering/suspension as when I had the truck up on my turn plates the steering turns lock to lock with the engine off extremely smooth and effortlessly. One thing I will say, the truck has always had really exceptional tire wear. I've always heard about twin I beam being hard on tires, well I can't say that's been the case with this one. I do have to grease the kingpins about every 1000 miles for optimum steering I have noticed. Switching to Schaeffer 274 aluminum complex grease also made a very noticeable difference in how it steers and stays in the king pins a lot longer. Where the pins used to take 3-4 pumps of grease to see anything come out now only takes 1-2 pumps of grease. The truck doesn't really wander much at all, either. So is this 2WD or 4WD? If it's 2WD then the caster goes down as the ride height goes up. If it's 4WD then it doesn't have I beams that can be bent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FordFETruck Posted March 20 Share Posted March 20 So is this 2WD or 4WD? If it's 2WD then the caster goes down as the ride height goes up. If it's 4WD then it doesn't have I beams that can be bent. It's two wheel drive, aka twin I beam. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mat in tn Posted March 20 Share Posted March 20 It's two wheel drive, aka twin I beam. I have one of the oddballs. when I built my bronco 2, I found an 87 f150 4wd with the caster adjustable radius arms. it sure makes final setup great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FuzzFace2 Posted March 23 Share Posted March 23 I have one of the oddballs. when I built my bronco 2, I found an 87 f150 4wd with the caster adjustable radius arms. it sure makes final setup great. I feel your pain of not returning back to center and I also have wondering My 81 F100 4x2 has been like that since I got it back on the road. I do know the pins were way to tight but have loosen up a bunch in the 28K miles since. Box is a red head, that took the play out of the wheel but nothing about the returning or centering. Everything was with in spec when checked but did not get a read out, he got it in last min. before closing and cut the price if no sheet. I bought a set of toe plates and when I have the time will check what I got. I am thinking it may need a little more toe as it feels like the wheels are pulling it side to side the return to center I can live with. Dave ---- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
essmaker Posted March 23 Share Posted March 23 I feel your pain of not returning back to center and I also have wondering My 81 F100 4x2 has been like that since I got it back on the road. I do know the pins were way to tight but have loosen up a bunch in the 28K miles since. Box is a red head, that took the play out of the wheel but nothing about the returning or centering. Everything was with in spec when checked but did not get a read out, he got it in last min. before closing and cut the price if no sheet. I bought a set of toe plates and when I have the time will check what I got. I am thinking it may need a little more toe as it feels like the wheels are pulling it side to side the return to center I can live with. Dave ---- It is the small victories sometimes... I got my dash all back together including fixing the bulb mount that illuminates the headlight and wiper switches New headliner installed molding back in. I need some parts for the dome light and I'll call the interior done for now - minus the doors which need to be painted. Enough for today. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Lewis Posted March 23 Author Share Posted March 23 It is the small victories sometimes... I got my dash all back together including fixing the bulb mount that illuminates the headlight and wiper switches New headliner installed molding back in. I need some parts for the dome light and I'll call the interior done for now - minus the doors which need to be painted. Enough for today. I understand the "enough for today" bit. I'm almost there. Anyway, glad you got the dash back together. And you used an LED for the headlight and wiper switch illumination? How did that work out? And the JB Weld worked on the hood? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
essmaker Posted March 23 Share Posted March 23 I understand the "enough for today" bit. I'm almost there. Anyway, glad you got the dash back together. And you used an LED for the headlight and wiper switch illumination? How did that work out? And the JB Weld worked on the hood? The jb Weld worked perfect - rock solid. The led build was a perfect fit. Puts out a lot of light and is lighting up the dash nicely. Being the pain it is to get at, hopefully being an led, I'll never have to do it again. Â Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Lewis Posted March 23 Author Share Posted March 23 The jb Weld worked perfect - rock solid. The led build was a perfect fit. Puts out a lot of light and is lighting up the dash nicely. Being the pain it is to get at, hopefully being an led, I'll never have to do it again. Show us a pic at night? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
essmaker Posted March 23 Share Posted March 23 Show us a pic at night? Here they are in the dark barn. I see I need to touch up the paint around the symbols to pretty it up some. Also need to figure out how to replace the bulbs for the speedo. Not as bright as I would like. Hard to get a good picture. Some reflections on the knobs you don't see really in person Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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