I have a leveling kit on my 2000 f150, i just replaced the lower ball joints, cv joints, hub assemblies on both sides and there is still a vibration coming from the front end when turning. Does anyone know what else could be wrong?

 

Tie rods?
Front diff service?
Rotated tires?
Alignment?

 

What Patman03SprCrw wrote + Were the upper Ball joints OK? Did you check the idler arm for play? What about the tires? If they were wearing unevenly now that he ball joints are turning in the proper ark they may be scuffing when you turn causing vibration.


.

 

do you think that i should take the aftermarket torsion bar keys off, would they be causing too much angle on the new parts

 

I have my bars turned as far as they can go and still keep the left to right even.
In 143,000 miles I have had to replace the Ball joints twice. Both upper and lower. I don't mind changing ball joints in exchange for a truck that sits level. I have run 33 inch tires since the truck was new. I find that balancing the tires every 6 months helps keep the vibration down. I do have to change idler arms every 6 months or so. I haven't quite figured that out yet.

Regards

Jean Marc Chartier

 

Yes.

 

Idler arm doesnt usually generate vibrations, just clunk noises

 

When Ford designs the suspension they designed it with a rake to it. The back sits higher than the front. The A arms should have the ball joint set so that the top of the ball joint is parallel to the ground. That is the position where the ball joint is strongest. When you crank up the torsion bars, either with the set bolt or aftermarket keys, you are pushing the A arm down. The changes the angle of the top of the ball joint. The shaft has to pivot the keep in line with the knuckle. The more you crank the lower the arm goes and the more severe the angle on the joint. You now have the full weight of the front end on the ball joint in a weaker position. This is what causes premature failure. If you remove the keys and return the truck to its normal ride hight then you will see a longer life out of the ball joint. If you remove the key and crank up the t-bars you are right back to where you were with the aftermarket keys.

Regards

Jean Marc Chartier

 

right, but doing caster angle adjustment on an alignment will take care of that.

Unless its like my silver truck and i had excessive caster and i couldnt do anything about it because of how much it was lowered by the coils.

 

the funny thing about it is that i have had the keys on for about 2 years and no problems till now, so if i return the truck to normal, with the aal in the rear, how bad will the truck look in the back being higher than the front, i really like the aal for when hauling fire wood in that it doesn't squat as much.

 

All the alignment does is set the steering angles back to stock settings. The plane that the ball joint top sits in is now 1 1/2 to 2 inches lower so the shaft of the ball joint is no longer perpendicular to the pall joint top. see pic



Regards

Jean Marc Chartier

 

If you want to level look to your truck leave the keys in. I have changed the ball joints twice in 146k miles. To me it is regular maintenance.

Regards

Jean Marc Chartier

 

I wonder if its possible that a ball joint extension could be machined to compensate for this change in angle?