very bad alignment after ditch crossing-possible bent frame.

[racsan]

my '93 is in some serious trouble, roughly 2 weeks ago i was starting to teach my daughter how to drive, wanted her to learn in a manual transmission, long story short, the last corner we turned she didnt straighten out the wheel & when i reached over to correct, she panics, floors it and we go into a ditch at approx 45 degree angle, and bounce through it out into a field. left front tire is turned outward, right front tire is straight ahead. when the left front tire went up into the wheelwell it hit the inner liner hard enough to snap off the fitting on the clutch master cylinder for the reservoir. put in a new clutch master cyl, and got enough clutch travel to get it on a tow dolly. from what i could tell the drivers side ttb beam might be bent, found one at a junkyard, got the drivers side beam with the radius arm, left side tie rod & the coil spring all as one unit, it happened to be a D28 hybrid (2nd one i found that way) my D35 diff still looked good so i swapped it into the "new" housing. got the assy into place after alot of work, but everything still looks like it did before. crossmember where radius arm mounts looks fine. i do think the frame is slightly bent, the gap between the back of the front tire & the body on the passenger side i can stick a closed fist into, drivers side i can only fit 3 fingers, body clearance on drivers side between cab & box is different from side to side now, more gap on drivers side, seal between cap & the cab has a gap at the top drivers side now. going to see if theres enough toe adjustment on tie rods to get the front end toe correct. was wondering about washers between radius arm mount & radius arm to try & "push" the axle forward. just want to get this thing driveable again, i know factory alignment specs are probly no longer possible, but i cant see any visable bending of the frame. all my body panel gaps are the same as they were before, doors open & shut normally like they did before, only thing that isnt the same operationally is the drivers seat rails dont slide freely like they used to, passenger ones are ok. am i beating a dead horse that should just be shot? i know its a 19 y/o truck and all, but dont really want to have it hauled off or parted out. any ideas/suggestions about my differance in tire direction? replaceing the drivers side beam did help some, but not nearly enough for it to be driveable.

 

[brinker88]

I'd say call up your local frame straightening shop to take a looksee at it.

 

[Insanejughead]

Ask people on here to submit their frame measurements.


Also, new radius arm crossmember?

I'm thinking that you can surely get it back to within specs for alignment, but since the incident that caused things to "shift", they won't be attainable in the same manner.

I like the idea of shims for the radius arms. There's no reason why those wouldn't work.

 

[kevinsranger]

not sure if this helps, but my passenger tire is closer to the back of the fender well then my drivers side, but its because i my factory cab mounts rubber is rotted and the cab is actually leaning forward a little bit. so check your cab mounts and see if the rubber is cracked/squished

 

[press 1 for english]

my '93 is in some serious trouble, roughly 2 weeks ago i was starting to teach my daughter how to drive, wanted her to learn in a manual transmission, long story short, the last corner we turned she didnt straighten out the wheel & when i reached over to correct, she panics, floors it and we go into a ditch at approx 45 degree angle, and bounce through it out into a field. left front tire is turned outward, right front tire is straight ahead. when the left front tire went up into the wheelwell it hit the inner liner hard enough to snap off the fitting on the clutch master cylinder for the reservoir. put in a new clutch master cyl, and got enough clutch travel to get it on a tow dolly. from what i could tell the drivers side ttb beam might be bent, found one at a junkyard, got the drivers side beam with the radius arm, left side tie rod & the coil spring all as one unit, it happened to be a D28 hybrid (2nd one i found that way) my D35 diff still looked good so i swapped it into the "new" housing. got the assy into place after alot of work, but everything still looks like it did before. crossmember where radius arm mounts looks fine. i do think the frame is slightly bent, the gap between the back of the front tire & the body on the passenger side i can stick a closed fist into, drivers side i can only fit 3 fingers, body clearance on drivers side between cab & box is different from side to side now, more gap on drivers side, seal between cap & the cab has a gap at the top drivers side now. going to see if theres enough toe adjustment on tie rods to get the front end toe correct. was wondering about washers between radius arm mount & radius arm to try & "push" the axle forward. just want to get this thing driveable again, i know factory alignment specs are probly no longer possible, but i cant see any visable bending of the frame. all my body panel gaps are the same as they were before, doors open & shut normally like they did before, only thing that isnt the same operationally is the drivers seat rails dont slide freely like they used to, passenger ones are ok. am i beating a dead horse that should just be shot? i know its a 19 y/o truck and all, but dont really want to have it hauled off or parted out. any ideas/suggestions about my differance in tire direction? replaceing the drivers side beam did help some, but not nearly enough for it to be driveable.

If the frame has been compromised, part it out or scrap it. 19 year old truck isn't worth all the effort.

 

[kryptonitecb]

I gotta agree with english, you can find another one for ~2 to 3 grand and you'll see that easy day at an alignment shop.

