New Bronco Here

Disclaimer: Links on this page pointing to Amazon, eBay and other sites may include affiliate code. If you click them and make a purchase, we may earn a small commission.

Bucky_Bronco

New member
Joined
Apr 20, 2015
Messages
1
Reaction score
0
Hey Everyone - Just found this site and wanted to sign up.

I have a '96 Bronco Eddie Bauer 302 with a 4in. Rough Country Lift and 35x12.50 Mastercraft Courser MTX tires. It also has a K&N filter with Flowmaster 40 series Dual Exahust.

I bought the truck from my father-in-law about a year and a half ago. He bought the truck brand new custom ordered from the dealership. It's been taken extremely good care of and proud to have it.

Question though, I just recently lifted it last weekend (April 11th-12th) and have noticed the left side is slightly lower than the passenger side. The front driver side is 7 3/8 (roughly) from the top of the tire to the bottom of the fender and the front passenger side is 8 1/8 (roughly) from the top of the tire to the bottom of the fender. I did not measure the back.

I understand eventually the suspension will begin to settle a bit but it seems odd that only one side is lower than the other. Any possible ideas?

I've always been more of a mind of functionality than looks so the suspension game is new to me. I look forward to getting involved and talking with everyone.

 

miesk5

96 Bronco 5.0
Staff member
Moderator
Joined
Oct 18, 2005
Messages
9,071
Reaction score
1,018
Location
Floating in the Pacific
yo Bucky,

WELCOME!

Since you do a lot of hands-on work on your 96, I figure you have it parked on level surface, tires are inflated same psi and not cupped or have flat spots, no heavy tools on lower side, etc.

See 96 Bronco-F-Series Workshop Manual (PARTIAL)

http://www.diesel-dave.com/vehic/manual/stj/stjleft.htm

Go to

Section 04-00: Suspension, Service

DIAGNOSIS AND TESTING

http://www.diesel-dave.com/vehic/manual/stj/stj40006.htm#extract_708

Inspection and Verification

Vehicle Lean

"Side-to-side vehicle lean should be verified by measuring the fender lip-to-ground dimension before beginning diagnosis and service actions. Normal acceptable limits are:

•Maximum of 16mm (5/8-inch) variance between left and right front wheel lips to ground.

•Maximum of 19mm (3/4-inch) variance between left and right rear wheel lips to ground.

NOTE: Codes identifying the front and rear spring options and springs are printed on the Safety Standard Certification Label. Replace springs in pairs if one is found to be damaged or worn. If a spring should require replacement because it is damaged, worn or due to a leaning condition, replace only with the same part specified on the label. In rare instances, the spring codes will not reflect the springs as installed due to a DSO option or assembly plant substitution. If a DSO option number is shown on the certification label, the District Office can establish whether springs are affected. If the factory-installed springs do not agree with the code printed on the Safety Standard Certification Label (right and left spring part number should match), replace the damaged or worn spring with a new spring of the same part number as the damaged or worn spring. It will not be necessary to replace the matching, non-worn or undamaged spring.

1.Place the vehicle on a flat, smooth surface.

2.Inspect vehicle for any heavy add-ons that may cause excessive weight on any corner of the vehicle.

•In cases where the excess weight is a snow plow, a rear tailgate lift, etc., the vehicle must be diagnosed with the equipment in place.

•Measure corner weights if necessary.

•Vehicle should be empty, fuel tanks full, no cargo such as tools, equipment or debris in the pickup box or rear body section.

•Vehicle must be sitting on the wheels and tires and not a hoist, jack or jack stands.

3.Check all wheels (1007) and tires:

•Wheels must be same size and design, right and left side on each axle.

•Wheels size and design, tire size and tire design should be as indicated on the Vehicle Certification Label.

•Check air pressure of all tires; inflate to specifications indicated on the Vehicle Certification Label.

4.Check front and rear suspension. Make sure the same spring is on the left/right front and left/right rear. The front springs have I.D. tags indicating the part number. The rear springs (5560) have the part number stamped on the bottom just behind the U-bolt attachment.

