Alignment issues (pics of shop alignment printout inside)

aeidian · Jul 26, 2012

Before

After

Several months ago, I took the old rust bucket into the shop to see if I could get it going straight down the road, as it was pulling hard to the right. It's an 89 4x4 Ranger, 2.9 V6. First they told me they couldn't do anything that would make a difference for less than 500+ because it was "so old and no one works on these anymore", so I told them thanks for the look over, I'll just take it home. So they go talk to the alignment tech and he tells me that if they do a toe alignment it'll go straight. So I say ok, and let them at it. 74 bucks and a tire swap from passenger to driver, it's now pulling hard to the left. They sure saw me coming. Made their money and laughed all the way to the bank. I figured I would give it a few days and then go back in there, but I got so angry about it I just gave up and accepted it. Fast forward to now and as you would expect the drivers side tire is worn pretty good on the inner side about an inch or two. The shop said they couldn't fix this for under 500 bucks (I don't think the truck is worth that much) because of some barrel roll thing. Is there anything I can do, or does anyone have any suggestions?

brinker88 · Jul 26, 2012

Caster should be set to +/- 1 degree of each other and in the range of 3-7 degrees is acceptable. You need a 1 degree camber bushing and a 2 degree camber bushing to correct your issues.

Thing you have to remember is, that the camber bushing on the TTB also adjusts the caster. So you will have to get a happy medium for both.

aeidian · Jul 26, 2012

I spent a couple hours after this post looking over information on what I could do, and it seems replacing the camber bushings with adjustable ones is the way to go. Furthermore I recall the alignment shop telling me if I got the parts replaced then I could bring it back in and they could "probably realign it for me at no charge". So I checked Rockauto and they have these:

MOOG Part # K80153 More adjustment range -3-1/4 to 3-1/4 deg.; Front; 4WD

They run 18.54 each, and they seem to have a pretty wide adjustment range so thats they way to go right? Get these, pull the OEM bushings out then put these in and then take it to the shop and get them to align it, then my truck should run straight down the road? Was the 500+ they were talking about to put the new bushings in? I've read a few writeups on it and it doesn't seem like it's that difficult to take the old ones out and put the new ones in.

4x4junkie · Jul 26, 2012

I'm not sure that shop isn't trying to rip you off. I can't fathom a reason to charge $500 for a wheel alignment on these trucks unless they're replacing parts under there, plus the fact they told you a toe realignment would stop it from pulling. Only caster and/or camber adjustment can change that (it changing with the tire swap tells me you might have a problem with your tires causing the issue as well).

Yes, K80153 is the good 2-piece bushings (D28 axle). I'd be tempted to seek another shop though or maybe even DIY it as described here (scroll about halfway down).

Insanejughead · Jul 26, 2012

Make sure that shop understands the chart that comes with the bushing.

It's really cool to be able to know what adjustment you need on each side, and then consult the matrix to see what setting the adjuster has to be set at. It's almost as easy as: 1. Setting the bushing to the right alignment. 2. Put it in place and tighten the pinch bolt.

kryptonitecb · Jul 26, 2012

Good luck, after talking to 2 regional managers and 3 different shops I couldn't get mine aligned. The answer I got everytime was that my truck is lifted so I was SOL. Mind you I have the extreme drop pitman arm and everything is tight. Plus most shops here don't know what a ttb is.

Sent from the road while ignoring traffic

aeidian · Jul 26, 2012

It seems that since I know what the current camber is from the sheet, and I understand how to remove and install the adjustable bushings then I need to just buy a cheap angle finder. Amazon has 1 for 10 bucks. I can pull the old bushings, use the chart to see how much I need to set the bushing to so I can correct the camber, then install it. That sound about right?

aeidian · Jul 26, 2012

kryptonitecb said:
Good luck, after talking to 2 regional managers and 3 different shops I couldn't get mine aligned. The answer I got everytime was that my truck is lifted so I was SOL. Mind you I have the extreme drop pitman arm and everything is tight. Plus most shops here don't know what a ttb is.

