Not necessarily.
When all the bushings were new maybe that would be the case. But with old tired (almost 50 years tired!) bushings, any input that a radius arm has can be slightly skewed. Therefore what was once a bent arm and a leaning Bronco, could well have settled down as the bushings got loose.
Just as an incorrectly installed new bushing might not show up as such, if it's actually "correcting" for a damaged arm.
In your case it does not sound like this is the issue, since you know the history of the vehicle. But in cases of an unknown new-to-you EB that could have been abused by 15 different PO's, some of us end up with crooked Broncos after new bushings are installed.
Yep. Unless the springs are unequal!
Be quite the coincidence of course, but springs are still not an exact science. Just an art that allows for some leeway. So even brand new springs can be uneven.
There is precedence then...
Probably not. A bubble isn't precise enough. If there is any variation (and it would be hard to quantify, as they're trying to "be level" which is how you get the lean in the first place.
A good digital level though, and guaranteeing that the top that it's laid on isn't skewed by the stamping seam or other imperfections in the arms themselves, you might see a difference.
This is actually a good question. Don't know if we've ever tried that. Someone should!
Doesn't really make a difference. Maybe that last time 20 years before they got lucky.
I think most of us have gotten lucky a time or two with C-bushings. I did not know about that stuff when I did my first set back in the seventies, and did not have a lean. Lots of installs have been good ones in spite of the potential for problems. But as many or more have not been so lucky, and have immediately gone sideways. Been that way since the first polyurethane C-bushings were around I suspect.
The softer and less molded rubber was more forgiving. Then you add the years of rust, variations in the molding process of the bushings, and add to that what is likely a higher number of bushing changes (oh, and the internet too!) and we're running into it more, and hearing about it more than ever.
It still "is a thing" to be wary of. But it's not going to happen every single time.
Beat me to it again!
And more clearly, as usual too.
Yes. If the bushings were installed backwards in any way (any of the 4 pieces per side) then the alignment specs would show it. But it would have been better to know what you had before the bushings were changed.
If the bushings were simply installed using the wrong method, then no you would not be able to tell. There would still be a difference, but it might only be a couple of degrees and if you didn't know what you had before, you won't know if it's a good reading or a bad one.
On the other hand, if a full set of bushings was installed backwards, it would be so obvious that you would not even need the rack. But on the rack, you'd have literally double the rating of the bushing. So if you had +2° of positive caster before and installed 4° C-bushings backwards, you'd have right around -6° negative after!
But only if the whole set was done backwards. If only one half was done wrong, each side would fight the other and I'm not sure what the reading would be.
But you'd sure have one heck of a lean!
Doing the job "incorrecty" by not cleaning the surface on the axle and inside the radius arm caps, and by not using some sort of good lubricant to ease the transition that the squishing C-bushings are going through, the change could be as little as a couple of degrees off. It's enough to cause a lean, but not enough to easily discern an alignment issue.
That's how I see it anyway.
Paul