After putting the Fabtech spindles on I ended up with an interesting problem -- though maybe it was there before.

My camber ended up perfect after readjusting the torsion bars, but only on the passenger side. The drivers side was at -2 degrees or so, as measured using an angle gauge.

Basically I parked the truck on neighbors new, level driveway and put the angle gauge up against the inner rim of the wheel at the same place on all 4 wheels. Three of the wheels gave the same reading, and the drivers side was off -2 degrees. This was the same no matter how I bounced or moved the truck.

Below is a picture of the stock style hardware (left) vs. the cam kit style hardware (right).

The stock hardware has those square plates which force the upper a-arm pivot to a certain spot. I can conceive that there might be different ones to make sure the truck leaves with proper camber. The bolts are totally round and have the "arms" to make it so you don't have to hold them. Convenient because it's not an area where you can easily get a socket on the bolt head, though an angled open end 13/16" or 21mm wrench could work.

The cam kit has those round "cams" which can position the bolt anywhere along the slotted hole (slotted from the factory) in the upper a-arm brackets. The bolts themselves are "D" shaped in cross-section and fit in the "D" shaped holes in the cams.

On the actual bracket for tha a-arms that is welded to the frame, there are two ears which this cam sits between and the disk itself can't move around much. But as you rotate it the bolt position changes in the slot.

Since I had two degrees or so of negative camber, I set the bolts so they were as far outboard as possible in the slots. This corrected my camber.

The main difficulty, particularly with spindles, is getting the bolts in properly. The nuts go toward the back of the truck in the rearmost mount, and towards the front of the truck in the frontmost mount. This means you feet the bolts in from the center and the brake lines are in the way and quite tight if you've put lift spindles on (or maybe any lift, don't know).

Also below you can see where they go. Took these at night trying out my daughters camera -- but it's not ideal conditions. Hers actually does better than mine though under those conditions.

When you look at the rearmost one (keep in mind this is the drivers side), you can see how the brake lines are in the way where you'd be inserting the bolt.

Thought I'd throw this in just to help clarify cam kit usage, in case anyone was wondering.

 

looks good!

 

I have those adjustables in the passenger side of my truck now, just got an alignment and they put them in.

 

Ironically enough, I just SOLD one of the kits a while back because I thought I wasn't going to need it, lol. So I ended up buying ANOTHER one...oh well...

It's not real hard. You don't have to take the spindle off. Just jack up one side and support it, and take off the tire. The only bolts you remove are the ones for the upper arm to the frame which you are replacing.

 

I had to get one for the passenger side with my fabtech setup.

 

hmmm


back when i was lowered, i used these on my ranger, and then when i installed a 2.5 coil lift, i reused them again, they defienetly help


however mine didnt come with a replacement bolt, they reused the stock ones

 

I guess there are different kits. This kit is Specialty Products Company 87500 which is spec'd for 1995-2001 Ford Explorer and Mercury Mountaineer but doesn't mention the Ranger.

Never-the-less it's the right kit.

 

yeah

i got mine from NAPA, and it was for the same vechicles. But not listed for rangers either

 

Dang John you read my mind I was up at an auto store yesterday asking about this then I was going to get on here to find out the best way to do it and everything. Mine are so far off I go through bearings like nothing.

 

Yes, Andy -- I was more concerned about tire wear on my new MTZ's, lol -- I'm still paying off the credit card I used to buy them...

 

I use these on my lowered '03 and although I was nervous about putting them in, it was dead simple and allowed for the shop to put a perfect alignment on the truck after I installed them. If I remeber correctly, I ordered mine from Summit and I think the box only mentioned the Explorer/Mountaineer also, most likely the exact same parts that you guys got. It definately worth the $40 they cost to save bad tire and suspension wear.

 

John what would be the best way to measure how far off it is on mine? Or should I just get it done somwhere?

 

What I did was find a level concrete section to park on. I then used an "angle gauge" like this one:

They're about $10.

Place them on the outside bead face of the rim at the 3 or 9 o'clock positions. Use the rear wheels as a reference. If you have no rear axle bend, lol, your rear ones should be the same.

Now measure the front and compare it to the rear one on that side. You can then figure out your approximate camber.

Make sure your wheels are straight and that you pulled straight into the area where you measure.

That's not a totally accurate way to do it, no. So those of you who don't like it go buy an alignment, lol. But it's very close and you should come close to spec doing this.

I also do my front toe-in useing two rods, one against each outside bead face but between the front wheels, at both the 3 and 9 o'clock positions. Mark a scale on one of the rods and see where they end up. You can see toe-in well enough to keep your truck from being too far out. I beat mine up and change parts too much to keep paying for alignment, lol.

 

Cool thanks John I NEED to do this bad on saturday I need new tires up front cause I have inside slicks! lol

 

John just get a 1 year warranty alignment, I can take my ere as many times in one year as I want and they dont charge only the initial payment.

 

I thought about that -- but this is free anyway, lol.

What I always thought is they would take one look at my truck and say, "oh no, bucko, no warranty for you..."

At the very least, I should show them no pictures or videos of how I drive...

 

I just ordered my kit and it didn't come with the bolts.wtf, Does anyone know where I can get a bolt like that or should I send them back and get another kit.

 

Ford dealer.

 

Wow super old thread...

 

Ha ha! Funny how that works.

Some kits have "flatted" bolts and I don't think the Ford bolts are. Are your holes in the cams "D" shaped?

If they are, and your stock bolts aren't, you may want to send the kit back.

The flatted bolts make it easy to adjust -- when you turn the bolt the cam moves and adjusts the control arm. Then you hold the bolt still and tighten the nut to hold the adjustment.

 

Yeah but at least it shows he DID actually USE the search button....

 

Ha ha! I actually thought of saying -- "No, they're not shaped like Djaye"...but I realized later that they are kind of tall and thin so maybed they do look like you!

 

The stock bolts on my 03 were round. I bought a set of flatted bolts from a Ford dealer under a Ford part number. Each bolt had a cam pressed onto splines under the head.

 

I found the part number for the Ford bolts with the flats: F5TZ-3B236-A
4 are required and they fit 98~2007 2WD and 4WD Rangers.

The aftermarket cams that I used on the nut end came in a set of 4.
The part number is SPC 87310 (Specialty Products).