Camber HELP!!!

[Buckeye Ranger]

Ok so I put on 2" leveling coils on awhile ago on my 95 ranger 4x4 2.3L. The camber is messed up and I need to fix this ASAP. The tires set like this \ /... Every place ive been to says that they cant fix it and i need the axle pivot brackets. But yall on here say a camber adjustment should be fine. So im ready to give this camber thing a shot. Is there anybody that can tell me how to do this as im going to do it myself? I really need this fixed

 

[Joshs93four-oh]

There is really no way to do this yourself and have you tires wear well. As for the shops you have visited- unless the camber is more than say, 3 degrees, then maybe they dont really know how to use the bushings and want the easy way out? It can be done. I personally have never really delt with highly modified ranger suspensions but maybe they are looking at the future adjustability issues if you dont get the pivot brackets. In other words, if you dont get the brackets and you camber is really excessive(3+ degrees), then the camber bushings will be pretty much maxed out, excluding further adjustments and limiting caster adjustability because the holes in the adjusters will have to be at full inboard positions to get the camber close. I dont know the biggest adjuster size. I would think that a really big adjuster(large offset on the upper ball joint stud hole) would begin to compromise the upper ball joint stud angle. Maybe thats what your shops that you have visited are concerned with. I would say that if these shops that you have visited have verified the current alignment by actually hanging sensors on the wheels then they may be right about the brackets. If they havent and just eyeballled the camber angles, then find a better shop that deals with camber bushings everyday. But the other possibilty is that your camber is so excessive that its obvious that bushings will not correct it. So if you want to know if bushings will be enough and you have a printout of you current specs, post it and I can tell you if you need the brackets or not.
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Mazda Mxr-01 Picture

 

[Hahnsb2]

You can align it yourself if you have adjustable bushing and your tires will wear great. Mine are perfect after setting camber by eye and the toe using a tape measure. Drives perfectly straight, tires are wearing even, that was about 10,000 miles ago.

 

[4x4junkie]

Yep, same here, I do my own alignments simply using a tape measure, a steel plate & some metal dowels, and my two eyeballs.

There is a fairly high probability that leveling coils on a 2.3L truck can cause a non-alignable condition to occur, being your truck is the lightest RBV (up front) aside from a BII (leveling coils are seldom vehicle (weight) specific).

What size bushings are in there now? (if you know), and what are your current camber (and caster) specs? (what does the sheet say?)

 

[reno]

Is there a link on alignments here? I'm sorry 4x4 junkie, when I read this post and got to yours, it turned into Japanese to me and I do not speak Japanese

 

[rickcdewitt]

you can get camber and toe pretty close at home but caster will be a lot harder to do.you could try and buy some highrider drop brackets and take it to a 4x4 shop not the local tire monkeys to get a good alignment.most techs(especially those on flate rate)hate aligning these trucks and seldom do a good job.they could just be blowing you off since you said you lifted your truck and it might be more work to get in spec

 

[reno]

But how do we do it at home? Inquiring minds want to know. Is there a link?

 

[reno]

Never mind, I found it. Buckeye, go here http://www.therangerstation.com/tech_library/Alignment.html

 

[Buckeye Ranger]

well it sounds like i just need to get the brackets. Which sucks they are spendy HAHA. But thanks for all your input guys. Nobody has some stx highrider brackets they wanna get rid of do they?

 

[Joshs93four-oh]

Wow! Seems that y'all have had experience with some really crappy alignment technicians! Kinda the same situation at my shop with no wanting to do alignments. Everyone else likes screwing around with engines and things like that while I pile up flat rate hours doing 5-7 alignments a day in addition to other service work. Not saying that I can't fix engines myself, but I guess everyone has their favorite line of work. I look at it this way- I could either do a GM v-6 intake job and flag 4 hours and take 3-4 hours to do it, or I can simply do ONE ford tib alignment requiring two camber/caster adjusters and turn 2.8 hours in around 30-45 minutes. I do them so often that I have rarely had to even turn the adjusters after installing them-get them within specifications. So the flat-rate guy that frowns on alignments as a way of making money is most likely a guy who dosent know what he is doing. And by the way, just getting an alignment into "spec" and stopping there is not really good practice. Personally I dont allow any more than .2 degrees cross-camber/caster and get the toe to within .02 degrees. And if a customer cannot afford a camber bolt on a fwd car, then I loosen the stock ones up and take out the slack, if any, in the appropriate direction to get the camber close. Alignments are one subject that I am touchy about because it is ALOT more involving and requires alot of experience to do it correctly than most people think.
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Rhode island dispensary

 

[Hardwareman]

I've set my toe before with a tape and it turned out great. I don't know about camber or caster though. Have to look into that.




Allen

 

[Joshs93four-oh]

Almost all cam bushings that I have installed have ended up at just about the 4 o'clock position looking straight down on the adjuster (L/f). Over time, almost ALL VEHICLES lose camber on the L/F wheel and proportionally gain camber on the R/F. This is due to the weight of the driver which causes suspension sag on the driver's side. You will find that usually most vehicles also lose caster on the R/F over time also.
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[Hardwareman]

Yeah, I just read the tech article. Makes perfect sense if you have that year Ranger/Bronco.

What about a newer TTB 2wd Ranger though? Where do set the angle finder deal then?

EDIT: My camber bushings look NOTHING like those pictured there. I guess I could figure out a way. If I remember right, does'nt NAPA sell fully adjustable ones for my truck?


Allen

 

[Hardwareman]

Would this one work? Thanks.

http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_00939830000P?vName=Tools&keyword=angle+protractor



Allen

 

[Joshs93four-oh]

Sorry I havent seen the article but the replacement adjuster for a 2wd will have a 1 1/2" hex boss on the top. Stock ones have just a flat lip on top and a positioning lip running vertically that fits in the split of the upper pinch seam of the I beam. All of my posts to this thread have been in reference to 2wd trucks. The 4wd cams have teeth on them and the top of the i beam has a square notch that locks into the teeth of the cam. They are alot harder to do because you cannot turn them while installed in the vehicle. So you are most likely going to install the adjuster at the 4 o'clock position but the SIZE of the bushing is still what is in question. It will most likely have to be a one degree cam for the L/f and a smaller one for the R/F assuming that the upper ball joint stud holes in you stock bushings are close to dead center the way it sits now. You may be able to get the camber close by doing it this way but remember any big camber change will dramatically affect the toe. You could get the toe close with a tape measure, spec is 0.06 degrees toe-in if I'm not mistaken but how will you be able to verify the caster? Alignment machine would be best but who has one of those in their garage?
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Chevrolet Lacetti