position dana 35.....

[C130MARINE]

Gents, im in a bit of a jam. I really could use some guidance. Okay I have a 91 Ranger ext cab STX I put a lot of lift on the truck. I ground down all the factory rivits and installed all the new brackets. Then reassembled everything. Now, I also extended the radius arms. not being a real "4 wheel drive guy", I thought I did pretty well. Well seems my ball joints have worn out pretty quickly...so I started doing some investigating. Even though I extended my radius arms, I still need to drop them or ext them more. The Dana 35 was leaning forward about -10 degrees. Which is about 13 to 17 degrees out of wack. SO my question is with the radius arms disconnected from the frame you can slide the dana forward or backward 2-3 inches. So I need to understand how to position the Dana and then where to mount the radius arms. I want the radius arms to be mounted within a 1/4 inch of each other since they aren't adjustable ends, and I was told if not very close the truck will pull one side or the other! Somethings that would really help me are, 1)what is the stock length of a radius arm that hasn't been modified? a measurement from center of the bolt that mounts it to the beam to the very last thread that used to go through the ford cradle type mount. The other problem I have is that the way the radius arms were mounted, the front coil springs both bowed at the bottom. like the top spring bucket was not exactly inline with the bottom bucket. More like the top bucket was 2 inches behind the bottom bucket. the springs would be straight until like the 3rd or 4th coil then bend back and from there the spring would be at an angel until it met the top bucket. so I put a cargo strap on each side of the dana and cranked it back to where the lower bucket looked as it aligned with the top bucket. the beams look straight from the pivot point to the spindle. so the steering doesn't seem to bind and it looks like everything is fairly centered. the coil is almost perfectly straight. huge improvement from before. or so I think....can anyone help me out???? Im looking for advice where on the frame should I mount radius arm brackets...meaning I think I ext these arms 12" total. so if I could get a stock length I would know for sure how much longer mine are. then maybe I could measure from the original holes and fig how far back. And how do I find out how my front rear should sit? Im pretty lost and need help. I would appreciate any input you have. thanks again.

Respectfully,
Dale

 

[swynx]

12 inches extended should put the mounting point right before the transmission cross member.

So why not get an angle finder and rotate your beam the direction it needs to go. The beam being tilted one way or the other is probably what's messing with your coils. Whatever you did with a ratchet or whatever just made it worse. And yes when I replaced my radius arm bushings I used a ratchet strap to pull the axle forward. So there is a bit of movement.

I've read a thousand articles on this and specifically remember reading a huge thread on this that was like 9 pages and had tons of info.

 

[C130MARINE]

beam location not rotation...

First, thank you for the reply. I guess I didn't explain well enough. Yes, I have extended radius arms...and yes the dana is looking down at the ground leaning forward. and yes, unbolting the radius arms and making a drop down bracket def corrected a lot of the neg angle. so far we are seeing eye to eye. here is where I lost you. its a ttb, so its not like I can measyre from 2 known points to make sure the dana is even on both sides. like you said there is play fore and aft. so I have the drop brackets and they are on the radius arms and all I have to do is mark and drill, right?... wrong!! how do I know if one side isn't just a little forward or behind the other? and the lower coil bucket is waaay ahead of the top bucket which causes the bow, but when I use a cargo strap and the radius arms aren't connected to the frame, just in the fron on the dana....if I crank until the buckets are aligned vertically everything seems fine and looks great. turn lock to lock and nothing binds. but there has to be a way of measuring to see if the rear is where it is supposed to be mounted or to see if both sides are evenly placed. the cargo strap didn't hurt anything. its allowing me to crank the raer back about 1 1/2 inches to align the buckets up. I just don't want to drill and find out i did the wrong thing. i hope this helps somewhat...any ideas?

 

[Rowdy Fitzgerald]

When I center my front axel I measure from the front bolt of the leaf springs in the rear. Get a tape measurer, hook it on the bolt end then measure the distance to the top bolt holding your Radius Arm to the axel. Get both axel sides under 1/8" of each other.

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

I kind of agree with swynx in that you're caster might be causing some or all of the problem with your springs. I think you say you're using drop brackets and that should help. I've read elsewhere that you can push the axle forward about an inch. I don't have experience. If you're pulling the axle back make sure to check the front drive shaft engagement. You need room for slip fore and aft, you don't want the shaft to bottom out. That would be the guiding principle for where I put my axle [at ride height]. Hopefully someone with a lot more experience speaks up. I like rowdys idea for making sides even.
Good luck,

Richard

 

[swynx]

Rowdys idea would work. But that seems a bit far to me. Id measure from an OEM location. Like the nearest edge on the transmission cross member... since that's close to your mounting location any ways.

I would think if your using the OEM style studs for your radius arms that you could add/remove washers and stuff to get them close enough. Or. ..

Go to like a Johnny joint. So you can adjust them and get them exactly where you want them. Might spend some extra coin but there worth it. Less binding and stuff. You can buy all the parts on the bronco graveyard.

Also what's your front pinion angle like? Post a picture. Ill grab a picture of mine its OEM currently. This is probably most crucial.

If you have time id suggest reading brinker88 build thread. I think he went in depth on all of this.

What front springs are you using?

 

[swynx]

Mine shoots straight. It'll be a bit more of an angle with a lift. But you want them straight as can be.

Id unbolt the springs and radius arms and then rebolt on the spring where there flat and them check your radius arm measurements, see if there too long or short and what you need to do to keep a flat spring.

I'm thinking there iether to long or you welded them at the wrong angle. Ie the bottom of the beam vs the top.

Take a look at some other members extended beams and see where you went wrong.

Or perhaps you bolted them on upside down? Or right side on the left? Is that even possible? If so that's probably the cause. I can see how that would screw up every thing.