Another Bronco Lean Question

[norm02]

I agree. There's something wonky about that bushing.

Why not order another set and start over? The cost is minimal.



But this time do yourself a favor and do the work yourself. It's one of the easiest jobs on a Bronco, and every Bronco owner should experience it.

I didn’t know there was an issue with the bushing until it was pointed out by blubuckaroo so I may have to. Picking it up in a little bit and then I’ll see what needs to be done.


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[BGBronco]

My lean in the rear is much worse than yours but my front isn't bad at all. It only bothers my when someone else is driving it and I'm following behind, which is never!

I had enough skills to replace the front / rear springs and shocks but didn't think I could tackle replacing the c bushings in my garage using jack stands.
I'm faced with the same issue as you though because it needs to be done and I don't have anyone close by that has done it. Good Luck.

So I decided to just go up there on my lunch break and look at it. The entire passenger side (front & back) is sitting higher than the driver side. I’m totally confused and his solution was actually to heat up the passenger side coil and lower it to match the driver side.

I spoke to someone at one of the big Bronco parts houses and he thinks that the issue is incorrectly tightened C Bushing caps and he said that it would be easy for me to check possibly correct at home. If that’s the case then I’m just going to have him leave it alone and I’ll pick it up tomorrow and mess with it.


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[norm02]

My lean in the rear is much worse than yours but my front isn't bad at all. It only bothers my when someone else is driving it and I'm following behind, which is never!

I had enough skills to replace the front / rear springs and shocks but didn't think I could tackle replacing the c bushings in my garage using jack stands.
I'm faced with the same issue as you though because it needs to be done and I don't have anyone close by that has done it. Good Luck.

The good thing is that they did the hard work of breaking everything loose so it should be much easier to take apart this time. Still not happy about it though. If I wanted this to have taken three weeks and not be done right I would have just done it myself!!


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[mpboxer]

Hey Norm02 and BGBronco what are your guys' frame to axle tube measurements as they sit now?

 

[norm02]

Hey Norm02 and BGBronco what are your guys' frame to axle tube measurements as they sit now?

I’ll have to measure it when I get home. Just picked it up and drove it to get breakfast before I head home with it. Drives better than before and goes down the road straight so everything is good in that regard.

They refused to charge me for the install which I appreciate but I still offered to at least pay them something. They again refused payment for it and asked me to please let them know if I’m able to square it up and what I did to fix it.

I still think they’re a good shop and I would still work with them moving forward. Just not on suspension stuff. I’ll update this thread later today once I’ve gotten my new wheels put on and gotten it back to my house.


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[bronconut73]

I’ll have to measure it when I get home. Just picked it up and drove it to get breakfast before I head home with it. Drives better than before and goes down the road straight so everything is good in that regard.

They refused to charge me for the install which I appreciate but I still offered to at least pay them something. They again refused payment for it and asked me to please let them know if I’m able to square it up and what I did to fix it.

I still think they’re a good shop and I would still work with them moving forward. Just not on suspension stuff. I’ll update this thread later today once I’ve gotten my new wheels put on and gotten it back to my house.


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Get it level with the correct method then show them your results.
I bet they are a good shop just not Bronco people.

 

[norm02]

Just got home and this is the first thing I’ve noticed...
Top one is the passenger front:

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[DirtDonk]

The squeezing part is normal. Well, it's "common" but it's not "normal" in the perfect world sense.
Ours do it, but not always. Energy's don't always do it either. It's probably partly to do with the molds at the manufacturer, but it's shocking how much of that squeeze is from extra rust and scale on the inside surfaces of the radius arms and caps.

Paul

 

[jim3326]

I had the same issue, got some different C-bushings but I can't remember from where. Steves something or other is sticking in my head.

http://classicbroncos.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2241376&postcount=39

 

[DirtDonk]

Can you get some more pics directly from the side underneath so we can see both forward and rearward bushings at the same time?

It's less common for both sides to have squeezed out at different levels. This could be easily from the scale being worse on one side, or it could be from one bushing being reversed and fighting the others more.

Thanks

Paul

 

[norm02]

Can you get some more pics directly from the side underneath so we can see both forward and rearward bushings at the same time?

