Bronco lean...with a twist

I bought a second Bronco that was a bit less of a project than my Bronco #1 with the intent of selling off #1. I moved a lot of the mods I have done to #1 over to #2, and for this discussion, swapping a WH 2 1/2" lift from the new purchase to the old one, and moving an older WH 3 1/2" from #1 to the new purchase. I moved both coils and leafs over, side for side. Now for the twist...neither one leaned before, but now the new purchase with the transplanted 3 1/2" lift has the strong lean. Bonus question, I am going to put new 7 deg. C bushings in to go with the added lift, but now do I follow the common procedure of pulling the control arms and tightening the C bushing retainer bolts until the rear of the arms are even on the floor? Because if I do, the truck wasn't level when I take them off, so wouldn't that them possibly make the issue worse? I have tried jumping on the high side, but it seems to be in its happy place.
Thoughts on why it changed from one to another, and yet the old bronc with the new 2 1/2" lift is level?

Thanks as always.

I put on Duff extended arms and after a trip to the alignment shop had to change c bushings. My procedure: axle in place, trac bar connected, grease the c bushings, I put the back end of the radius arm on a jack stand just down from installed height. Then bolt the c caps on. The arms lift off the jack stands real nice.

Were c-bushings removed during the swap? If so, the bushings on one side may no longer be oriented correctly. It’s almost always the front.

Nobody- no. That's the issue. I need to swap them but with a current lean, I'm not sure what will happen when I swap them out to level.

Charlie- while it doesn't explain what happened in my case, I am interested in your method, but can't quite follow. Axle and drag link in place, I have to think springs and shocks removed/ disconnected, but am confused on the jackstands. Are you removing the radius arms from the rear mounts and then setting them on jackstands rather than the floor?

Thanks. And if anyone has ideas on why it leans now with the same parts it had in another truck without a lean, let me know.

PDQ said:

Nobody- no. That's the issue. I need to swap them but with a current lean, I'm not sure what will happen when I swap them out to level.

Charlie- while it doesn't explain what happened in my case, I am interested in your method, but can't quite follow. Axle and drag link in place, I have to think springs and shocks removed/ disconnected, but am confused on the jackstands. Are you removing the radius arms from the rear mounts and then setting them on jackstands rather than the floor?

Thanks. And if anyone has ideas on why it leans now with the same parts it had in another truck without a lean, let me know.

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Like Nobody said, check your c bushing orientation first.
Shocks, springs, spring cups removed. Axle on jack stands, wheels off.
Trac bar in place, holds the axle in place (I think). I put the rear of the radius arm on a jack stand an inch or two below it's rear mount.
Because of the weight of the Duff arms, I used a rope to pull the front up to axle height. I grease all contact points of the c bushing. That's everything but the sides. Tighten the bolts evenly. Very important.
The C cap metal should be tight to the radius arm metal, top and bottom.
I think the main thing (is there anything else?) is getting enough grease on the c bushing so it seats tight. I don't think the factory used the pick the rear off the floor method.

I used 'clear' grease, but used white grease on the upper side. Easy to orient (if you drop them once or twice).

On mine when I reinstalled the new front springs I tightened down the clamp on the lower front coil on one side with all the weight off the springs so when I let the weight down the coil didn't spin into the cup all the way so the coil didn't settle right and I was high on that side.

price209 said:

On mine when I reinstalled the new front springs I tightened down the clamp on the lower front coil on one side with all the weight off the springs so when I let the weight down the coil didn't spin into the cup all the way so the coil didn't settle right and I was high on that side.

Click to expand...

I used WH HD one piece spring cup. That is because it is flat on the bottom mating surface which I needed to fit the Hellwig sway bar bracket. In WH's cup, the bottom of the spring moves freely. The 'original style' cup is a two piece clamping style. Leave the bottom loose until you get the top of the spring in place and tight. Then tighten the bottom.

Thank you. I'll look the springs over.