How to install adjustable camber bushings?

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.

-mikko-

New member
Joined
Oct 24, 2010
Messages
30
Reaction score
2
...or shold I say, how to get those old ones off?

I mean these little bastards are tight, I mean TIGHT!!!

Or am I doing something wrong because I can not remove these? :unsure:

Balljoint nut was only thing that I could remove...

Is there some kind of easy method?

Help needed :((

 

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 -mikko-

I use a lot of PB Blaster (NOT WD40 for this issue) and heat. If you need to; stop by a local muffler shop and ask for a price on having it torched and loosened,then tightened back up for the ride home.

See my site under Steering @ http://www.broncolinks.com/index.php?index=333

for more links such as this;

Ok, took driver side castle nut off, turned it over, screwed it back on, and started hammerin away! BANG BANG BANG, .....

After about an hour of that, prying, and a pipe wrench, I got it!!! pryed it out, and at that point, you can really get a feel for how moving the upper ball joint affects the outer hub (which affects the wheel since it bolts to it), and the caster (the relative angle between the top and bottom ball joints

Superlift® Adjustable Camber Bushing Offset Installation in a 93; "...I have the Superlift 3 degree c/b in mine and I installed them and then took it in to get alignment. If the old ones are not frozen in there, then what I do to get them out is loosen the castle nut and the top and use a regular hammer and tap the nut and the bushing starts to work its way up on its own. Then before I install the new ones, I **** the outer wall of the bushing with bearing grease and knock them down. That way it ensure easy adjustability for yourself to get it as close as you can to drive it to the shop. I have a mock up thick wall pvc pipe for each front tire and and strap them to the tire and run my measurements front and back of tire off that to get it pretty damn close on my own..."

Source: by Camo Horse

Adjustment, Caster Camber in 94 Bronco F150-250 4X4 from 1994 Body/Chassis Service Manual page 04-00-13; "...1. take alignment measurements 2. raise, take wheels off 3. remove upper ball joint pin & nut 4. loosen lower ball joint nut to end of stud 5. strike inside of spindle near upper & lower BJ's to break loose spindle from BJ's 6. remove adjuster, use Pit arm puller if needed. 7. install replacement adjuster -to increase camber point arrow on adjuster outboard -to decrease camber point arrow on adjuster inboard Note: excessive spindle turning efforts, causing poor steering, returnability, may result if the fastener tightening sequence described in steps 8,9 and 11 are not followed exactly 8. remove lower BJ nut apply Loctite 242 9. partially tighten nut to 40 ft lbs 10. tighten upper BJ nut to 85-100 ft lbs, install cotter pin 11. finish lower BJ nut to 95-100 ft lbs 12. put wheels back on, put truck back on ground 13. check camber, adjust toe Also on pages 04-00-11 and 04-00-12: -production adjusters have the amounts of caster and camber stamped on the tops -first number is caster, second camber (in degrees) if the adjuster is installed on right side of truck -if adjuster installed on left side of truck, the caster number is the opposite sign of the number shown. For example. positive amount in right side is negative when used on left side of truck, and vice versa. Note: the assembly plant sometimes builds trucks w/adjusters that are not zero-degree type to control alignment. The chart shows the alignment changes that will occur if the truck was originally built with zero-degree adjusters. Always check to which adjuster has been installed and its position before making changes. That's from the dealer manual, what I take on its is that the factory adjusters have some degree of adjustment (very little) and you don't have to take the spindle/axle completely apart to r&r adjusters or do an alignment..."

Source: by Ford via ROCKOBRONCO

Camber Bushing, Fully Adjustable Offset Installation, Diagrams & Specifications, Ford OE Style #23109 Offsets from 0° to 2-3/4° for: 1996-1980 Ford Bronco, 1996-1980 Ford F-150 4WD, 1996-1980 Ford F-250 4WD, 1987-1980 Ford F-350 4W, D2004-1999 Ford F-450 Super Duty RWD, 2004-1999 Ford F-550 Super Duty RWD Source: by Ingalls Engineering Co., Inc.

Camber Bushing, Fully Adjustable Offset Installation, Diagrams & Specifications, Ford (Ingalls 53200) "Fully Adjustable Camber/Caster Bushing; Adjustment range of +3/4° to +2-3/4° Order 1 per wheel..." Source: by Ingalls Engineering Co., Inc.

