Rancho 9000's are crap. Sorry to be so blunt but it's the truth. I see a lot of vehicles at work and just about everything with Rancho shocks handles poorly and has a shock-related tire wear issue.

I wouldn't do anything else until you replaced all the parts you've listed. All of them could cause a serious wandering problem. Don't forget that the gear box could be the culprit too. Even if everything else is tight, if there is a loose connection between the steering wheel and the steering system it will translate into wandering.

 

Ok, first off before we go ANY further the idea that a TTB Bronco can be equipped with 33x12.50's with no rub or bind and nothing but OEM suspension components would require me seeing it or at the very least detailed video before I'll even consider believing you. 32x11.50's are the tightest squeeze without rub issues ANYONE has stuffed under a stock Bronco. At the very least, the additional diameter causes them to rub the radius arms at full steering lock.

Your post on the steering and stock equipment is about half right and I do mean HALF. You speak of the passenger side linkage being almost perfect and not the cause of bump steer as though just because the passenger side is "near perfect" the issues will not be there unless you are using the driver's side of the linkage... gee, last time I checked the ENTIRE steering linkage was in use ALL the time. I also can't recall how it is that the steering linkage can only affect one wheel at a time. I'll agree that the Superunner steering will most likely NOT solve wander issues. However, when dealing with bump steer issues the idea is to get BOTH sides of the linkage in better sync with the axle pivots. When the steering is hard-over you will ALWAYS have SOME discrepancy in the sync/movement of the axle and steering pivot joints because the linkage moves from side to side inherently shifting the location of the steering pivots. Arguably, the Superunner setup puts BOTH sides of the linkage CLOSER to the same pivot plane throughout MORE of the steering range of motion. Yes its a compromise either way but the Superunner setup incorporates a better compromise than the OEM linkage. This is WHY the Superunner setup DOES alleviate bump steer issues and would serve just as well on an unlifted truck were there a way to mount the idler arm. The "inverted Y" setup has been the bane of the existence of every Bronco since its incarnation in 1966.

You also speak of the wander issue as though Ford would not have manufactured a truck that was susceptable to such issues. I find that intriguing since you just stated that "Rancho 9000's are crap". Then why on earth would Ford equip the current FX4 off-road package with Rancho 9000's right out of the factory? Have they gotten sloppy? Do they just not care like they used to?

 

OK, I have the superunning steering kit on my 96 Bronco, had the rancho 4" lift but could not bolt the kit to the rancho TTB brackets, shaped why differant. (so cross that lift off your list) I ended up ordering and using the superlift TTB brackets which by the way improved my camber settings, why? Because the 4" lift hole on the Superlift TTB bracket is at 4" the rancho TTB bracket has the hole at 3.5"

Anyway the kit made a big big differance, but still its not as great as i want to I'm doing an SAS and will put bump steer a thing of the past.

I have to agree with greystreak92 on everything he has said, there is no way one wheel will not effect the other. The factory steering linkage looks like this ^ and when one wheel goes up the linkage gets longer thus pushing both wheels out like this / \. heck just the weight of you getting in the Bronco causes this to happen.

I bought my truck new, and it always darted and drifted all over the place, sure as it aged it got worse, but the fact remains as the suspension did its job - up and down my tires go in and out. From this | | to this / \. Ain't no new parts going to fix that bad design.

So anyway i'll have a suspension lift and superunning steering kit for sale in a couple months.

 

I'll start with the Rancho shocks. The fact that they come on a new truck does not mean they are good. Not that long ago, Ford thought it was a great idea to make a 7 lug truck. Are you a fan of that too?

I have a customer with a new FX4 package F250 crewcab, big factory wheels (20 or 22" I don't remember exactly), diesel etc. His truck does have the Rancho shocks and guess what? With just over 10,000 miles, his expensive tires are severely cupped and making a bunch of noise. Why are they cupped? Poor damping. And yes, we checked the alignment just in case. It was fine. Why does Ford use them? I'm sure it's because of the name and not the product.

