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99 2WD Front End Alignment Help


atrussell4

Member
Joined
Jan 4, 2012
Messages
19
City
NM
Vehicle Year
1999
Transmission
Manual
What parts actually move to align the front end tires on this truck?...

This is more of a question and some learning on my part, as I move forward in getting my truck back on the road after installing upper and lower ball joints...

99 2wd, 5 speed, with coil spring suspension...

Are these the right components that do these adjustments and are there more?

Camber - Upper control arm...it has two bolts, one front and one rear...?

Castor - Upper control arm as well ?

Toe - Tie Rod ?

My vehicle is stock, and I'm wanting to get a handle on this before I go thow myself to the mercy of the front end alignment shop...

Edit: I found this out soon after I posted. Stock Rangers have a bolt that goes through the upper control arm that "locks" the position into place, thus making the camber and castor pre-set or gives only limited adjustment changes. The modification for this is using one of several products available that gives you more movement...The one I am looking at is by Specialty Products, part number SPC87310. O'Rileys is a distributor and they sell for $38 per side. This allows one to change the camber/castor that you would ordinarily not have the ability to do. I'm guessing that if a stock set-up is used (no raising or lowering, factory tire size), the stock bolts will work. If changing tires size and or lift/lower, the aftermarket kit is a must. Any time the geometry is changed...an alignment is needed. The tie-rod still provides the adjustment to the "toe". That's what I researched today...I called a local shop and the first thing he asked me was if I had the "essentric" bolts installed - He was referring to the aftermarket kits to do what I described above.
 
Last edited:
I don't have the answer to you're question but from my experience around it, this isn't an at home job. at least to do it right and really get it straight.

http://therangerstation.com/tech_library/front_suspension.html

There's a blown up diagram on that page that may help you. I also took an auto class a few years ago, didn't learn anything new haha, but I saw others learning to align tires and there's computers and other fine tuning tricks to get it done right. You could probably get away with it on you're own for a while but it'll save your tires lives if you have a shop do it. I still say go for it cuz I'd try it myself to before I go to a shop but that's just my $0.02
 
this probably wont help you but I do remember seeing a piece of equipment that you could buy to do your own front end alignments. It was designed for racing but maybe it works for any alignment.
 

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