Camber caster bushing help '84 4X4

[Doug Burgoyne]

Hello all,

1984 4x4 ranger. Added 1.5" coil spacer lift. Left side camber now close to +4.° , right not as bad at around +2°. Also lost couple degrees of caster. Bushing in now are zero° direct center. Want to use moog style double sleeve to dial in, but the ones I'm finding for my Ranger only go to -2.75°...,leaving me a little shy of where I need to be. My ride height is good. I see some 3.2°, 3.5°, and 4° options out there, but for later year Rangers(pinch bolts style?) or earlier 80's F150"s (D35?), etc. Anybody know of bushings that fit D28 castle nut/knuckle lugs style like mine, that give more than -2.75° to get me back in alignment?

 

[Curious Hound]

I don't know of any, but I haven't looked. Honestly, 1" is about the most you should go on coil spacers with TTB suspension, for that very reason.

With OEM radius arms, you are also greatly limiting wheel travel.

 

[Doug Burgoyne]

Thanks for reply! Ugh. The spacer washers is just under 1.5" tall, I don't think it actually raised it that much though. Was just trying to get the 4x4 to be level front to back. Still a little higher in back, but stance looks good to me now. Would hate to have to pull things apart to remove some of the washers...but as last resort I'll do that instead of radius arms, etc. This is just a bump around truck for going to the dump, poking around on very mild trails and service roads as far as off road goes. Still, hoping someone else says, "yeah, use these!"

 

[Curious Hound]

With 1.5" spacers, you should get more than 1.5" lift because the springs/spacers are closer to the pivot point that the wheel.

 

[Doug Burgoyne]

Oh, gotcha. Makes sense. In my mind it was the other way around. But over a year ago I put the spacers in. Was down for some time as I was rebuildingvthe c5 trans. Thanks for info!

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

1" should give 1.5" total lift. It's a 1/3 to 2/3 thing. 2/3 from pivot to spring, 1/3 from spring to wheel.

 

[Curious Hound]

1" should give 1.5" total lift. It's a 1/3 to 2/3 thing. 2/3 from pivot to spring, 1/3 from spring to wheel.

But both sides are not equal. At least not on gen 3.

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

That's true. But it's close enough for napkin math.

 

[Curious Hound]

"Napkin math"

I like that term.

 

[Doug Burgoyne]

I'll be removing a few washers to bring front down enough for adjustable bushings to get back into proper alignment. Question, is it odd that positive camber after 1.5" of spacer on both sides imparted about 1.25° more positive camber on left side compared to right? Also, I did install larger 31" Toyo open country r/t tires at same time as level lift. Thanks guys!

 

[SenorNoob]

Is the Dana 28 longer or did you use stud extenders? I couldn't get but 1/2 of spacer on my Dana 35 and still be able to put the nut on.

More camber on the driver's side makes sense. that is the shorter beam.

 

[Doug Burgoyne]

I used stud extenders to increase threads for more spacer. Used large washers method...just sounds like I over did it. I'll be removing a few from each side for 1" spacer, and about 1.5" actual lift. Which I hope will allow adjustable bushings to work.

 

[Doug Burgoyne]

One more question. For 1.5" front level lift, should I replace front shocks with longer? Won't be used for anything but mild offloading. If so, good and cheap options (budget build)?

 

[SenorNoob]

As long as the shocks aren't over-stroked when the suspension travels, they'll be fine. Most have a quite wide range in "stock length".

Easy enough to check. Jack it up somewhere not under the beam, (IE Frame) so the tire is off the ground. Then start loosening the upper mount of the shock. If the tire goes down as you loosen that upper nut, you should run longer shocks or a limiting strap...

Gotta be careful about getting too long though and bottoming out before you hit the bump-stop. Ideally you'd remove the shock and measure for both conditions and get shocks that cover that range.