As far as the 33x12.50's on a stock Bronco, I never said they didn't rub. I used stock early 90's aluminum wheels on mine. They did rub on the radius arms and the swaybar when the front end neared full lock. I drove it that way for several months with no appreciable problems.
Now the steering. I looked back and I can't find where I said the steering for the the passenger beam was "near perfect" I did find where I said it was "very good". And I stand by that.

When did I say the entire steering system was not in use all the time?

Lets make up a scenario that would exhibit bumpsteer. For the sake of simplicity lets pretend this Bronco only has front wheels and the body and chassis does not pitch or sway. Our pretend Bronco is driving in a straight line. The steering wheel stays centered and does not move and in turn, the pitman arm does not move. Now, lets say the Bronco is going over offset bumps. first the left wheel goes over it then the right then the left and so on.... Remember, the pitman arm and steering wheel both stay pointed straight ahead.

When the left wheel goes over a bump, what happens? The wheel, steering knuckle and beam travel upward. As they do so, the left tie rod pivots where it attaches to the right tie rod. That pivot point does not move as the right wheel is running on flat ground. The arc that the tie rod travels is much shorter than the arc the beam and radius arm travels. The left tie rod, of course, isn't going to compress or extend to keep the wheel straight, so the left wheel bumpsteers. Depending on where in it's arc the left tie rod is, it will bumpsteer in or out.

Now the right side goes over a bump and the left is flat on the ground. As it travels up, the right tie rod pivots at the pitman arm. The wheel does bumpsteer some, but like I said it's minimal and not noticable unless you have huge wheel travel numbers or maybe if you're a seasoned desert racer with thousands of hours of driving experience.

What happens to the left wheel as the right wheel travels over the bump? Again, the pitman arm does not stray from the straight ahead position. As the right wheel moves up and down, and the right tie rod travels through its arc, the point where the left tie rod attaches moves left to right slightly and pushes and pulls the left wheel, causing it to bumpsteer.

Of course there are a lot of variables I didn't address here, but like I said, I was trying to keep it simple. As soon as the pitman arm moves and the wheels turn, all the steering pivot points change location an all the geometry changes. Not all of these changes, however, are a bad thing.

 

Oh man, I just typed a bunch and lost it when I clicked "post"

Now I'll go for the condensed version.

I never said the 33x12.50's did not rub on my Bronco. I used an OE early 90's aluminum wheel and like I said it had zero lift. The tires did rub on the radius arms and on the sway bar when they neared full lock. I drove it that way for several months with no problems.

I looked through my posts and couldn't find where I said the passenger beam steering was "near perfect" or "almost perfect". I did find where I said it was "very good". I stand by that statement.

I also don't see where I said the entire steering system is NOT in use all the time.

Of course bump steer issues affect both wheels. The effects however are minimal on the right wheel. My point was, again, that the steering for the passenger wheel is very good and that the steering for the driver side wheel is the one that needs the attention. If you isolate the passenger side & leave the basic geometry alone, the amount of bump steer experienced by that wheel is not noticable behind the wheel. Then, if you corrected or at least improved AND isolated the left tie rod from the right, your steering would be immensly improved.

I've seen a lot of desert racing videos and footage and all the Rangers/Explorers/Broncos/F150s using stock steering have a ton of bumpsteer on the driver side wheel and the passenger wheel looks really good. I searched and searched for a specific video that was a great example, but couldn't find it. If I do I'll post the link.

 

Oh yeah, Rancho shocks.

The fact that something comes on a truck from the factory does not mean that that it's good. Not that long ago Ford thought it was a great idea to make a 7 lug truck. Are you a fan of that too?

I have a customer with a new FX4 package F250 with all the options including big factory wheels (20 or 22" I don't remember which). His truck also has Rancho shocks. Guess what? with just over 10,000 miles, his expensive tires are severely cupped. And yes, the alignment is in specs, we checked.

Bossind, the reason your wheels go like this /\ when you add weight is because it's a beamed truck and camber increases as the suspension compresses. It would do the same thing even if you removed all of the steering components.

 

Steve when I say this / \ that would be a view from above (Toe out) and not the front. But yes looking at the front it would also do that because of the beems like you mention (camber).

