professor229
Active Member
- Joined
- Dec 24, 2021
- Messages
- 129
- Reaction score
- 77
- Points
- 28
- Location
- Minnesota
- Vehicle Year
- 2004
- Make / Model
- Ford Ranger
- Transmission
- Automatic
My $500 project Ranger has been fun to work on... I have learned a lot and fixed a lot of problems all with the budget goal of not throwing in my billfold by doing all the labor by myself... I have the time. One of the issues I found when I was doing an oil change, was looking at the tie rod ends.... geez.... and the gal had been driving this out on the highway to work.... I hesitated driving it out of my driveway...... so I replaced the tie rod ends and counted the turns etc.... it all went well... and then watched several You Tube "how to" videos to learn about doing a decent job of alignment in your driveway.... old school... and it worked... I combined the information from several of the videos and used some of my own ideas.... IE colored fish string instead of construction cord..... and worked with 32nds of an inch instead of a 16th of an inch.... and found out my eyes aren't what they used to be....
Bottom line, I did the basic alignment myself .... is it as good as a pro alignment? Certainly not, but for a $500 project it is good enough.... I was happy... until I did the test drive and the steering wheel was not level and straight going down the road.... When going down the road, it is about an 1/8th turned to the right... to go straight... annoying but OK.... for now... Yesterday I had the time, and decided to tackle this problem, again... The first time, I made sure my steering wheel was straight in the driveway and had the front wheels on cardboard so they would adjust and move easier.... but the final result was that aiming to the right steering wheel.... This time, I made SURE I had the steering wheel level and pointing straight ahead, on cardboard, and shut off the motor/ignition which locked the steering wheel level and straight..... Then I jumped through the hoops and took my time adjusting the tie rods and measuring, back and forth until I had both sides towed in perfectly at 1/16 of an inch, locked the tie rods in place, cleaned up and life was good.... until, I got in the cab.... thinking the steering wheel would be where it should be.... straight and level.... It wasn't ..... it was now 1/8th aiming left.....
I thought once the ignition was locked, the tie rod adjustments re-done, that it would be all good... So... help a novice at alignment understand.... What did I do wrong? Moving/adjusting the tie rods can somehow move the steering shaft/wheel????
PS... test drove it and it is fine going down the road... but time will tell on the tire wear..... I do my own tire work... used tires... and there is very little cost in tires.... also restore my own steel wheels for it and they always come out great.....
And please..... taking it to a professional alignment shop is NOT in the budget..... so any suggestions/help on getting that steering wheel straight would be appreciated....
Bottom line, I did the basic alignment myself .... is it as good as a pro alignment? Certainly not, but for a $500 project it is good enough.... I was happy... until I did the test drive and the steering wheel was not level and straight going down the road.... When going down the road, it is about an 1/8th turned to the right... to go straight... annoying but OK.... for now... Yesterday I had the time, and decided to tackle this problem, again... The first time, I made sure my steering wheel was straight in the driveway and had the front wheels on cardboard so they would adjust and move easier.... but the final result was that aiming to the right steering wheel.... This time, I made SURE I had the steering wheel level and pointing straight ahead, on cardboard, and shut off the motor/ignition which locked the steering wheel level and straight..... Then I jumped through the hoops and took my time adjusting the tie rods and measuring, back and forth until I had both sides towed in perfectly at 1/16 of an inch, locked the tie rods in place, cleaned up and life was good.... until, I got in the cab.... thinking the steering wheel would be where it should be.... straight and level.... It wasn't ..... it was now 1/8th aiming left.....
I thought once the ignition was locked, the tie rod adjustments re-done, that it would be all good... So... help a novice at alignment understand.... What did I do wrong? Moving/adjusting the tie rods can somehow move the steering shaft/wheel????
PS... test drove it and it is fine going down the road... but time will tell on the tire wear..... I do my own tire work... used tires... and there is very little cost in tires.... also restore my own steel wheels for it and they always come out great.....
And please..... taking it to a professional alignment shop is NOT in the budget..... so any suggestions/help on getting that steering wheel straight would be appreciated....