Have any of you ever had your late '90's model 2x4 Ranger aligned? I need to get my wife's truck aligned. I just rebuilt it after she was in a wreck. I picked it up from having the frame straightened today, but when I took it to the alignment guy, he said that the rod that goes from one wheel to the other, and is connected to the steering box is bent. I can't remember what he called it, but it's the rod that has the tie rod ends on the end. He didn't call it a tie-rod, even though I thought that was what it was.

Anyway, short story long, I'm going to pull one from a donor truck I have and swap it over.

The alignment guy told me that some vehicles have to have an aftermarket kit in order to adjust the camber and caster. This is the second time I've heard this, but neither guy was sure at the time whether or not the Rangers needed this.

So, does my 1997 Ranger XLT 2x4 2.3L 5-speed need this kit??

STan

 

My 98 2w drive Ranger has a steering rack. It doesnt have a steering box. The inner tie rods are connected directly to the steering rack, one on each side. All of thoes parts are replaceable either individually or as one unit. The caster/camber angles are preset at the factory and can not be adjusted without purchasing a kit. The only ajustment is the toe in, which is not real hard to do (with a helper), but for the cost, I would take it to an alignment shop.

 

drive link is what he called it. Did the change the front suspension in 98 like they changed everything else?

 

Drag link? Sway bar link? Sway bar links are very inexpensive, readily available and extremely easy to install. You could almost make one with a long bolt, fender washers, shock rubbers and a piece of water pipe.

 

Maybe it was drive link. IDK?

I pulled one from a donor truck and it doesn't seem as though it will be too difficult. It runs from one wheel, all the way to the other wheel. It is made up of two bars, connected in the middle by some sort of ball joint, which connects to the end of the steering shaft (well, the gear box I assume).

STan

 

The long one, is called the centerlink or drag link. This one will go from the pitman arm, to the passenger side "outter" tierod end..that gos to the right tire.


the short one, that go's from the about the middle of the center/drag link, is called the "inner" tie rod end, that gos to the outter tie rod end, that gos to the left wheel.

ranger up to 97 have whats called a eccentric bushing's,also known in slang as camber bushing's.these adjust your camber and caster.

this is a 4x4 but they are in the same location as the 2wd from 89-97 ,its the bushing thats gos around the top ball joint steam.



you can buy adjustable camber bushing, where you can dial then in, or you can buy fixed.

adjustable bushing you can pick them up at napa amoung many other places, run about 30-35 ea, for 99% of people this is the route to go, you can even do you aliment in the drive way with these pretty easy.as you can see this is a 2 piece bushing, as you turn the two pices, it makes for more or less camber and more or less caster.




the one in the first pic is a fixed bushing, meaning just that its fixed, you cant adjust it really,and they come in all diffrent settings.these work for othe other 1 percent, and shops that realllllly know what they are doing with I-beam front ends like under the 97 and older rangers..

here is anouther pic of a fixed bushing, as you can see its once piece




one word of advice, find a shop that really knows, and understands how to alighn a I beam front end. Its not really that they are hard to do,pretty simple really, but they take a little more time and have some corks to them, like you never lift the front end off the ground to get meassurements, and you must use swivel plates to the let the tire float while full load is on the tire........So the two shops not knowing if the ranger came with after market kits or needed one, you need to look for anouther shop. Or you going to end up with the tires worn,pulls to the side syndrom, that every ones downs the ford front end for....

excuse my spelling, its early and I dont want to bother with spell check lol...

 

Hey ldd that's a good write up there! Thats exactly how I do it. I find that once you adjust it go for a test drive at speed to get a feel and then go back and adjust as needed.

 

great illustration lowdown. Thanks alot, rep added!

Questions: you said that anything 97 and down has an adjustable bushing, but later you said to go to napa and buy a set. Mine is a 97, so it should have adjustables, right? Although, mine doesn't have the the ridges on the rim like the one in your 3rd picture. Mine looks more like a flat washer with a split in it (kinda like a big lock washer). It also does not have that **** on the top of it like the one you show in your hand.

