I recently broke a radius arm and ended up having both replaced, ($310).

Afterward there was a slight pull to the left. I had figured and alignment would be necessary and when I stood a level up to the tires & the tops or the tires were "out" a combined 1" plus.

My alignment guy had moved on so I tried his replacement. He delayed me a day - saying he needed shims to correct the caster. The next day when I went to pick it up, he said "It didn't need shims. There are 5 different specs for an '82 Bronco and it (mine) called for that much caster"

I think that's B.S.

The old radius arm alignment was near vertical. This is extremely OUT. I don't know how many degrees, but it looks pidgeon toe'd.

My Chilton's gives caster specs for various "ride heights" and N or P (neg or pos) but I don't know how to decipher those. Is N "in" or "out" (at the top of the tire). And how do I determine "ride height".

Any enlightenment would be much appreciated...

Broncr

 

Broncr

If I understand you correctly, you are actually experiencing a camber problem, rather than a caster problem. Check out this site and let us know.

www.familycar.com/alignment.htm

And start shopping for a new alignment man. TTBs can be a pain to align. I'd find somebody that isn't trying to get out of doing it if it were me.

 

Fatfenders,

Thank you. You are correct, it appears I have a camber problem. Thank you for the link, it is very good primer on alignment. Doing some simplified conversion ( not exact) I have (I think) about 2 degrees positive camber. It appears I will experience excessive outer tread wear if the camber is not adjusted. I'd prefer not to damage $300 worth of tires to find out, which is what the "new guy" suggested ("wait & see if you start to experience excessive wear...")

My "ride height" - as I measure it - is 18" (rocker panel to ground). At this point my Chilton's specs begin to fail, unless an adjustment needs to be made for a Bronco. The Chilton chart refers to ride heights of 2 3/4 to 5", which could only be attained with the wheel OFF...???

I found out where my old alignment guy went and will talk to him this morning. Thanks again for responding...

Broncr

 

Yeah TTB is a pain to allign. I have a Bronco with a 6" lift and I have tried three off-road shops in the past year. None of them could get the camber right.

I have an appointment with A ford Dealership tomarrow (Saturday). They are expensive about $150 but, I want my truck's camber to be straight. I don;t need to be buying $200 tires every 6 months. Hopefully the dealership can get it right. I will let you guys know how it turns out!!

 

Go to Firestone and get their lifetime allignment warranty if you plan on keeping your Bronco. I take mine in there about every 6 months and get them to recheck it. It is always free and there are never any questions asked. Can't remember the exact cost, but it was well worth the $125. give or take a few dollars.

 

I've had my Bronco for 12 years and "Larry" has done 3 out of 4 alignments (not counting the one I just had done at his old shop). Luckily, one of the other guys there (old shop) told me where he went and I took it straight over. He agreed that the books may call for 2* pos. camber, but "common sense says it should be less than a half a degree". He got it right - again - (I've always had great wear out of tires from HIS alignments).

The new guy who replaced Larry had made some "rookie" mistakes, even just adjusting the toe. It cost me an additional $245 (over the $45 the first shop charged), but now I've got new radius arms and a GOOD alignment (less than .33 TOTAL camber).

Thanks Frank,
I'll keep an eye out for a Firestone Dealer - I DO plan on keeping my Bronco for as long as I can keep it running, and that would be well worth it. I'll definitely look into that. In the past two years, I've had the front suspension almost COMPLETELY redone - RA bushings, CP bushing, ball joints, all steering linkage, & now new radius arms (& bushings - again). Couple that with a quality alignment & it's almost like driving a new truck. I just helped my son get a '94 Bronco (a very wise decision on his part) and all of the ones we test drove ('93's & '94's) were "looser" than my '82!

Again, thank you all for your responses and suggestions,

Broncr

 

does that firestone alignment thing apply to lifted bronco's, cause sears wouldnt even touch mine because the suspention was altered