Front Axle Shifted to Drivers side

I have just completed a 3 1/2" lift on my '71. I used BZ's 3 1/2" coil and used the 3 1/2" superlift rear blocks. I did not use a drop pitman arm because i have read that most lifts that are under 4" don't really need one and it would really throw the steering linkage out of whack. I have also installed the 7 Degree C bushing kit to correct the angle of the driveshaft. The installation of all the previous products went on fine. My problem lies in that I have just put on the 33" tires and found that the drivers side is about 1-2 inches farther out of the wheel well than the passenger side. I was wondering if I just need to get an alignment done or is there something wrong that I need to fix.

you either need to get a bracket to raise the track bar on the axle, lower the track bar at the frame (less desired), or get an adjustable track bar (preferred).

As 73stallion mentioned about the above topics, there is a possibility you may have to do 2 of the 3 things mentioned. When you lift a bronco it puts a steeper angle on the track bar which basically makes the distance between the 2 points closer together which shifts the front end to the drivers side. If you were to go with anadjustable track bar you could adjust it to make it longer to shift the front end back to its original position. There is also the possibility of needing to use a track bar drop bracket or a track bar riser bracket to get the angles of both the track bar and drag link the same again. If you start getting alot of bumpsteer you may want to look into that.


NB

A 3-1/2" lift is big enough to justify the installation of a drop pitman arm and trackbar drop bracket. As was mentioned by others, you can opt to raise the track bar on the axle or lower it on the frame. Either will work but without a fix your axle will not be centered. You will also have a problem with bumpsteer unless you correct your steering geometry. Again, a 3-1/2" lift is more than enough to give you steering problems. Instead of a drop pitman arm you can opt to do a TRO or other type of steering modification to correct the geometry. But you need to address both issues with a lift of that size.

Before you go to adding a bunch of brackets and creating extra leverage where it isn't necessary, explore all of your options first.

I don't like to use drop brackets, or drop pitmans if I can avoid it.

Look into an adjustable track bar, you can push the axle back over with no problem. You only need about an inch of adjustmet to get things back where they belong.

I'd bet that your steering wheel isn't centered quite perfect any more either.

Call and talk to one of the folks at one of our beloved Bronco parts houses, they'll have someone on staff that can talk you through what needs to be done, and hook you up with parts.

Ah yes, the snowball effect…
As others have mentioned, it is the trackbar that pulled the axle over as the bar swings through it’s arc and is now at a steeper angle then stock.
At this point you have 2 good options to fix the problem. First you need to decide if you have the angle too steep to be comfortable. If you have nice soft springs, you might feel the front of the truch shifting side to side as you drive through dips in the road (although the truck is driving straight). If this does NOT happen then look at option A. If you feel that sway and don’t like it, look at option B

Option A; install a longer track bar, may need to do minor work to get full steering back afterwords. Cheap, easy, run with it. I did this for a while after I put my lift on (cut and welded track bar) but didn’t like the sway on dips in the road.

Option B; that angle is too steep for the soft springs. Keep the stock track bar, raise the bracket on the axle. Now the axle is centered, the body travel straight up and down in dips, axle movment is now fixed. Steering will now have nasty bumpsteer. Time to look at a tie rod over conversion or what I did, heim joint steering.

There you have it, the snow ball effect. Change one thing and find others to fix. But at least this way it is fixed, not loaded to have problems later with things like dropped pitman arms.

As the others said you need either the drop brackets or adjustable trac bar to correct this. Keep in mind as Broncobowsher alluded to if you change the trac bar you will need to address the drag link either with a adjustable drag link, drop pitman arm or TRO swap I like the adjustable trac bar and drag link myself as it allows much more adjustability than the drop brackets.

Believe me! you do need either a drop pittman or an adjustable drag link and a dropped trac bar bracket or an adjustable track bar. I have just a 3 1/2 lift and it was all out of whack.