I do alignments and just having the bronco (or other TTB ford)on the rack and appling weight to the front bumper makes it toe out, where as lifting on the bumper makes it toe in, its a fact, and again so does the camber change - weight on bumper camber goes to the negitive, lift on the bump and it goes more positive, again this is fact.

What adds to the difficulty is you can raise and lower the truck by lifting or pushing on the front bumber and there is a range of about an inch that the ride hight will stay at.

So thats how screwed up the TTB system is , camber changes and toe changes as you drive. And we haven't even talked about caster.

 

I thought you were talking about Camber, sorry.

I'm not saying the TTB or the TIB front ends are the best out there, they are far from it. But, they're not as bad as people make them out to be (especially in stock form). And, they do have their advantages in certain situations. We align plenty of Fords here at work, including my own, and I can't remember the last time a customer complained about a wandering problem. Like I said before, I think the problem is poor maintenance and/or poor workmanship.

I've said this before on this board, but it's worth repeating:

It's AMAZING that the TTB or TIB will even go down the road without just veering off. If you look at it on the surface, it's a total cluster-f$*&. It's got unequal length beams, unequal length steering. the long steering tie rod steers the short beam and the short steering tie rod steers the long beam, the beam pivots are for and aft eachother... like I said, a complete mess! BUT, there is a lot more engineering going on up there than all of us put together comprehend. The reality is that when these trucks were new or when they have been properly maintained, they drive straight and aren't all over the road. They certainly don't drive like a new A-arm truck, but they do drive well.

If you guys don't believe me you are more than welcome to drive my Bronco.

 

I think with some key improvements, or the development of an aftermarket system that takes the same basic idea, but makes both arms equal lenght, (possibly by centering the diff in the middle of the axle somehow) and using a crossover steering setup, a bronco with up to 6in of lift and 35's could be a well rounded multipurpose 4X4.

 

I wish I could contribute here...
I only post to say, your Bronco is a beauty.

 

So as of today all repairs complete. All new steering components,(purchesed from JBGY) Got realignment done today, and they had to replace the camber adjustment bushings, but everything else was good. I put my Rancho dual steering stabilizers back on to. The truck now handles like it is brand new, the difference is truely amazing. Thanks everyone for the advice and opinions, they helped me alot in my researching efforts to find the best solution for my truck.

 

Cool! Congrats.

 

Sorry greystreak but i kinda have to burst a bubble here. On my 90 Bronco i recently had to junk, Which was dificult to let go of. I had put 33x12.5 tires and new 15x10 rims on it on the stock highth. NO LIFT AT ALL. no rubing whatso ever from steering lock to lock. Bronco drove and handled almost like new. And the tires did not even hit the fenders. and this, at the time, was all highway and street driving. and it totally lookd great at the time too. i had so many people tell me not to get the lift.

With that being said, since at the time i was building it for off road use on the weekends, the only issue was that the tires would have actually hit the fenders, while on the harshest dirt roads. so i did eventually put on a 4" superlift suspension kit including the super runner steering kit. just so i would have no worries when i went off road.

but since i have recently junked my bronco i am with out my beast of burden. eventually i will get another one i think.

BTW - masseysbronco - i did actually save every part from that kit i installed from my bronco, including that super runner steering kit, before i junked it. So if your interested i might let it go. if you are even enterested in everything from the whole lift kit i had on mine or just the super runner steering linkage let me know. the rear lift was actually the full 4" lift leaf springs. also the whole lift kit was set up for dual shocks up front. at the time i had put this whole kit on it cost me something like 2400 just for parts, obviousely i wont sell the parts i have for that much, since they be used. i just wanted to put that out to give all an idea what it cost me at the time.

also cool to hear that it drives better now

 

This is an older thread- I am hoping someone else has successfully installed the Superunner Steering on a Rancho Lift. I have the Superunner and a Rancho lift. The Rancho pivot bracket for the front end is at an angle where as the Superlift Pivot is perpendicular with the ground. I think that I can weld a plate to the Rancho and then bolt the Superunner bracket to it.

Has anyone done this?

DrDuktayp

 

I had to replace my rancho brackets with superlift brackets to install the SSkit.