eccentric upper control arm bushings

[wollimann]

VIN: 1FMDU34E8VUA67356
one piece UCA design
little front lift by adjusting torsion bars
longer rear shakle

For quite a while i have problems with the front alignment of the Ford Explorer 97.
It is not possible to reach the OEM camber settings with new camber bolt kit.
While I was searching for upper ECCENTRIC CONTROL ARM CAMBER BUSHINGs, I noticed this here.
http://www.jcwhitney.com/professional-grade-eccentric-control-arm-camber-bushing/p2023244.jcwx
But unfortunately they are not available for the Ford Explorer.
They look very similar to the Explorer bushings, if i have the dimensions,
in that case I could draw some comparisons.

My Ford Explorer upper control arm bushing measurement:
A: 2 inch
B: 1.847 inch
C: 0.283 inch
D: 1.43 inch
ID: 0.9 inch

If you could help me in this case, I would be very happy!
Maybe someone has a link to matching accentric bushings?

Thank you in advance

Wolfgang

 

[koda2000]

i don't think you're going to find anything like an eccentric control arm bushing for a Gen II Explorer. i suggest you buy the Moog camber adjustment control arm bolt set, which will accomplish the same thing. they run around $18 each at RockAuto. if your control arm bushings are worn out, you can replace the upper/lower control arms (or just the c/a bushings for everything except the driver's side upper control arm). the reason the OE driver's side upper c/a needs to be replaced is that you can't replace the ball joint in the OE arm. the passenger side OE c/a is a two piece design and the outer piece carries the ball joint.

 

[swshawaii]

Eccentric UCA bushings for 1991-94 only. Figure about .75 degree adjustment needed for each inch of height change.

http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/x,carcode,1119675,parttype,13512

 

[wollimann]

offset control arm bushings

thank you guys,

i dont't know why i can not get the camber adjustment with the new camber bolts and fresh moog uca's, the joints and bushings are definately not worn out. There are the longholes for the bolts and they attach the end of the holes, so the uca's can not get outer.
The lower control arms are 2 years old and in good conditions.
If i screw the torsion bars down again, the camber is allways out of specs.

And yes, i can not find complete offset bushings for second gen Explorers, but maybe i can find only the PU, Delrin ... inserts which were designed for other vehicles and reuse the OEM metal parts of my bushings.

thanks Wolfgang

 

[edpmedic]

What is your curb height and how far do you have the torsion bar or curb height adjusters turned in? I remember from working at Chrysler long ago, that replacing torsion bars allowed for another 1-2 degrees of camber adjustment.

 

[wollimann]

i never measured the curb high, but the torsion bar adjuster bolts has a rest of 0.5 inch to screw in.
I know they are tired, but here new torsion bars are not available anymore.
There's a centralized buying from a german Ford dealer six month ago, his statement is, that Ford USA couldn't deliver the passenger side tb's.

Used tb's from the junkyard are all very rusty and have a minimum of 120thousand miles and more on it.
If i order new tb's by myself in my precious USA, the shipping for a set is about 250$!

Another alternative is to order new leveling adjuster cams with a +2" lift, but i think this wouldn't fix the camber problem.

At last i think i should search for a guy with a turning machine to copy my bushing inserts and make an offset bore.
Maybe the cheapest solution

Greetz to

Wolfgang

 

[swshawaii]

Lift keys reclock the torsion bars in 60 degree increments. Tightening the bolts achieves the same thing because the
LCA's will be in the EXACT same position for the identical amount of lift distance. Your camber and caster angles will be the same with either method. Torsion lift keys are a scam, lowering keys have some small benefits. Nice try though.

 

[swshawaii]

Are the existing keys close to bottoming out, or do you need longer torsion bolts? IIRC, stock size is M12x1.75x63.5mm.

 

[swshawaii]

Using your VIN it appears new torsion bars with various codes are still available in the states. (Pages 7-10)

Check the first two numbers or letters under SPR on the bottom of the door sticker. (Spring code)

http://www.fordparts.com/Default.aspx?gnav=nav:home

 

[wollimann]

Why the torsion lift keys are a scam?

Longer torsion bolts are not easy to achieve here, the most have no continous thread. Or you have to order a box with 100 units.

And yes the torsion bars are available in the USA, standing in contact with Versityparts, but the want DHL $275.00, USPS $225.00 for shipping and i have to pay taxes in Germany for those two bars with spring code B (all EU Explorers have code B)
F57Z-5B326-A $127.20
F57Z-5B327-A $125.72
Horrible prices!

thanks Wolfgang

 

[swshawaii]

Why the torsion lift keys are a scam?

Repeat. Torsion bolts do exactly the same thing. Your upper and lower control arms will be at the exact same angles for the same lift distance. Also applies to camber and caster angles. Fully threaded bolts are readily available here.

Find high grade M12x1.75 bolts of adequate length and cut threads as needed. These are the first three posts from ten pages searching "Torsion lift keys". Do more searching, the only people that claim "stock ride quality" are the sellers.

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=388286
http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=359584
http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=219964

 

[RomeovilleIL]

For clarification: the question I believe you are asking is how to deal with positive camber due to lifting the front end with a torsion twist (meaning that you turned the torsion bolts to raise the front end and now the tires are sitting on the outside edge rather than level).

The answer is to get the moog camber adjusters. The stock slotted bolt plates will not give you enough adjustment room to handle a lifted front end.

Choices at this point are reduce the lift and drop the front end back down enough to get correct camber, or get camber adjusters to set it correctly with a lift.

 

[wollimann]

i allready have the moog camber adjusters installed, but it is not enough for the camber adjustment.

Ordered longer torsion cam bolts and good used bars, so i hope i will have another chance to align correctly. Find another alignment shop who has more time and know how with us cars, will be the last step.

These bushings
http://djmsuspension.com/products/bkxcentric/
only fit to calmax upper control arms, DJM answered but they didn't send any dimensions.

Wolfgang