Hi, the constant pull to the right finally bugged me enough that I took my truck (93 W250 with a Dana 44 front axle) to an alignment shop. They said the issue was the caster on the front right tire was at -1.5° and they are unable to align it without replacing the upper ball joint on the right side. Is this true? I had imagined there was a keyed adjustment for it but admittedly have never actually bothered to look. It sounds like there are also shims you can put under the leaf springs, but I am guessing it would be a bad idea to do to only one side, or does that not matter?
Any input is appreciated, thanks.

 

are you sure it has a dana 44 front axle? if there is nothing wrong with the ball joint you don't need to replace to adjust the camber. you just have to pull the castle nut and remove the bushing caster bushing and replace it with one that is capable of doing -1.5*

 

Yup it's the Dana 44 with everyone's favorite vacuum disconnect system, it has ball joints not a king pin setup. So am I just able to go to a parts store and ask for a bushing that would add 1.5° to get it squared away? That sounds a lot more appealing that replacing the whole setup.

 

A longer shackle will add caster too. As for the good side, a little more caster won't hurt.

I made my own. Cut some flat bar and drill holes in it.

 

I'm guessing you'd make just the back shackle longer by some amount to get it to give you more caster?

 

messing with the suspension will not change the caster. it is a straight axle.

you do need the special socket to remove and install the bushing but it is usually not too bad of a job. you can possibly get the socket cheaper elseware but this is what it looks like
https://www.summitracing.com/parts/otc-7080
here is the bushing
https://www.rockauto.com/en/moreinfo...=13508&jsn=451

 

Yes. Maybe start with an 1" longer. I made 5" ones.

 

Cool. I'll probably play with that at the same time I replace the u joint on the other side, thanks for the information.

 

Not true at all. Any suspension mod than rotates the whole axle a few degrees is changing the caster angle.

 

but what you do to 1 side you have to do to the other at which point you screw with the caster on the other side. it is not like it is independent front suspension. it is best to just fix the problem correctly especially since replacing the bushing is likely much cheaper and easier than messing with the suspension and really the proper way to do it.