alignment help please!!!!

[1chance]

I have a 95 ranger 4x4 with a 6" duff stage stage 3 lift. It continues to pull to the right with a perfect alignment. Truck is at trails west here in Ohio, they work on lifted trucks and install lifts so they know there stuff. We have Cher the following: brakes, bearings, thrust and tires. Known problems: power steering pump howling on start up and constant hum at some stops. Could this be a valve in the steering box causing this problem? Anyone else have this problem?

 

[killj0y]

If the alignment is perfect it wouldn't really pull. If the steering is off I imagine it would steer straight albeit with the wheel at a weird angle. Maybe someone else will have better advice sorry.

 

[luke]

what kind of tires do you have on it? and what size? that might have something to do with it if they're worn on one side. oh, and maybe this page will help? http://www.therangerstation.com/tech_library/Alignment.html My mechanical abilities are novice at best, but maybe i can point to in the right direction to find the information you are seeking.

 

[94 lngbd]

nearly all cars in America will have a very slight pull to the right due to the way the roads were built to have a slight crown in the road to the right for water run off during the rain. If you have a Les Scwab close to you take it to them. I did after another shop had the truck for 5 days & got it back from that shop worse then when I took it to them.

Les Scwab had it done & nearly perfect for less then $60 & in less then 45 minutes. Plus they have a 30 day warranty on alignments.

Do you have the 2 pc camber/caster adjustment bushing installed for your upper ball joints?

Those help out a lot for any 97 or older Ranger stock,lowered or lifted

 

[doorgunner]

My '89 2wd has perfect alignment & pulls to the right on ANY road....10,000 miles on my "new" tires & NO signs of abnormal wear! I do my own alignment using the Tech Forum "string-method" and machinist's dial calipers to measure the distances from the string to the chassis(taking into consideration that the chassis is wider in the rear & the rotation of the earth etc.)....

If'n i figure out why it's pullin--I'll post it here...(but I want a LITTLE pull to the right, as I rest my left arm on the window frame and hold the steering wheel while driving which seems to provide better control)...

(I read somewhere that one wheel could have more caster than the othe causing the problem---also read that both tie-rods could be adjuste dequally to make the ewheels "face left" a little in order to elimimate the "right-pull))

 

[scotts90ranger]

(I read somewhere that one wheel could have more caster than the othe causing the problem---also read that both tie-rods could be adjuste dequally to make the ewheels "face left" a little in order to elimimate the "right-pull))

Caster is the answer, but that's as far as I can go right now...

adjusting the tie rods in the same direction would just help center the steering wheel.

For the record all I use is my calibrated eyeballs for the camber, attempt to equalize the caster and a tape measure from inner lip of wheel under the radius arms compared to inner lip of wheel at the front about the same height, seems to work well as my truck drives almost perfect if I could get enough caster... that will be fixed this summer when I extend the radius arms.

 

[straycat]

I have a 95 ranger 4x4 with a 6" duff stage stage 3 lift. It continues to pull to the right with a perfect alignment. Truck is at trails west here in Ohio, they work on lifted trucks and install lifts so they know there stuff. We have Cher the following: brakes, bearings, thrust and tires. Known problems: power steering pump howling on start up and constant hum at some stops. Could this be a valve in the steering box causing this problem? Anyone else have this problem?

Ok, when you say pulls to the right...are you saying when you brake, or take your hands off the wheel this is when it pulls to the right? How bad is the pull? My lifted 2wd drives straight and when I take my hands off the wheel it goes straight. When I brake it does not pull. I have a perfect alignment that was done years back. I get it checked every year for free at my Goodyear shop. They did my alignment. Now if you have a front brake issue when you apply the brakes this can cause the pull (back brakes as well). Did you have them checked yet? Rotor, bearings can cause and issue as well.

 

[scotts90ranger]

get on a split highway/freeway where you can drive in the fast lane that will be angled to the left, if it now pulls left, your alignment is fine but they didn't set the caster up to take account for the crown of the road like mentioned above. If it's just a minor pull then it won't hurt your tires, if it takes corners by just letting off the wheel then it's more serious but I still think it's just a caster problem

 

[1chance]

Tires have about 500 miles on them. Camber was 0.3 and 0.2. Caster was slightly less on the driver side. They have checked wheel bearings and brakes up front, not sure about the rear. I haven't asked them. The wheel base is correct and square. Braking does not seem to change it. I am still leaning towards a stuck valve in the steering box. Do rangers normally require split caster to drive straight? Is there anything in the rear I need to look for?

 

[1chance]

Forgot to mention 31" Cooper at3's. We did drive on the opposite side of a crowned road and still ppulls. I have the 1 piece caster/ camber bushings.

 

[dixie ranger 95]

pulling

hey try rotating the two front tires side to side right to left and see if it either goes away or pulls the other way.if so you got a bad tire.i just dealt with that today at work and the alingment was barely off,noticed a peeled spot on the sidewall of the right front tire.probably a broken belt inside the tire.it was pulling to the right,swapped the tires and it pulled to the left.

 

[4x4mike2004]

I do alingments all the time, a slight pull to the right is normal. I is just road crown. Check the cross camber and cross caster if they are close it shouldnt cause a pull. Also was the toe set "dead center?" If it is that couldcause it to wander. Try having the toe set "in". Toe in means the front tires are pointing towards each other. On trucks especially lifted ones, it compensates for added weight and lets the tires track better.

 

[Hahnsb2]

Give the right side a bit more positive caster.

 

[Sasquatch_Ryda]

You should have at least a 0.5 degree caster split on any vehicle to compensate for road crown.

Camber pulls to the most positive and Caster pulls to the most negative.

So for example you would want your left front caster at 3.5 degrees and your right front caster at 4.0 degrees.

 

[killj0y]

Do you have the 2 pc camber/caster adjustment bushing installed for your upper ball joints?

Lol after my lift the Guy doing my alignment pulled me into the bay to show that it couldn't be done because there wasn't an alignment bushing...after trying to sell me an aftermarket one I asked he look again as I can't imagine ford not having a way to adjust it. He found it on the passenger side. 30 minutes later he got it done (he was trying to sell a Harley to a local who tried telling him his gears were making noises, needless to say there was no sound lol. It was entertaining so I didn't mind. The local had only owned and driven a ninja he took a minute to figure out the bike when he test drove it)