Ranger lean revisited

[rkneeshaw]

alright, I know this has been covered a million times. Get a fat girlfriend, its so the rain can roll off the roof, its the weight of the fuel tank+battery+driver, etc.

But this is what doesnt make sense to me: The truck sat level when new right? These things dont come off the assembly line with a lean. So there has to be a cause that I can address. Something is worn, or something is binding.

I just replaced the rear leafs, rear shocks, front springs, front shocks, and the truck still leans to the drivers side, about 1.25" lower than the passenger side (without a driver in it). I'm trying to possibly imagine what else can cause this. Thoughts so far are:

* Body mounts - odds of this being the cause seem slim to me, all of them on the left side would have to be bad... plus the truck bed itself doesnt have "body mounts" to wear out, so if the body mounts were bad I should be able to see a noticable bend or misalignment in the body lines of the truck, which I dont

* sway bars/sway bar bushings/end links - Is it possible that they are old and unlubricated causing binding of the sway bar that keeps one side of the truck lower than the other?

And thats all I got. I can't imagine anything else in the suspension that could possibly cause the lean.

Agree? Disagree? I'm thinking I'll disconnect my sway bars and see how it sits. I'm also considering loosening the leaf spring bolts, bouncing the truck a few times, then retightening with the weight of the truck on the springs.

Any other ideas?

 

[dangerranger83]

mine has lean to it even after i did my SAS and using chevy rear leaves, 3/4 ton springs that is. As to why it still does it im not sure but its something i have just got use to. All rangers i see are like this, even my dads 98 is this way.

I say see how level the frame is compaired to the body and see if they are both the same, if not that should give a good starting point on the body/frames being level and whats leaning.

 

[4x4junkie]

I recall mine leaned just a little bit when it was new (like ½" or so).

Stick a washer or two under the driverside coil. Problem solved.

 

[legoms013]

Mine has always leaned. Used to not lean so bad when I had stock leafs and a 2" block. But now it leans pretty bad, its a 1.5" difference from side to side.

I need to buy a 1.5" block and go from there to level it out.

 

[rkneeshaw]

the weathers been bad so I haven't gotten a chance to wrench under the truck, but I plan to remove the sway bar end links and loosen the bolts on the leaf spring eyes, bounce the truck a few times, and see how it sits. That way I can rule out binding of the sway bars or the possibility that I torqued down the leaf bolts in a way that might contribute to the lean.

 

[Scrambler82]

My ’88 /5.0 had a lean backward low on the driver’s side.
Took it to a Spring Shop and they reworked the front left spring and it was level again.

 

[disciplerocks]

Explain this, my B2 leans to the passenger side. Both front and back.

 

[midtnranger]

I have the sam problem, got the front straightened out with washers, but have about 1.5 inch lean in the rear.

 

[mhughes165]

my bronco2 leans alot....but i also have axle wrap sitting still lol, for pics lemme know

 

[djdiesel89]

Explain this, my B2 leans to the passenger side. Both front and back.

mines leanes passenger side too. i noticed it more after i lifted it. when putting in the new rear springs i noticed someone had put two shims on the passenger side to try and correct it. my plan is to just replace the obvious(bushings,body mounts,etc) its just annoying when i look at it

 

[99 ranger]

take a leaf spring off and it'll take the lean off the back

 

[Jason]

The lean is just typical of American car makers. The don't take weight distribution in to account. Look at how many American vehicles you see with the ass end up high, or down low, due to the gas tank. They didn't realize until recently that you had to use different spring rates at the ends and sometimes all 4 corners to make the car sit and handle properly.

There is a reason Top Gear hates on our stuff. lol

 

[mhughes165]

The lean is just typical of American car makers. The don't take weight distribution in to account. Look at how many American vehicles you see with the ass end up high, or down low, due to the gas tank. They didn't realize until recently that you had to use different spring rates at the ends and sometimes all 4 corners to make the car sit and handle properly.

There is a reason Top Gear hates on our stuff. lol

yup, while we were doing stupid things like causing trucks to lean, toyota and nissan back then were sending all there trucks off the assembly line pre rusted, whats the big deal man

i lean passenger side in the front, and drivers side in the rear, how much they lean is determined by how much they have been torqued over the years, today i discovered i was missing a rivet from my engine crossmember, no grind marks around it or anyhting, as if it had just been torqued out lol

 

[falcon7204]

Well, mine's a 1999 4x2, not a 4x4, but I had a pretty serious lean to the left (about 1.5 inches). Discovered the driver's side stabilizer link was busted. (Pretty sloppy design by Ford, too, but that's another subject.) Replaced both L and R stabilizer links, and now the front end doesn't lean as badly (about 1/2" on the left) and the rear end lean has improved as well (used to be 1.5", now it's about 3/4"). I'd replace the rear sway bar links, but I don't have a rear sway bar.

 

[Jason]

yup, while we were doing stupid things like causing trucks to lean, toyota and nissan back then were sending all there trucks off the assembly line pre rusted, whats the big deal man

i lean passenger side in the front, and drivers side in the rear, how much they lean is determined by how much they have been torqued over the years, today i discovered i was missing a rivet from my engine crossmember, no grind marks around it or anyhting, as if it had just been torqued out lol

You're gonna hate when you find out the frame rust was because the AMERICAN company that was treating the steel messed up huh?