anybody have trouble with this?

[ExporeRanger]

had bad alignment anyway..so i put in a puck lift coil spacer..its really crappy already sagged to prolly 1in lift..anyway..i went to get it aligned after this went in..kuz not only was it towed out from befor, but the camber was obviously off bekuz of the lift..when they aligned it they found out it must have been wrecked befor i got it..bent radius arm mount and some other bent linkages..so we replaced most if not all that was tweaked..and put in adjustable camber bushings..camber is prolly fine..but the right tire still seems a lil towed out..and it pulls to the right badly..also i now have a looot of play in my steering box..it feels like im driving my 84 cj7..its really bad..never did that befor..also the tests we did for alignment checks..all read right on OEM specs..thats why its odd that the tire is still towed out..does anybody know where i could go from here on this?

 

[ExporeRanger]

bump

 

[whitetrash96]

I'd take it to another shop and get a second opinion, if it looks visually off it probably is.

 

[Maniak]

Once you mess with the suspension (lift/lower etc) you can pretty much throw out the OEM specs. You want an alignment shop that knows what they are doing. Not a place that will just set it to OEM specs.

I found a great shop in Pheonix (100+ miles away from the house) and that is now the only place I take it to. He aligned our X and the alignment held for almost 2 years. And thats with me taking it to glamis (sand dunes), some rock crawling, and I replaced a set of RA bushings (bolted RA brackets). All in all, I drive about 40k+ miles on that one alignment.

He told me he set it so that it won't pull and so that when I'm on the freeway (and getting bounce) that it will pretty much be in spec all the time. He even took care of little things, like making sure the Tie rod adjustment bolts were facing the right direction so I didn't whack them on rocks or catch them on the lift brackets (the shops around here didn't even care).

~Mark

 

[ExporeRanger]

yeah i wish i could find a shop liek that..ill be looking..im figuring thats most likely wut i need ( a second opinion) this is my buddies dads shop..and ther far from alignment professionals..do you think i should spring (not to make a pun) for a lift coil..and get ridda the coil space..i kno its crap but i meen in terms of making the alignment stay in spec..also..i still have that issue with the rear tires being toed one way or the other..whats the deal on that?

 

[Maniak]

If you get lift springs it will be just as bad as the spacers. What matters is the height you are lifting the suspension, not the way you are lifting it.

Also, the Toe should not be an issue when they align it (even with the spacers or spring).

The camber can be fixed by puting in camber bushings (either fixed or adjustable).

The Caster can be fixed by using a Moog adjustable caster Radius Arm bushing. If you do any hard wheeling then I wouldn't use those Caster adjusting bushings. They are hard and can shatter (I shattered one when going over "whoops" too fast when I was at the Glamis sand dunes). I use Moog problem solver Radius Arm bushings (they are rubber with a metal sleeve in them). My caster is off, but the caster split is close enough that the truck doesn't pull much (slightly to the right but the tires wear evenly).

If the toe is set out too far it will drive squirly. If the Caster split is off it can pull to one side of the other. Also, if you lift the vehicle (on a jack) and then put it on the ground you need to drive it around to get the suspension to settle (just one lap around the parking lot will be more than enough). If you don't then the camber will be off.

Also, if you lift it enough to make your steering look like an inverted Y then you will get bumpsteer.

When I last had it aligned I put in a dropped pitman arm and now the truck goes straight over bumps with no movement of the steering wheel like it did before.

I don't know of a dropped pitman arm you could use for a 2" lift, or if you even need it since I don't know how much lift you really got. I know the explorer pitman arm has more drop than the ford van (e-150) and an f-250 so I know you can't use the arms from those vehicles.

Also, do check your steering box. Have someone move the steering wheel back/forth (through the free play) so you can watch the input shaft (shaft going into the steering box) and see how much it moves before the tires start to move. If there is a lot of movement then your box may be bad. You also need to make sure that the pitman arm moves the same time the wheels do. If you have bad tie rod ends the pitman arm with move and the tie rods will shift but the tires won't move right away.

~Mark

 

[ExporeRanger]

awesome thanks a lot...do you know anything about the rear tires bein toed tho?

 

[Maniak]

The explorer has a solid rear axle. If you somehow have the tires towed you have some bent pieces (like axle tube) and "toe" would be the least of your worries at that point.

If anything, your "thrust" alignment might be off. There is no adjustment for it. There is a locating pin that is supposed to keep the axle centered under the springs. My thrust angle isn't perfect but it is close enough to not cause a problem. I doubt if anyones thrust angle is dead on.

~Mark