Frame bent?
Asked by Ricky Oct 28, 2012 at 10:54 PM about the 1989 Ford F-250
Question type: Maintenance & Repair
last night I was driving and it has been raining due to hurricane sandy, and I hit some water and hydroplaned, when i did, i drove
straight into a curb pretty hard with my right front tire parallel to curb, the tire hit then jumped up on the curb and slung the rear
end into the curb. i drove off and did not see anything really wrong except my rim scratched up in the front and rear was fine, it
was dark. and it rode the same.this morning i go out to look and i notice the right front of the truck is lower. i took measurement
of height off ground of the front on both sides. the left is a inch and half higher. also the right front tire is in wheel well more then
the left front. but i took measurements from outside of tire to chassis and both sides are the same, 22 inches. i do not
understand. and i look done the side of the truck and the body lines are even and the same so frame cant be bent. i go look
under truck and the parallel bars do not have buckles or anything that i noticed. i did not get chance to measure is it was square
because of no help. but is there any other thing i should look at? or am i worrying to much? it is a '89 ford f250, 4X4, 5.8l. stock
suspension.
10 Answers
Something in the suspension. No, I seriously doubt the frame is bent. When you say the tire is in closer on the wheel, like pushed off the rim? I am missing something here. What kind of suspension does it have? Torsion bars on it? Stabilizer bars? Springs? Please get back to me.
The tire is fine on the rim. i mean the right front is in the wheel well more the the left front. its a parallel bar front axle. no torsion bars. leaf springs, and stabilizer yes. im not sure if its the dana 44-ifs-hd or the dana 50-ifs.
i found out my right leaf spring is bent, that may be why my right front is lower then the left. but everything else is fine, im getting it realigned later this week. and the reason the right wheel was in the wheel well more then the left front is because the body moved in the body mounts a inch to the right.
OK that explains that anyway. I was not getting it, thanks for setting me straight
the alignment people said my alignment was not messed up to bad, but my frame is bent.
Really? That surprises me. You must have hit it HARD, either that or it was already bent. An F-250 is a well built no- nonsense truck...it does not have a weak frame, I know of no issues with it.
anyone else remember that EXACT question and scenario from weeks ago?
On thinking about this, I am missing something. With a bent frame how the hell can they say your F/E alignment is good? By definition, a warped/bent frame rail will cause misalignment. Ricky if I was in your position I would get another opinion at a frame shop, and sometime frame shops are hard to find, there are not a lot of them, I wish you luck. If you live in a big city there probably is one or two, but if you live in Podunk like I do, I have to drive 50 miles to my dealer. and the nearest frame shop is 65 miles.
i am searching for a frame shop now to get another opinion. i hope all i have to do is replace leaf springs and body mounts.
