Pass tire sticks out after replacing bearing and ball joints

[jkarecki]

I just changed the wheel bearing and lower ball joint on the passenger side only on my 1997 explorer AWD 5.0 V8 for the first time. I was extremely proud of myself until I noticed that the passenger tire sticks out about an inch farther than the drivers tire. I don't know if it was always like that or if I did something wrong? All the parts are from Ford. Could it be possible that the new bearing is bigger than the old? Could I have not align the knuckle properly? I drove it and and everything appeared fine. Without taking everything apart again, does anyone have any ideas?

 

[msilver]

make sure everthing is in all the way and tight? can't say that i know for a fact but i don't think should stick out like that. if you find nothing i would suggest getting it aliegned and tell them about it

 

[Joe Dirt]

Are you looking at the top or bottom of the tire?

When the parts are worn, your truck's front tires probably look/looked like / --- \

After the new ones are on, it should look like | --- | or if the driver side was not replaced it would look like | --- \

Is it possible that you're seeing the way it's supposed to look with the new parts and the top of the tire is throwing you off, because it's a big difference, and if you're looking at the top of the tire vs. the fender lip, it could appear exactly as you've described...

 

[jkarecki]

Thanks. I will measure the pass/driverstire to the inside wheel well/frame and see if it is the same distance. I will also take the tire off and make sure everything is tight.

 

[dking]

I have the same problem but on the drivers side. I hope someone may have a suggestion to resolve this issue.

 

[Joe Dirt]

Post up a picture of the truck from the front, looking down each tire line front to back...

 

[dking]

I'll have some pic's in the next day or two.

 

[drothgeb]

it has always seemed that my passenger side tire has been a little farther than the drivers side too...

 

[JDraper]

Like JoeDirt said, a good possibility is that your last alignment was done with the balljoint being bad, so they pushed the camber out to compensate, and now that you have a good balljoint in place, it looks funny.

 

[jkarecki]

I checked everything on the bearing and everything was tight and looked good. So I went to firestone to see if an alignment would solve the problem. I expained the issue to them stating that the top of the tire on the pass side sticks out farther than the drivers side. They said that I would need a camber adjustment without looking at the car. The adjustment involved a kit and they wanted to charge me about $100.00 per side plus the alignment $80.00. Does this sound like this wouid fix the problem. Can one get the camber adjusted only on one side or do you need both fixed at the same time?

 

[jkarecki]

I checked everything on the bearing and everything was tight and looked good. So I went to firestone to see if an alignment would solve the problem. I expained the issue to them stating that the top of the tire on the pass side sticks out farther than the drivers side. They said that I would need a camber adjustment without looking at the car. The adjustment involved a kit and they wanted to charge me about $100.00 per side plus the alignment $80.00. Does this sound like this wouid fix the problem. Can one get the camber adjusted only on one side or do you need both fixed at the same time?

 

[xplorercrazy]

Yes you can adjust camber on only one side as they are changed by moving the upper control arm in or out which in you case sounds like it needs to be moved in. Usually you do both at the same time but it is possible to only have one side out of spec if you only worked on one side. I don't know how firestone does on alignments but I would check several other shops to see what they quote you. A front end alignment usually cost me $60-$70 after I have either replaced control arms or ball joints or any combination of them.

 

[jkarecki]

Also is it possible to adust the camber without purchasing a kit? Thanks.

 

[Turdle]

Also is it possible to adust the camber without purchasing a kit? Thanks.

No, but you could install the camber adjusters yourself. They should cost about 50.00 for both sides.