Tow in?

When I look at my '93 strait on when the tires are strait, or turned in anyway really, they seem to have a tow in. I think thats what it is they look like this ex. / \. and when I jack it up in the front the tires go back to being strait ex. l l

I don't have a lift so I'm guessing the tie rod ends are shot. If so, or whatever it is could i just do it myself and have it aligned?

cory, if the tires lean in at the top, like this / \, that is your camber needing adjustment. It could be the balljoints are bad, too, since the camber adjusting nuts are on the top ones for each wheel. The term "Toe-in" is where the front edges of the tires are closer than the back edges, s othe tires point toward the center of the front bumper. JSM84

as a note. if you have too much toe-in, when you drive forward your tires will "self center" but when you back up the wheels will try and spread at the bottom which pulls in the top making it look like excessive negative camber. Are you looking at this after you back into a parking spot? if so drive the truck straight on pavement for 20 ft or so, hop out and look again.

Its a common problem with the ttb for service stations to botch the alignment. Ive been told by shops they cant get them close which is a load of bull. I align my own trucks by measuring, taking it for a drive, backing up and checking the camber

oh ok. i always get a little confused when it comes the front end. but i got. well then its definitally the camber needing adjusted. im pretty good at doing things myself so if ya'll could give me few tips or steps on adjusting them myself or if I should have someone do it. I think I know where the bolts are, I was looking at it earlier and is there a way to tell if the balljoints are bad? thanks guys

Also, if i replace the lower and upper ball joints do i need to get the tool to do it? i'm sure it would be easier but $80 to $150 is a lot for a tool i'm not going to use all the time. If ya'll have another way let me know. thanks

cory, the actual setting of the camber is best left to a good alignment shop. As shift pointed out, not all are able or willing to do an alignment on the TTB frontend on the Bronco. You can do the ball joint r&r. but it's a PITA. You'll need a ball joint press tool, but most auto parts stores will rent one to you for free. To check of the jonits are worn out, jack up a tire and try moving it in/out at the top and bottom. IF you have any slack they need fixin'. You can check the "toe-in" with a tape measure to get you to the alignment shop after the r&r, or just to check it. Find a spot on the driver-s-side front tire, on the leading edge about in the middle. Most tires have a center groove that you can work from. Now go to the passenger-side tire, and put the tape on the same spot as the other tire. Measure the same distance on the back side of the tires, on the same level. The difference front to back is the toe-in or toe-out. Should not be more than one inch, about 1/8" to 1/4" toe-in is ideal. (Maybe shift will have something to add on that as well.) You can adjust the toe-in or -out by rotating the tie rod end sleeves. You can also drop a plumb line (string with a weight) from in front of the bumper in the center of the tire, and eyeball how the tire looks in relation to that. You want the tires a close to vertical and even as you can get. The shop will adjust the tie rod ends and camber bushings to do the alignment, but beware if they start telling you to replace everything. You can easily spend over $1000 having that done when it may not be needed. The alignment should run about $75-$100 on average. JSM84

ive never used it but i know eastwood sells an alignment tool for around $40. Its basically a really big caliper.

What jsm said is spot on. I usually shoot for 0-1/8" toe in. One thing that i have been wanting to try is make rig that hits the rim front and rear, put a bubble level on it(assuming the truck is on level ground) and shoot a laser forward onto a wall.

I will say the easiest method if you can is to use a plum-bob. trying to run a tape measure anywhere but on the ground will be inaccurate for this type of measurement because of the cross member and swap bar setup.

Camber is not really something you will want to tackle. There are cheap devices you can get to measure it. The top bushing on your spindle is how this is adjusted. If your springs arent sagging a good bit and you havent done anything to your suspension, chances are you are pretty close. a shop with a laser setup can measure it in no time at all.

To be honest about toe-in adjustment. most of mine is based off how the truck drives and how bad the negative camber is on backup. If the truck tracks really straight but when you back into a spot your tires are / \ you have too much toe in. If the truck wants to wander(and all your steering stuff is tight) but your tires dont tilt in when backing up, you have some toe-out. I take measurements, get everything close and then tweak according to how the truck actually drives.

Also a note about your steering wheel. it only matches the spline in one position so if you start messing with things, put your wheel centered and adjust from there.

Very good, shift. This sticky post by Roadkill does a good job explaining the geometry of the TTB frontend and what we have to put up with when lifting it or just getting an alignment. JSM84

http://broncozone.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=11092

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