Sent from the road while ignoring traffic

 

[racsan]

well, i got it driveable, the drivers side tie rod has a bend in it to clear other parts of the steering when in a tight turn. i heated & bent the rod, putting more of a bend in it, and thereby shortning the linkage, letting me get the toe adjusted. it probly dogtracks a little, what with the driver side tire closer to the rearmost wheelwell. camber looks ok, guess time& tire wear will really tell the tale. started to try the idea of washers on the radius arm to "push" the driver side beam forward, but that just increased the toe-out, not much but enough that i decided to not do that. got a few things to finish up before putting it back on the road, clutch travel isnt what it should be, probly have some air in the slave cyl, got the front driveshaft to put on, add oil to the front diff, put the step bars back on. i did end up putting new ball joints on the "new" arm, lower one had some play in it. note to myself to do a search for later: erica mitchell.

 

[Insanejughead]

Could you take some pics of the affected areas?

 

[racsan]

i might in a day or two. brought it home tonight, took some measurements, from the ground to the top of the edge of the wheelwells, its a 2" differance in height from left to right in the rear and 1-1/2" at the front, right side is higher. looked at the springs, nothing bent or broke, spring hangers look good, rear sway bar is broken inside of the bushing on l.h. side. front sway bar i removed before changing the l.f. ttb, havent put it back on yet, not sure if i will, depends if it seems to make a differance driving. drivers seat doesnt move freely on the rails when you slide it forward, feels like its leaning to the left (but that could be due to the fact that the whole truck leans that way) dad followed me for a few miles and said it was tracking straight, he noticed the lean as well.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

well, i got it driveable, the drivers side tie rod has a bend in it to clear other parts of the steering when in a tight turn. i heated & bent the rod, putting more of a bend in it, and thereby shortning the linkage, letting me get the toe adjusted.

You really need to figure out what is bent, bending a tie rod is not fixing the problem. Something like that could get you in big trouble if your truck is inspected after an accident, the temper is comprimised in that tie rod.

i might in a day or two. brought it home tonight, took some measurements, from the ground to the top of the edge of the wheelwells, its a 2" differance in height from left to right in the rear and 1-1/2" at the front, right side is higher. looked at the springs, nothing bent or broke, spring hangers look good, rear sway bar is broken inside of the bushing on l.h. side. front sway bar i removed before changing the l.f. ttb, havent put it back on yet, not sure if i will, depends if it seems to make a differance driving. drivers seat doesnt move freely on the rails when you slide it forward, feels like its leaning to the left (but that could be due to the fact that the whole truck leans that way) dad followed me for a few miles and said it was tracking straight, he noticed the lean as well.

It is normal for Rangers to lean left when they get a little age on them, any way to tell from recent pics or whatever if it was leaning before the accident?

The impact probably messed up the seat track. If the floor pan buckled... it really probably is time to move on.

 

[The Toolman]

You really need to figure out what is bent, bending a tie rod is not fixing the problem. Something like that could get you in big trouble if your truck is inspected after an accident, the temper is comprimised in that tie rod.



It is normal for Rangers to lean left when they get a little age on them, any way to tell from recent pics or whatever if it was leaning before the accident?

The impact probably messed up the seat track. If the floor pan buckled... it really probably is time to move on.

The heck ya say.....My gals 99 has around 125k on it an it leans to the left about an 1 or 2", probably closer to 2". Frt springs look new, all suspension has been replaced (b-joints,tierod ends,stab-bar bushings) or is still n good shape. Rear springs are still in good shape an hangars/shackls are ok. So what is the deal, I don't wanna start buying new springs an find I got he wrong end.

I'm open for ideas..... Is the frt springs suppose to have something under them they set on?


Ron

 

[racsan]

still havent had a chance to get pictures taken, but i did notice that when i put the front mud flaps back on, the drivers side is nearly on the ground and the passenger side is about 1-1/2" inches off the ground. when i made these flaps up they were originally both about a fingertip from the ground. right rear is higher too, so its not that one side is lower than it used to be, its that the whole passenger side is higher than it was before the wreck. and it almost seems like theres no weight on the r.r. tire, i can floor it after taking off from a normal stop & break loose the r.r. tire on dry, hot dry pavement. got the leaning seat fixed, it was a collapsed seat rail, got a longer bolt for the rear mounting point & stacked about a inch worth of fender washers. seems to sit up much more straight now. seems to drive ok. just looks odd with the one side higher.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

The heck ya say.....My gals 99 has around 125k on it an it leans to the left about an 1 or 2", probably closer to 2". Frt springs look new, all suspension has been replaced (b-joints,tierod ends,stab-bar bushings) or is still n good shape. Rear springs are still in good shape an hangars/shackls are ok. So what is the deal, I don't wanna start buying new springs an find I got he wrong end.

I'm open for ideas..... Is the frt springs suppose to have something under them they set on?


Ron

I put new Explorer coils (heavier than stock) on the front and used Explorer leaves (also heavier than stock) on the back of mine and she still leans.

All I can blame it on is the offset fuel tank... its only a tad over 100lbs full though.

 

[brinker88]

cheap/easy way to get rid of that lean is to get a leaf from a jeep wrangler spring pack and install it on the drivers side. They are rediculously thin (.291 or less) , but are perfect for remedying this situation.

 

[The Toolman]

cheap/easy way to get rid of that lean is to get a leaf from a jeep wrangler spring pack and install it on the drivers side. They are rediculously thin (.291 or less) , but are perfect for remedying this situation.

Is the rear drivers side usually what it is on'em?