needs alignment?

[Guilius]

actually it needs more than that!

So after a weekend of hard wheeling i was expecting something like this as my ranger loves to eat wheel bearings, and it's about due.

so i pulled everything apart getting ready to swap them out and to my amazement it was not the bearings!

here are the pictures......i think it;'s my tie rod end......i think it needs to be adjusted? the upper and lower ball joints are solid (just replaced last year too) and nothing else is loose up front.

the passenger's side tire is perfextly straight ahead like it should be.....but the drivers side........not so good! any thoughts?

 

[GOskidmark]

Something must be bent. I would check the threads on the toe adjusting sleeve, to make sure the threads are still there and not striped out. That is all I can think of at the moment.

 

[Guilius]

well, after i got home from work, and waitied for the loveley rain to pass i went under it and looked around. i noticed nothing bent, but adjusted the sleeve so the tire was straight.
i thought everything was great until i went to drive out of the driveway and it almost shook me out of the seat!
i stopped and poked around some more and noticed the beam was.....well, nearly split in half right at the sway bar bracket! that explains the odd angle of the tire and why it leans like a drunken one legged sailor on shore leave.

 

[4x4junkie]

I take it you were driving it around without the differential pinch bolt in place behind the radius arm?

 

[Guilius]

apparently it snapped. the thread was still in the bottom and the top was under the radius arm but it was rattling around when i looked at it in depth last night. it snapped at the bottom. dont know how or when but i know it was in there when i did my gear swap.

it would also explain the gear oil leak i had.