Under Alignment;

DIY TTB Alignment Procedures; "You want to start by getting yourself a decent camber gauge and toe in/out gauge. Both can be had from J.C. Whitney. J.C. Whitney Camber/Caster gauge ..14KE5703Y, 1/12 degree accuracy, $89.99 15KE0617U, 1/8 degree accuracy, $59.95 Toe In/Out gauge 19KE2207Y, 1/32 inch increments, $32.99. Using a relatively level garage floor, put two equal height sockets on the floor at the exact spot your front tires are going to end up (center of tire). Using a straight edge and level, build up respective side with newspaper until level is , well, level. If your just checking alignment, pull Bronco onto spot just measured. Measure the camber. I always set it at zero due to the wild enough camber swings inherent in the TTB (you can set it to factory spec or whatever you want). No need to exaggerate the problem with the static setting, IMO. The manual gives a pretty hefty tolerance, but zero always worked and made sense to me. If camber is out, I recommend going for the full alignment. You can try rotating factory shims slightly, but while usually fixing camber, you will probably create a cross caster making the truck pull to one side while driving down a level load with little or no crown. You should also do a quick check on toe, to make sure it is in the ballpark (± ¼ inch). It can be adjusted perfect later on. What I recommend doing is getting 2, 2.0 degree shims (from Specialty Products (800) 525-6505, with large square head for ease of adjustment) and installing them. I use a very large adjustable wrench to adjust shims once installed. The shims on TTB will change camber AND caster at the same time when rotated. Getting factory shims out may be quite a project, especially on older trucks. Set camber at zero for both sides, ensuring bottom of upper ball joints are pointing back. This will give you the most caster you can get on both sides (good for tracking). Chances are after installing 2.0 degree shims, you will have a truck that pulls to one side or the other. Again ensure your testing road is level with no crown in the road. If the roads in your area have a large crown, you may want to test on this type of road to make sure you account for it in your alignment settings. You will need to reduce the caster on the opposite side of the way the truck is pulling. Replace 2.0 degree shim with 1.75 degree shim and re-align to zero camber (or whatever camber you have chosen to use). Drive truck and it should pull less than before, or if your lucky, not at all. If it still pulls, repeat procedure until you get a small enough shim on the side opposite pull to cancel pull. If you get down to zero, start going back up in shim degree, but make sure bottom of upper ball joint is facing forward instead of rearward. At this point, measure toe again and adjust. Just a note to say this procedure is not for the impatient. It may take many tries and much experimentation to get it right. The payback is that your truck will track perfectly straight and your tires will not wear from camber. Even aligning on a rack can many times leave you with a truck that still pulls from incorrect caster. That is why I do not recommend measuring caster. Even if it measures identical on both sides of truck, the truck may still pull. This was my main problem and why I eventually started doing alignments myself. Be patient and do it over several days. Click on any image for a larger drawing and explanation of topic. Specialty Products Company - Sleeve (shim) Part #'s degree .............. Part # 0.25 ................... 23241 0.50 ................... 23242 0.75 ................... 23243 1.00 ................... 23244 1.25 ................... 23245 1.50 ................... 23246 1.75 ................... 23247 2.00 ................... 23248

Source: by OX1 (OX, Jim, James O) at off-road.com via web.archive.org @ http://web.archive.org/web/20060304070142/http://www.off-road.com/ford/bigbroncos/tech/ttb_align/

Alignment Settings TSB 90-13-8 for 89-90 Bronco, Aerostar, Bronco II, Econoline, F Series, Ranger & 91 Explorer Source: by Ford via Chilton

 
OP
OP
M

-mikko-

New member
Joined
Oct 24, 2010
Messages
30
Reaction score
2
yo -mikko-

I use a lot of PB Blaster (NOT WD40 for this issue) and heat. If you need to; stop by a local muffler shop and ask for a price on having it torched and loosened,then tightened back up for the ride home.

See my site under Steering @ http://www.broncolinks.com/index.php?index=333

for more links such as this;

Ok, took driver side castle nut off, turned it over, screwed it back on, and started hammerin away! BANG BANG BANG, .....

After about an hour of that, prying, and a pipe wrench, I got it!!! pryed it out, and at that point, you can really get a feel for how moving the upper ball joint affects the outer hub (which affects the wheel since it bolts to it), and the caster (the relative angle between the top and bottom ball joints
That ball joint was relatively easy to take off, but what I meant is that original bushing was/is so tight that it is not moving anywhere...

I thought that giving heat will ruin ball joint´s rubber so maybe I did not give heat enough? When I tried to pull that bushing out with tool (I dont know what it is in english...), the bushing started to bend (lose it´s original shape) a little, if you know what I mean? I wouldn´t move anywhere with pipe wrench :huh:

Here is the kind of tool I used

20-340_l.jpg


So it is meant that there is no need to tear off that lower ball jount and brakes etc.? I figured that if there is possibility of hit that bushing away underside if I remove all those parts to make some room... But this means lot´s of more work <_<

 

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,

That tool is a Pit arm puller - is it thin enough to get under the bushing?

Correct; No need to tear off that lower ball joint & brakes

"remove upper ball joint pin & nut 4.

loosen lower ball joint nut to end of stud

this is the info from Ingalls

Remove the upper ball joint cotter pin and nut. Protect the ball joint threads.

Using a dead blow hammer, strike the area near the upper ball joint stud to break the bushing loose from the ball joint stud.

Remove the old bushing using a pitman arm puller or similar tool.

Lubricate the New bushing and install bushing over the ball joint stud. Install the bushing with slot in desired position.

 

Members online

No members online now.

Latest posts

Forum statistics

Threads
22,509
Messages
135,879
Members
25,108
Latest member
Utahstroke
Top