I just installed a 3" spindle kit on the front of my 2wd 99' Ford Ranger and noticed that my wheel look like this from a aboove view / \ (exagerated but same angle, pigeon toed so to speak) and they should look like this | |. I saw what I believe is the lower arm joint is threaded, can I adjust this to make my wheels point straight? If not what do I do?

Thanks for any suggestions or info in advance,
Nik

 

You need a Camber adjustment kit.

 

Yes, Nikolas that's what you need. It's a set of bolts and special washers that allow you to adjust where the upper arm is and all. It's funny because when I put my Doetsch spindles on they actually corrected some negative camber (like you're describing) that I had gotten from cranking the torsion bars quite a bit.

 

you people are smart i would of said cut your front ifs out and put a solid axle under it do a 4wd converison on that 2wd go big

 

Ha ha! You're too new to know that's what I am going to do. But it's a year off. I need to wheel like I am (2WD with locker) until I get the buck together to do two things: 1) get another daily driver and 2) get the stuff I need

But it's going to happen. I intend to keep this truck indefinitely. I already put a 31 spline 8.8 on the back with an electric locker and 4.56 gears and 35's. The SAS is coming -- it just can't come fast enough...

 

mine is coming too i say maybe feb. my buddy jessie hall is doing all my fab work i know i am dumb i am going with a dana 30 out of a 95 grand cherokee for now running 38's with 4:88 gears time will tell

 

I know several who have done it with Dana 30's. I haven't done the research, but some Grands came with Dana 35's? I'd like to find one of those for maybe a bit more strength. I'll be running 35's with 4.56's in mine.

 

Pigeon toed refers to the toe angle being out of whack. Not surprising when you change the angle of the tie rod. ANY qualified alignment tech should be able to set the toe for you. This problem is not indicitive of needing a camber kit. You just need a "toe and go" alignment.

 

Ah, you know you're right! I didn't catch that he said "from above"!!!

Jo' is dead right. You can even set toe yourself -- you don't need a tech for that. Plenty of references how to do it online. For our trucks, 0 to slightly negative toe is fine.

 

If you'll notice, that white Ranger in post #4 has a Dana 30. Coil sprung and 3-link. As far as I know, there is no such thing as a Dana 35 front. Decades ago, there were smaller Dana 25s and 27s. Typically on Jeeps, you have the Dana 30 front and Dana 35 rear. Neither of which are very desireable if you're looking at upgrading.

 

Fair enough. A guy who wheels at work is the one that told me of the mythical "35 fronts" and he believes there are some out there. But he also had no info on what years and so on and I haven't dug into it.

 

Yeah...no...

Dana 25/27s were standard until the CJ-6 (55-75) when the Dana 30 started making its debut. Rear axles were Dana 44s, with AMC 20 variations.

I believe the Dana 30 front became completely standard in '72 on the CJ5.

 

not that i know anything about a d/35...

just google dana 35.

http://www.jpmagazine.com/techarticles/16722/



but from all of my reading(over many an offroad forum)... nothing smaller than a d44 is practical for 35" tires/offroading, and by offroading(i mean what john will be doing)...

since alot of poseurs feel the need to waste their money on a sas swap, to fling some mud, drive over some curbs, and park on broken cars... i say let them swap whatever they want in... if it breaks, eh.. they will learn.

i have the 2.5" pipe from our golf-cart,if anyone wants to use it for some sort of conversion.

 

 

Not me! I BABY my truck!

 

i just assume you won't let me down.

you and i share the same gene for the heavy foot, and wanting to go places we probably shouldn't...

 

That's for a rear. We're talking FRONTS

 

they have dana 35 fronts this guy i know has one for sale but the dana 30 i have is going on for a little while intil i get the money to do the 2 1/2 ton running gear with a 302 then its hard playing

 

So I could do it myself but it is real hard to know if the tires are parallel and if they are if they are pointing straight with the wheel. How can I do this easily? Or at least get it done right?

 

Go get a pair of 3/8" wooden dowels from a hobby or home store. They're 3 or 4 feet long or whatever.

Put them together, overlapping and put a couple of rubber bands on them.

At the same height, in the same "spot" (that is, at the same height above ground, and the same distance from the edge of the tire), measure the distance between your front tires in front of the spindle, and behind it. Watch out for raised lettering and don't measure it!

Make small adjustments of the tie rods until the distances are equal. You can make some marks on the dowels to serve as a "ruler" to know the distance, more or less. Put a single line on one as a "cursor", and a "scale" of some sort on the other.

When the front distance is equal to, or just slightly less than the back distance (front of the front wheels, back of the front wheels -- not back wheels, lol) you're done.

Make like 1/8 to 1/4 turn adjustments in the tie rod until you get a feel for how much movement you're going to get. Adjust both sides so that your steering stays centered.

When you're done, if your steering seems "off" (that is, the steering wheel isn't centered to go straight), you can adjust one side out, and the other side in by the same amount to correct it. It's amazing how LITTLE turning of the tie rod this requires, so start small.

That's basically it. It's not "precision" but it's good enough and tire wear will be fine. If you beat your truck up offroad a lot, get used to doing this because taking it in to get it realigned after you've "adjusted" your front geometry offroading can get old really fast.

 

Thanks, Will do.

 

When making this adjustment, is it recommended to be on jack stands or will it work on the ground?

 

It is recommended that you put the front wheels on turn plates. Having the wheels off the ground will change the camber. Camber affects tow.
For about $50 you can have it done by a professional and not kill your tires. Toe is the #1 cause of uneven tire wear.