I noticed my 99 F-150 Supercab was drifting towards the left on the highway. I took it to an alignment shop but they could not work on it. Seems the new trucks have a different system which requires the use of eccentric nuts and blts to cure this problem. I took it to a Ford delaer. Lucky I did it before 12,000 miles since it's under warranty until then. The Ford delaer put an eccentric bolt on the right side. Curious, has anyone else expereicned this and will this become a major problem in the future?

 

It is the same on Chevy's. There is a eccentric bolt kit to adjust caster/camber. They should just put it there to begin with in my opinion but you should not have any more problems, I think they should have put them on both sides.

 

They get the alignment in the ball park from the factory. That's it. I don't believe there has ever been a vehicle come from the manufacturer that has been dead on. On top of that, when they transport them on the car carriers they hook the chains to the front and back and crank 'em down until you hear 'em groan! Then they give it another half turn for good measure! I can't imagine this doing any good for the alignment. If you ever witness this proceedure it will make you sick (to think they did the same thing to your truck). My advise is to get the vehicle aligned the first chance you get, regardless of whether you can feel it pulling or not. It will most likely give you a few more miles out of your tires.

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98 F-150 XLT 4X4 ORP Super Cab Short Bed, 4.6, Auto. Superchip, Gibson sing. cat-back, K&N air filt. 80/100w German head lamps. Needs one more door and a lot more power. I think I need to talk to Mr. Whipple.



[This message has been edited by 98fword (edited 07-20-1999).]

 

98FWord,

I can attest to how tight they crank them down. When I took delivery of my truck both the front and rear bumpers had to be replaced because of damage where they had tied the tow hooks to the bumpers instead of the frame or something else. Took the dealer 3 trips to get the bumpers aligned and mounted correctly.

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'98 XLT SC, 4.2V6, 4spd Auto, BugflectorII, 50th Aniversery Flooor Mats, K&N Filter, Hard Tonneau Cover, Billet Grill and Insert, Sony CDX-6850 Head Unit, Soundstream Rubicon 405 Amp, JBL GTO 5x7's All 4 Doors, Qlogic 8" sub-enclosure with Kicker Punch XLC Woofer,SuperBrite Bulb Replacements...and More Mods to Come

http://206.170.51.68/truck

 

I've got the same pull-to-the-left alignment problem with my '96. Anybody know if these "eccentric nuts and bolts" will work for a 96'?

I had the alignment dialed-in real tight at a shop. It was right on. Went on vacation (highway miles) and the alignment started to drift significantly to the left again at about 700 miles.

 

You will have to see a dealer to see if the bolts even apply to your vehicle. I don't think they willlsince you've indicated you had the wheels already aligned. When I took it to an alignment shop, they told me the NEW fords did not operate as the old ones for alignment. The only way now to align the new ones is with the eccentric bolts.

Delgado

 

Last Saturday I brought my truck in for the 30,000 mile service. While it was up on the lift, I asked them to rotate the tires as well. Since then, my truck has drifted to the left.. not real bad, but noticeable. Before having the tires rotated, the truck stayed center-line all the time. Not sure if this vehicle has ever been aligned, only owning it a couple of months.

My question is... could this 'drift' be caused by the way the rear tire was wearing?
Could this also point to a problem with the left rear axle bearings or something? There is no noticeable scuffing or excessive wear on the tires. Our truck has 32,500 miles on it.
Thanks!

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98 F150 XL SC, 4X2 Styleside, Auto 4.2L V6, 3:55 gears
Oxford White/Tan w/ Oxford White "Florida Line" Cab-high Topper, Duraliner, Ventvisors and Bugflector II. Oh yeah... and a "cracked" driver-side door. (Dealer Installing NEW door soon!)
Coming soon:
Superchip
Gibson Cat-back Exhaust
K&N Filter Kit
Fog/Driving Lamps
Cd Changer

 

Sound like your alignment was right to begin with but they messed up when they rotated the tires. If there is no excessive wear on the tire that used to be on the back but is now on the fonrt, I don't think there is anything wrong with the back axle. Try taking it to another place to align the fonrt. It could possibly be, and this is remote, that the rim on that tire is a little different than the others, thus causing the drift. It's just a thought.

I also found that my truck tends to drift to the left when the air pressure on the front left was low. I filled it up and it goes straight.

Delgado

 

I had my 98 XL in for 15000 service and front end (TOE) was adjusted -- front tires had irregular wear. Everything was great for one day -- then it seemed to revert back to "feel" before alignment -- slight vibration in steering wheel and left front tire which seems to almost skip at times. Any ideas?

 

My truck pulls to the right, had it back to the dealer three times, seemed ok when the truck was new, i rotated tires at 5000. They said the truck was within specs, handed me a printout, they sent it out to a shop because their machine was down, their answer was that the truck likes to follow the crown in the road. I also noticed that my left towhook was bent down, along with the framee, they replaced the dammaged hook, but i've noticed other trucks with the same.

 

I just had 285/75/26 BFG's put on and the T-Bars up'd. When the shop did the allig. they were surprised how bad the toe was on the truck. (only have 4k miles on the truck)

Go figure?

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99 4x4 XLT supercab 5.4L Flairside, Deep Wedgewood Blue/Med. Graphite w/ Captain Chairs Pioneer DEP-4000, Tint, K&N, Bedliner, 3" Catback w/3 Chamber Flowmaster, 285/75/16 BFG A/T on American Racing Python wheels

 

Okay everyone i have been aligning cars for about 4 years now and im hear to solve everyones problems. 1. vibrations in the steering wheel have nothing to do with the alignment, all the alignment does is get your car going straight. 2. eccentrics are perfectly fine it just allows you to adjust the camber and caster on your vehicle. 3. some cars will pull or drift due to low tire pressure check the front tires for the correct pressure if this occurs. 4. if it still pulls cross the two front tires if the pull goes the other way or stops its called a tire pull. alignments will not fix this its not a problem just some tires will cause your vehicle to drift or pull one way. 5. if you cross the tires and it still pulls you probably have alot of negative caster in the side its pulling on which can be fixed by eccentrics or if your vehicle will not accomodate them the frame shop can pull on it and adjust it that way but thats fairly pricey. but the number one cause of people getting alignments is because of low air pressure and tire pulls if you ever want to make alot of money doing nothing buy an alignment machine pay it off and collect all the profits its like taking candy from a baby, why do you think shop always push for the alignment, 100% profit

 

if you raise the torsion bars it adjust the camber which will also screw the tow up, they should of known that, i wouldnt let them work on my truck if i were you

 

ginosf150 cross your front tires and check the air

 

I tend to agree with alignmentguy, in that I think alignments are highly overrated. If you think about it, how does a vehicle which has a good alignment ever get out of alignment? The only ways for a good alignment to go bad are for something to be bent or broken, or modified such as a suspension lift. A vehicle with a good alignment won't get "knocked out of alignment" as you might often hear, by hitting a pothole, unless some real damage is done, such as a bent tie rod or control arm, etc.

A vehicle with an in-spec alignment can still experience very slight uneven tire wear, possibly not even visible to the eye, which can cause a little pull. I don't think this is abnormal, and is part of the whole reason for tire rotations.

I will grant that a vehicle could come from the factory with a sloppy alignment, but if nothing is damaged, all it should take is one alignment under warranty by a competent dealer to correct it.

I will proudly mention my '90 Ford Ranger, with the infamous twin I-beam front suspension, which at 236,000 miles, has not had an alignment since it left the factory. The original 4 tires lasted 89,000 miles...the next set 80,000...67,000 and still rolling on the third set.

SM
'01 Screw
'90 Ranger