I noticed today that my front tire is inward some. got home and i dont remember what it looked like when "new".
here are the pics of what i got.
drivers



passenger




91k miles on it, i have never changed them myself.
so what is the diagnosis. or am i just worried and it just needs a alignment.

EDIT: and i do not need to do the bumper mod...i hit a tree offroad and bent it some in the middle and in. oops

 

Did you crank your T-bars?

 

If you jack it up from the control arm grab the tire at 3 and 9 and move back and forth, if there is play, its normally the tie rod... grab a pry bar and put it under the tire and move up and down as someone looks at the ball joints.. if they move then they need replaced... if you can jiggle it back and forth at 12 and 6 then your wheel bearings are shot...

But if you cranked your t-bars then thats why its leaning..

Rocky

 

my guess is that he cracked the t-bars and needs an alignment now.

 

my ball joints went out at 31k miles and it has never seen mud...

 

you dont have to see mud for them to go out.. They should be sealed pretty good.. but ball joints are known to go out easily...

Where are some new pics of your truck nick?


Rocky

 

https://www.ranger-forums.com/forum2...ad.php?t=50115

 

ha, nevermind... 3 threads down

 

yes the bars are cranked but got it aligned a right after i did the crank. i jacked it up and moved it from 6-12 and it didnt move. will do it again at 3-9 and see whats up.
think i might need another alignment, i do wheel it. might save up and get the lifetime alignment.
thanks for the info.

does it matter or mean anything if the tie rod is angled like that?

 

They are suppose to pivot.. they will move either way, they look fine, but shouldnt move up or down and if you hit it it shouldnt vibrate..

Rocky

 

actually they can still be bad even if it does feel tight... i would take it to a shop, they might need replaced.

 

The angle in your tire is camber, tie rods are more related to steering easiest way to check tie rods is to get someone to help by turning the free play at the steering wheel while you watch for movement at the steering rack. Watch the tie rod ends and also look at the boots on the rack. If you see any movement with out tires moving then that part is bad.
Your issue is with camber could be a simple adjustment or a bad ball joint, control arm bushing.
I have been doing suspension work for over 20 years and their is movement in the suspension in all cars even new. The trick is knowing what is acceptable and what is wear.

Good luck!

 

Pssst...thread was made in 2007.

 

You do realize this thread is over 3 years old, don't you?

Edit: Haha, someone beat me to it.

 

Yea, I noticed after I hit the submit button. Was doing a search when I came across it. So thanks for the heads up will make sure I've had at least two cups of coffee before posting in the morning!

 

HAHA been there done that. I bet you thought when you posted this you were really helping the guy out.

 

Yea you got me I am just mister nice guy. I think I am going to have to give up decaf and go back to the real thing.

 

Hey - it was a good post to bring up though, because it has a few good pictures - and detailed instructions on how to check for ball joint/tie-rod end play.. Thumbs up for that, with a thumbs down for it being 3 years old :-D hahaha

 

I thumbs down the 3 year old thing. I Thumbs up the fact that i am not the only person who cannot function without 3 cups of coffee or more.

 

At the minimum, 2 cups a coffee per day for me - One cup being about 15 minutes after I wake up.. doing the zombie shuffle into the kitchen every morning seems to be a habit now

 

what if the play in the steering is a good 1"-1.25"? what should i with that? i had it in 2 diff shops and got to 3 diff conclusions. first shop said rack and the second shop said ball joints and turn around and said gear box from another tech. i havent had a chance to get up in there to look but with this revival from the dead thread, now i know what to check.

thanks turbo

 

Workin at Dunkin Donuts got me addicted. I'm so bad. I caffeine binge all day.