5.Jounce the vehicle's front and rear suspension to normalize the vehicle static ride height.

6.Measure the height of the right and left fender lip openings for both front (dimension A) and rear (dimension B) .

7.Calculate the side-to-side differences for each dimension. If these differences are greater than 16mm (5/8 inch) between left or right front and/or 19mm (3/4 inch) between left and right rear, adjustment can be performed following the Vehicle Lean Correction procedure under Adjustments in this section..."

---

Check;

drop bracket fastener torques

and radius arm bracket holes that were drilled; are they in same locations for both sides? check fastener torques

check coil spring mounts, ensure they are not bent

axle pivot brackets

A TIP BY TOPHER "... Installing the passenger side axle pivot bracket not only included replacing the bolt but included drilling two new holes in the cross-member for two additional bolts. With the Bronco in a level position make sure it is exactly 90 degrees to the ground. Just make sure you move the brake lines out of the way before doing this. Luckily my neighbor Russ had a 90 degree drill to drill these holes out. Now install the passenger side axle pivot bolt. use the same method as the drivers side..."

and by RC "...12. Detach the pivot bracket from the passengers side cross member. Using 21mm socket and 22mm wrench install the

new axle pivot bracket for the passengers side. Attach bracket to cross member with furnished 9/16” x 1” bolt, washers,

and locknuts. Torque to 100 ft. lbs. IMPORTANT Be sure that the axle pivots are vertically aligned. Drill two

7/16” holes through the cross member and the new bracket. Using a 16mm socket, and a 17mm wrench install the

7/16” bolts, washers, and lock nuts. See Photo 5 & 6. Reinstall the stock axle bolt through the appropriate hole 4”

for the top hole, and 6” for the bottom hole. Torque to 60-75 ft. lbs.

13. Using a 16mm socket, and a 17mm wrench, the new radius arm lowering brackets are installed with furnished 7/16"

bolts, locknuts and flat washers. The factory nylon radius arm bushing rings, mounted directly against the rear face

of the stock stamped steel radius arm brackets, are not reused. The replacement brackets design allows you to discard

these pieces that are prone to fail. On 1980 and some 1981 models, all but one bracket-to-frame hole must be

drilled. Match the rear hole of the new bracket to the rear frame hole on the bottom of rail. Drill all other holes. Be

wary of wiring/hoses routed inside of the frame rails. Inspect radius arm bushings for cracks, dry rot and deformities.

Torque radius arm bushing nuts to 80-100 ft. lbs. See Photo 7 & 8.

14. Install new coil spring. When lowering the axles for spring installation, take care not to overextend the factory rubber

brake hoses. Using a 13mm socket reinstall the spring clip and torque to 13-18 ft. lbs. Using a 1 1/8” wrench reinstall

lower nut and torque to 50-70 ft. lbs. On some vehicles factory equipped with dual front shocks, keep the bottom of

the coil pulled as far rearward as possible to gain clearance between coil and front shock.

15. Repeat procedure on passenger side

16. Install Pitman Arm per their separate instructions. Attach drag link to pitman arm nut and install cotter pin.

17. On vehicles factory equipped with front anti-sway bar, install relocating hardware (purchased separately, see SEPARATE

INSTRUCTIONS). This is also a good opportunity to replace worn factory rubber bushings.

18. Reinstall wheels and tires.

19. Remove jack stands and lower vehicle to the ground. If vehicle is equipped with a front sway bar, relocation brackets

are required if you are installing a 6” lift. Install these now per separate instructions.

20. Check all fasteners to be sure they are properly tightened.

21. Install warning to driver sticker on sun visor.

Here are the rest of the RC 4" Instructions

http://s3.amazonaws.com/roughcountry/install/92751000.pdf

See photos 5 & 6

Will post this for now; having Cable issues

 

Members online

No members online now.

Latest posts

Forum statistics

Threads
22,509
Messages
135,880
Members
25,108
Latest member
Utahstroke
Top