QUESTION:
My truck leans to the passenger side. Is this an issue or should I ignore it?

BACKGROUND:
I recently purchased a 1989 M998 with 6.5 NA engine and 3 speed transmission. It has a sagging suspension. I want to get a wheel alignment done, but I should obviously fix the issue causing the truck to lean to the passenger side before getting an alignment.

SYMPTOMS:
The truck sits approximately 1 1/4" lower on the passenger side measured at both the front and back.
When I jack up the rear of the truck (jack positioned in the centre), the Rear Left tire rises off the ground before the Rear Right tire is in the air. When the Rear Right tire is finally off the ground, the Rear Left tire is about 1" off the ground.
The Front Right and both rear springs have been installed with their spring ends flush against the retaining pin, which I've read is incorrect as there should be a small gap.
The Front Left spring (green in color) is the only spring which has a 1/4" gap. I'm not sure if the lack of gap contributes to the issue, but I thought it was worth mentioning.
I measured the amount of distance between the top and bottom of the springs. The rear are both around 11", while there was a difference of about 1/2" with the front springs (measurements are in the images).

So in summary both the front and the rear of the vehicle seems to have the same amount of lean to the passenger side. Is it possible the passenger side springs are both worn and sagging? Should I even worry about a 1" lean?

Here is an overall front and rear view of the truck:



Front Springs with ruler:



Rear Springs:



And advice would be appreciated.

Kelly

 

does the green spring have 6 windings and the black ones 5? if so that might be your issue. one may be taller or stronger then the rest

 

Hi bronxteck,

I used the spring end as my starting point and then counted upwards; each of the front springs has six windings. So same number of windings, but as the ruler shows, one is compressed to 10 1/2", while the other spring is compressed to 11".

I'm assuming that the shocks have full movement. I should try to determine if by chance one of the shocks is not fully extending - which I guess could also explain the symptoms.

Kelly

 

I thought the same thing, looking at the the rear spring pictures,shows 5vs6?

 

You can find more info here:

 

1/2" difference might need to get shimmed until you are sorted.

 

Great video! I never thought of trying to jack up the front and then the back in order to try and isolate which spring may be causing issues... back to my garage

Kelly

 

Many years of experience.

 

The springs wear out. You may just need to replace the front springs.

 

I jacked up the truck last night, and unfortunately I did not learn anything new.

I jacked the front up:
- both front wheels lifted off the ground at the same time
- Front Wheels: I measured from the ground to the centre of the wheel well, and there was a 1 1/2" difference.
- Rear Wheels: The back was still off by 1 1/2"

I jacked up the back:
- Left wheel came off the ground first (no change from before).
- Front was still off by 1 1/2"

I think the only way I'm going to solve this is to actually remove each spring/shock and inspect/take measurements.

Kelly