Sent from the road while ignoring traffic

I don't have a lift of any kind, body or suspension (but I do want to do a 3" body lift because I dream of one day putting a 302 in place of the 2.9), so I just want the damn thing to go straight down the road. Seems like alot to ask just to make it do what it's supposed to.

aspevacek · Jul 26, 2012

I am sporting 5.5" of suspension lift on my truck and have an alightment set well with in specs on it. We thru it on the rack set the toe, adjusted the caster / camber and re adjusted the toe on it. everything is settign nice and she rolls dead down the street.

I would say the shops sayign that they can not align a lifted truck is because they have no clue about TTB and it scares them.

Insanejughead · Jul 27, 2012

aspevacek said:
I would say the shops sayign that they can not align a lifted truck is because they have no clue about TTB and it scares them.

Yeah, I would say so. That's freaking ridiculous, too.

kryptonitecb · Jul 27, 2012

aspevacek said:
I would say the shops sayign that they can not align a lifted truck is because they have no clue about TTB and it scares them.

First kid that looked at mine said he thought it was badass that I had made my own suspension.

I know for a fact that most places have no formal training. A buddy asked if he could get trained on the alignment rack. Guy told him "just do what the computer tells you to do", few hours later my buddy was THE alignment guy for that NTB location.

Sent from the road while ignoring traffic

Ranger SVO · Jul 27, 2012

You got seriously ripped off. That shop did NOT do an alignment. They set the toe and sent it out.

Report that shop to the Better Business Bureau and find another shop. I actually talked with four different Alignment Shops before selecting one. The one I selected was the one where the alignment guy took me back into the shop. He showed me the Camber/Caster bushings and explained how they are installed and what they do when they align a TTB suspension. His equipment looked good and everything looked clean and organized.

I explained that the truck would be lowered and that currently there was NO tire wear problems. He offered to check the alignment (at no charge) and after it was lower he would put it back just like it was. (which is what he did last year)

At one shop, the alignment people didnt want to take the time to talk to me, time to find another shop. Another looked like it was in need of a serious cleaning, the alignment rack did not appear to be well kept. And the alignment guy sounded about as well educated as the 9th graders I teach. Time to find another shop.

Mechanics are a dime a dozen, well trained technicians are out there but we have to look for them.

94xlt4.0 · Jul 30, 2012

first, if your tires were swapped and the truck pulls the other way it sounds like you have a bad tire causing a radial pull. second, to get the camber/caster in spec get the k80153 bushings and use the included chart to put the camber about 2.5 degrees postive and the caster -.25 degrees for the driver side. for the passenger side make the camber 1.0 degree positive and the caster -2.5 degrees. that should get you as close to the center of the specs as possible. then have the toe angles reset. any more questions feel free to ask

ronclark · Jul 30, 2012

aeidian said:
Before

After

Several months ago, I took the old rust bucket into the shop to see if I could get it going straight down the road, as it was pulling hard to the right. It's an 89 4x4 Ranger, 2.9 V6. First they told me they couldn't do anything that would make a difference for less than 500+ because it was "so old and no one works on these anymore", so I told them thanks for the look over, I'll just take it home. So they go talk to the alignment tech and he tells me that if they do a toe alignment it'll go straight. So I say ok, and let them at it. 74 bucks and a tire swap from passenger to driver, it's now pulling hard to the left. They sure saw me coming. Made their money and laughed all the way to the bank. I figured I would give it a few days and then go back in there, but I got so angry about it I just gave up and accepted it. Fast forward to now and as you would expect the drivers side tire is worn pretty good on the inner side about an inch or two. The shop said they couldn't fix this for under 500 bucks (I don't think the truck is worth that much) because of some barrel roll thing. Is there anything I can do, or does anyone have any suggestions?

Looks like a Firestone print out. Not sure what is with shops now days one TTB's it seems the best your get is a toe centering.

I am surprised too, since there are so many Gen1 explorers around.
Les swab wanted to pull my adjustable bushing out and tried to tell me thy cant be aligned whit them and are junk.
Pretty much all the shops around here tell me it cant be done if its been lifted. My first thought is your guys no nothing about TTB's.

Maybe next time I'll talk to Ford thy surely should know how to work on there own stuff

Insanejughead · Jul 30, 2012

Those idiots need to be educated...

Alignment issues (pics of shop alignment printout inside)

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