Hi guys, chasing some opinions and info.
I bought a 97 f150 that is lowered, running 20" rims and 295 45R20s. (Previously 275s with the same issue)
Unsure how low from original.
Camber is out, my tire guys say they cannot get it any better.., only a couple of degrees I think.
Tires continually chop out on the inners, feathering.
Things I have noticed:
Lowered via lowering springs, not drop spindles,
There is only half inch clearance between wishbone and the bumpstop
Tires slope in at top slightly

Sick of going thrpugh tires

ALSO
I am in australia so my local tire guys are not familiar with American f150s
Parts are hard to come by, all have to be imported

My thoughts are to put in original springs and drop spindles

I would post pics but am not computer literate enough

 

 

look like a chopped spring.
Hard to have a worst way to lower a vehicule!

 

DLWTHIT:

There is a common, inexpensive camber adjustment kit you can get, if you don't already have one. It replaces the upper control arm bolts with different bolts that have eccentric cams on them. Rotating the bolts adjusts the camber. I don't know if this will totally correct your camber issues. But if you have stock hardware, it's a pretty cheap upgrade that would help.

Speaking from experience with my Expy, you are correct that drop spindles and stock springs would be better than drop coils. You maintain stock suspension travel, can use stock-height shocks, and keep a stock ride quality. However, you must run minimum 18" diameter wheels (including the spare). Also, at least with Belltech spindles, there is a small amount of bump-steer, and you lose proper steering Ackerman at extreme steering angles, like when parking.

Still, if I were you, I'd try to get the Belltech spindles. and stock springs on there. Whether you do the spindles or not, at least get the camber kit.

Regards,
John.

 

I just put 3" drop springs on my '98 and I can see from your pic that you have some butchered stock springs. I'm also running 20" wheels but I am using 275/50 on the front. You REALLY need the caster/camber kit. It will help some but you need to redo/upgrade the entire suspension. You can't just slam a truck with chopped springs, it WILL cause problems!!!
I put ALL new bushings, tie rods, shocks, end links and everything on mine. You can get it all from Rock Auto very reasonably. I would also recommend stock springs with drop spindles. You can go with a 4" drop that way without any major issues.

 

I have the same issue on my 01 Supercrew. I had a Belltech 2/4 drop installed back in 03 and the camber kit installed shortly after. The camber kit helped just slightly and I have been dealing with crappy tire wear ever since.

Now I am considering removing the front lowering springs and go back to stock springs/shocks and install the Belltech drop spindles. Just trying to gather facts before I do anything.

 

Since I didn't specifically mention it in my post, I'll add that with stock springs, the Belltech spindles and a camber kit, my tire wear is perfect.

 

Definitely good to hear. Did you ever consider Lowered lower control arms instead of the drop spindles? Again, I'm just trying to gather facts before I make a change.

 

No, because until you mentioned it, I'd never heard of them. After looking them up, it seems they work by lowering the spring pocket. That will lower your truck, of course. But with stock spindles, you will have lots of bump-steer.

The nice thing about the Belltech spindles is that they flip the outer tie rod ends at the spindle arm so that the steering geometry is fairly close to stock. There is some bump-steer, but not much. The only way to improve bump-steer would be to relocate the steering linkage pivots, which would be lots of work.

You could combine Lightning front springs with the spindles to get a 3" drop, if you want. And you can possibly go even lower with aftermarket springs. But you can't just combine every lowering part out there and expect a cumulative effect without problems. Once your control arms are significantly out of stock alignment at ride height, you will have camber issues, bump-steer and tramlining issues.