It's less common for both sides to have squeezed out at different levels. This could be easily from the scale being worse on one side, or it could be from one bushing being reversed and fighting the others more.

Thanks

Paul

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[DirtDonk]

Well now we know why the bushings are unevenly squeezed out. They didn't tighten the bolts all the way!
You should make sure to show them that when you're done. The guy probably saw the squish too, and figured it was more important to save the bushing than to secure the mechanical part. Wrong unfortunately, so hopefully they just forgot. For once that's actually the better scenario.

I still can't see from your pics, but the bushings need to be oriented in such a way as they tilt the axle down in the rear. Or back at the top, if you prefer.
Yours are hard to determine in that regard.

Look for the part inside the bushing that extends toward, and touches the pad on the axle. You can see it best in your third pic at the bottom. The two bushings should not match each other, but "complement" each other in tilting the axle. If that makes sense?

Paul

 

[DirtDonk]

No matter what you do, first thing to do unless you're going to pull it apart immediately would be to tighten the 8 bolts all the way.
The tops are probably done because it would have been very hard for them to have mounted the spring cups. But the bottoms are not obviously or there would be no gap.
Those surfaces are machined smooth to match for a reason.

And see the numbers stamped in the sides of the arms and caps? Those are so that you put the caps back on with the same arm.
It's not an absolutely critical deal-breaking kind of thing, as many of us have found out by necessity over the years. But if Ford thought they should match, then do so if you can. Looks like yours are matched up, so just tighten them up.

Paul

 

[BGBronco]

When this issue is resolved, I'll start on mine. Of course, my issue will turn out to be different and it will still be a PITA.

 

[norm02]

No matter what you do, first thing to do unless you're going to pull it apart immediately would be to tighten the 8 bolts all the way.
The tops are probably done because it would have been very hard for them to have mounted the spring cups. But the bottoms are not obviously or there would be no gap.
Those surfaces are machined smooth to match for a reason.

And see the numbers stamped in the sides of the arms and caps? Those are so that you put the caps back on with the same arm.
It's not an absolutely critical deal-breaking kind of thing, as many of us have found out by necessity over the years. But if Ford thought they should match, then do so if you can. Looks like yours are matched up, so just tighten them up.

Paul

Sounds good and I had already loosened the cap bolts. This is how it’s sitting right now after loosening all of the bolts on both sides and wiggling the truck and pushing down on the front and rear bumpers a few times. Thoughts?.

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[norm02]

Well now we know why the bushings are unevenly squeezed out. They didn't tighten the bolts all the way!
You should make sure to show them that when you're done. The guy probably saw the squish too, and figured it was more important to save the bushing than to secure the mechanical part. Wrong unfortunately, so hopefully they just forgot. For once that's actually the better scenario.

I still can't see from your pics, but the bushings need to be oriented in such a way as they tilt the axle down in the rear. Or back at the top, if you prefer.
Yours are hard to determine in that regard.

Look for the part inside the bushing that extends toward, and touches the pad on the axle. You can see it best in your third pic at the bottom. The two bushings should not match each other, but "complement" each other in tilting the axle. If that makes sense?

Paul

The bolts were tightened all the way. I had already loosened them when I took the picture.


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[Crush]

if it was me, i would take it all apart and make sure they cleaned the caps and arms good on the bushing faces. even the slightest bit of scale on them will create that squishing effect. even though as Paul pointed out some squishing is to be accepted, that pic seems a bit excessive to me. whose bushings did u use?

 

[DirtDonk]

I think he said Energy Suspension originally.

Paul

 

[DirtDonk]

The bolts were tightened all the way. I had already loosened them when I took the picture.

Ahh, ok good.
But in doing this did you also remember to remove the front-most bolt holding the lower spring cup in place? If not then the cap can't fully release. There might also be a lot of stress on that bolt due to the bushings and the weight of the vehicle pushing it forward.
May not be enough to damage the bolt, but it still needs to be loosened to get the job done.

The measurements look fairly close? Almost 7 on the passenger side and what, about a 1/4" or so less than that on the driver's?

Paul

 

[DirtDonk]

When this issue is resolved, I'll start on mine. Of course, my issue will turn out to be different and it will still be a PITA.

Hah! Isn't that the truth!

Paul