Actually, the second shop I took it to was a larger Ford dealership here in town. I'm not so sure that they tech wasn't being lazy really. I already discovered the tech who "straightened my frame" was lazy and didn't do the job right the first time. I think I'll be straightening his frame tomorrow.

 

Hey thanks guys, I know sometimes pics really help.


El jeffe, same here pretty much. it works great to get in the ball park.great for a weekend warrior type of truck.Heck sometimes it work's out better than a unknowing or lazy tech from a shop.


trax, all 89-97 ranger will have the camber busings in the "same place" as the pics I posted. From the factory the bushings will always be "fixed" and from alot of alighment shops too.(they make more in the long run selling anouther bushing later on at some stupid crazy mark up)

most, of the fixed bushings I have seen over the years will have a top on them like the one thats cupped in my hand pic.


dose yours look like this by any chance,



this one would be a adjustable......

if you can get some pics and post them, then I can tell you excatly what you have going....
if you can wait a few days for shipping, rockauto.com is the place to get these parts for the most part.usually about half the price of napa.
and if you google rockauto discount code, you can save 5% usually pays the shiping fee


trax, tell them you want a copy of the frame dimentions,I could use them for my referance libary lol

 

Geez man, there are so many... I don't know which ones I'll need. I don't mind waiting, I still have to paint the fender and all of that good stuff before I align it. I also have to have the tech straighten the frame again... it's still off.

Hmm... I'll work on a copy of the frame dimentions.

I'll take a picture of the bushing when the sun comes up.

Stan

 

another trick to get it spot on other than the eyeball test is use a small level and if you can center the air bubble you are pretty close to having it aligned...makes sure you have the vehicle on a fairly level surface first though.

 

Okay, here is a picture of of the bushing that is in the '97, see what I mean? It's just a flat, round hat with no ridges on the rim.

I did however look at my '96 donor truck, and it has the ones like the picture of your truck up above (with the ridges on the rim).

I guess I could pull the bushings out of my donor truck and swap over, as long as they will fit. How hard are they to remove and replace??

Stan

 

bump. Need to get this done.

 

trax, that bushing looks to be one of the factory bushing, that is a "fixed" type.
the bushings from any ranger from 89-97 and explorer from 91-94 will "fit".But.....if its a fixed bushing and the not right degree settings that you need to coreect the alighment in to specs..then....

they are really easy to take out and replace, as long as they are not rusted in, your dont look rusted, so I dont think youll have to deal with that head ache.

put a jack under the beams to take the weight off the tire....

losen the pinch bolt on the end of the beam, where the bushing is.pop the span ring off the balljoint steam if you have one.

You may have to use a screw driver or pry bar to losen up the pinch effect on the end of the beam, just use common sense here.
then use two screw drivers, to work the bushing up.IF you can get a bit on it a pair of pliers works great too, and you can kinda twist them around to help work them out.

to put them back in, I use a socket that is deep enuff and big enuff to go around the stem of the ball joint and a rubber mallet, to tap them back in.

Are you going to give this a go yourself at doing the alighment? I;ll be honset and tell you its time consuming the first time around, as its a one step forward 2 steps back type of thing.Thats why I say for 99% of peopel the adjustable bushing are the way to go.

as its a eye ball in toe, set camber, reset toe, drive truck forawrd and back about 20 ft,dont let the truck roll back at all,, adjust camber and caster check toe again, etc etc, till its all legit.

but after the 1st time you do it, youll be able to ask techs questions before you let them touch it and know what ones to run from....

not hard, just time consuming..

and like eljefe said, level with a buble, angle finder and to save time home made swivel plaes out of 2ftx2ft steal plate and 8ft of dowel,but you can get away with out it, just alittle more time consumming, and looking mad to the neighbors, going back and forth in the drive way to settle the truck.