94 Ranger 2wd Front Suspension Help


eloyc

Forum Member

Joined
Apr 17, 2026
Messages
41
Points
101
City
Midland
State - Country
TX - USA
Vehicle Year
1994
Vehicle
Ford Ranger
Drive
2WD
Engine
3.0 V6
Transmission
Automatic
Alright so I finished rebuilding my front end suspension, quadruple checked everything. Something still is wrong. I changed out, axle pivot bushings, radius axle bushes, front inner and outer tie rods, sway bar bushings, sway bar links, upper and lower ball joints, shocks, rotors and bearings and brake pads. The wheels are turning inward super wonky. I took a quick look nothing seemed off, but I will be taking a deeper look soon, any advice on where to start would be much appreciated. I did take a video but still figuring out how to upload it. Thank you
94 Ranger 2wd Front Suspension Help
 
Post it on the YouTube and insert a link to it.
 
Did ya torque all those bushings up with the suspension dangling?

Most times you final torque that stuff with the vehicle weight on it.

Set it on the ground and bounce it to settle things in.
 
1) Did you count and match the turns on the tierods when you replaced them? If not they could be a fair bit out of adjustment. Even if you did, they could still be a fair bit out of adjustment and need and alignment.

2) See how it looks with weight on the suspension before you stress too much. Put the tires on, set it on the ground, and roll it back and forth a bit to settle. One of the negatives to the TIB style suspension is how much it affects the camber and toe during articulation. At the extremes of articulation like that it can have a very noticable affect on the toe.
 
Driving Video

This is the video of me driving it with weight on it, to me it looks to off to just be alignment but I could be wrong.
 
Did ya torque all those bushings up with the suspension dangling?

Most times you final torque that stuff with the vehicle weight on it.

Set it on the ground and bounce it to settle things in.
I did and no change, added video
 
1) Did you count and match the turns on the tierods when you replaced them? If not they could be a fair bit out of adjustment. Even if you did, they could still be a fair bit out of adjustment and need and alignment.

2) See how it looks with weight on the suspension before you stress too much. Put the tires on, set it on the ground, and roll it back and forth a bit to settle. One of the negatives to the TIB style suspension is how much it affects the camber and toe during articulation. At the extremes of articulation like that it can have a very noticable affect on the toe.
I wasn't able to match turns as the old one was too stuck together but I was able to line it up and get the new one identical to spot on, added video of me driving and what the wheels are doing even with steering wheel straight
 
I looks bound up.

So you did tighten everything up with the suspension dangling...
 
I looks bound up.

So you did tighten everything up with the suspension dangling...
Would I need to loosen everything with tires on and re tighten?
 
Uh huh...
 
Uh huh...
😩😩😩😩😩😩😩😩😩😩😩😩 Alright I'm going to be very specific with my question I'm sorry if it's stupid, is it okay if I jack it up loosen the castle nuts and only have the castle nuts threaded on to hold joints in place, or do I need to loosen and re tighten all while on the ground on wheels?
 
Loosen things up with it dangling... just enough to let shit move to where it needs to be.

Lower it down on tires and bounce it. This will settle it in.

It would be best to torque things up right there. But you could jack it back up and then lower the beams onto jack stands.

Make sense?
 
I agree with Gump on being bound up.

Pivot points like that are best tightened in the loaded position. You want weight on the suspension so it is compressed to normal position. This is what I'd do in your situation:
1) Loosen nuts on radius arms and axle pivot bushings. Jack if necessary. You don't need to do the long bolts under the springs, ball joints, or TREs. You only need to loosen enough to get a little slack, not necessary to take all the way off. I would probably back them off a few extra turns, then run down until they just touch.

2) Weight back on wheels, and roll it forward and back several feet to settle suspension. I'd try to end with rolling forward so that it is pushing the the radius arms into the mounts.

3) Retighten nuts with weight on wheels.

4) Move it around a bit more to see if toe improves. Since you couldn't count turns on TREs, you may need to adjust them out a bit inorder to get it to an alignment shop. You can eyeball it enough to get it there, but don;t drive around like that much more than getting it to the shop.

EDIT: or do a Gump suggests. I'm taking too long to make replies.
 
Loosen things up with it dangling... just enough to let shit move to where it needs to be.

Lower it down on tires and bounce it. This will settle it in.

It would be best to torque things up right there. But you could jack it back up and then lower the beams onto jack stands.

Make sense?
Yes sir 🫡 will do first thing in the morning then head to alignment shop
 

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