I noticed today that the rear of my truck, or possibly just the bed, is tilting to the passenger side. The front sits level. It's not very much, maybe an inch or so, but it's driving me crazy. What would cause this??? Are the rear suspension parts worn or damaged(nothing visible that I can see)??? Bed support/parts bent??? I have owned her since day one, and she's never been wrecked or off-roaded. Would a worn rear shock cause this??? Just need some ideas on where to start.

 

Measure from the ground to the bottom of each frame rail. This will tell you if the suspension is sagging or if the box supports are bad. I had the box on a chevy do this from corrosion. Looked like the whole truck was twisted at the rear, but the frame was straight and even. The box rails were crushed. One good bounce over a railroad crossing with a load can do it if the rails are weak. If the measurements are not the same from a level surface to the frame, then inspect the suspension carefully. You might have a broken spring on the passenger side, allowing some sag. I do not know if the shock could cause the drop -- I wouldn't think so, but perhaps?

 

Thanks for the reply Zulusafari. I'll see if I can't figure something out this weekend. I checked the leaf springs and did not notice any obvious damage, so I'm going to assume it may be the box supports. When you mentioned the RR tracks, it reminded me I have hit a local crossing at excess speed a time or two. Are those replaceable or is it something that needs to be handled by a body shop??? Thanks again for the info.

 

It depends what is bad -- if the support rails have corroded, I think new ones can be sourced or made and spot-welded back on -- I used C Channel to slide accrossinside the corroded support, and drilled a new hole. I think the same is true if the support rail crushes, but I haven't seen this first hand. If the frame mount is corroded or bent, it can be replaced pretty easy with the box off, and I believe LMC had them in their catalog but not 100% sure. If the springs have a problem, it isn't too bad to rebuild a spring pack. My father-in-law had one side of his old F250 Camper Special done due to a de-arched mainspring. The shop he took the spring pack to re-arched the springs and checked all of them for cracks. I replaced several broken leafs on my old Chevy -- several were cracked in half, some were missing the rear half. Truck rode and handled terribly! I had some proper length leafs cut from single springs at a junkyard, and bolted the whole works together. Toughest part was rmoving the shackle bolts.