1999 ranger help!

[Caseysmith]

I recently bought a 1999 ford ranger 4x4 no coil springs. The passenger side has the 2 piece upper control arm. My tire is severely leaned in at the top so I took the wheel off to look around and found that someone had inserted close to a half of and inch worth of shims between the 2 pieces that make up the upper control arm. I guess they were trying to correct the wheel lean. As best I can tell the frame is straight and the 2 mounts for the upper control arm are in good shape so the only thing I can think of is the control arm must be bent. I’m inserting a picture that will show what it looks like and where I think it’s bent. If anyone can help me out I’d appreciate it.

 

[Terrys87]

I really cant tell anything in the pictures myself. Might give it a good cleaning and look for and flaked off paint. Most alighment shops will look at it and tell you what is needing fixed from my experience. Fix it and then have them alighn it.

 

[sgtsandman]

I concur. It is also possible that someone installed the incorrect part. Some Rangers had the two piece upper control arm and some didn't. Try to find out if the correct part was installed and, if it is, what is wrong that someone tried to improperly fix it. If it isn't, get the correct part installed. Either way, it's going to need an alignment.

 

[don4331]

The 2 piece upper a-arm was to allow caster adjustment. The Ford decided that the frame mounts were close enough and they could save some money with a 1 piece. So, that isn't the issue.

The pictures don't give us the whole story, we need a couple more (and ideally a couple measurements).

Reasons for wheel lean:

bent upper a-arm​

bent knuckle​

bent frame​

worn out ball joints (upper and/or lower)​

worn out lower bushings​

worn out wheel bearing​

​

May we get a couple more pictures of the a-arm mounts (both upper and lower). And I'll give you a couple dimensions from my '99 (known straight frame)

​

 

[pjtoledo]

from the pic it appears the camber adjustment is turned all the way out. add that to the washers and you have a serious mis-match or bent part somewhere.
those 2 piece upper arms are long obsolete, everybody replaces them with a 1 piece upper arm.

FYI, the upper arms are different between coil & torsion bar suspensions. they both bolt to the frame but the geometry & top hole are different.

 

[Caseysmith]

From everything I could tell by prying around with my pry bar I don’t believe I have any bad ball joints. I do know the truck has been wrecked but past that I don’t know anything else. The frame doesn’t have any obvious ripples but I’m not saying it’s not bent either. The wheel bearing also seems to be in good shape. I’m thinking my best option at this point is to just order a new one piece upper control arm and hope for the best. I’m at work now I can try to get some more pictures this evening if that will help.

 

[Caseysmith]

To add to the confusion, my front axles don’t have any lock out hubs on them (vacuum or otherwise) it’s just a live axle. I’m assuming someone took axles and from an 01 and put in to get around the problematic vacuum hubs. Do y’all think this is a fairly safe assumption?

 

[don4331]

To add to the confusion, my front axles don’t have any lock out hubs on them (vacuum or otherwise) it’s just a live axle. I’m assuming someone took axles and from an 01 and put in to get around the problematic vacuum hubs. Do y’all think this is a fairly safe assumption?

Yes, my '98 has '01 axles in it to get around the issues with the PVH hubs, so not unreasonable that yours is the same.

1st 2 dimensions:

The front upper arms are 21-3/4" apart, inside to inside​

The rear upper arms are 24-3/16" apart, inside to inside​

​

The engine is out of my truck making measuring easier, but you should be able to get measurements with a little creativity.

The lower measurements are waiting a bit - we got 4"+ of snow on the weekend....

 

[Uncle Gump]

Does it have lift keys... torsion bars wound up... what size tires you riding on?

Also... when you checked the ball joints... did you have the ball joints unloaded?

 

[Caseysmith]

Does it have lift keys... torsion bars wound up... what size tires you riding on?

Also... when you checked the ball joints... did you have the ball joints unloaded?

Yes ball joints were unloaded. Not 100% sure on tire size as I just got the truck and honestly haven’t paid that much attention but I’m guessing around a 28” tire. Also not sure on lift keys. The drivers side is good the passenger side is where my issue is.