Bronco Lean

[CopperBronco]

I recently detached my rear axle mostly to put in leafspring shims to correct my pinion angle… a few weeks after my bronco looks somewhat crooked… any idea what might cause this? Can u-bolts cause lean from the rear?

Noted that I’ve replaced entire suspension and bushings within the last year, and had removed the lean I had previously, and now it’s back . Is it just suspension breaking in? Only been a 1k miles / 7-10 months pending which suspension parts. Also I replaced c-bushings and leveled the radius arms when I did that, got them to within 1/8” of each other, it was so level afterwards!

Could leafsprings wearing on cause it? Thinking I just need to start shimming things or just leave as is…

 

[billh1289]

Can you post some pics?

 

[Shimmy]

i had bronco lean until i removed my aux tank

 

[nvrstuk]

How much lean?

Leaf spring pinion shimmng should not cause it. I think your radius arm bushings are haunting you once again.

If it's bugging you a bunch then disconnect the frt end and check the arms for being equal.

Good luck

 

[CopperBronco]

How much lean?

Leaf spring pinion shimmng should not cause it. I think your radius arm bushings are haunting you once again.

If it's bugging you a bunch then disconnect the frt end and check the arms for being equal.

Good luck

That’s the thing, I did it with the new c-bushings, worked my ass off to get those perfect… is it normal for them to slip?

 

[CopperBronco]

i had bronco lean until i removed my aux tank

Hadn’t thought of that… although tank itself is very light, I’ll re-check measurements once tank is fully empty, see if it changes.

 

[nvrstuk]

I have had a couple guys tell me they slipped and caused lean issues again. Not common. Could be a manufacturer issue from one to another???

That I don't know.


I follow the lean issues people have since I was the guy who accidently figured out the bushing caused lean issues and wrote up the article that WH still uses.

Always curious ...

 

[CopperBronco]

I have had a couple guys tell me they slipped and caused lean issues again. Not common. Could be a manufacturer issue from one to another???

That I don't know.


I follow the lean issues people have since I was the guy who accidently figured out the bushing caused lean issues and wrote up the article that WH still uses.

Always curious ...

Got it, well I had lean before I fixed everything, after I didn’t for a while, and now it’s slowly returned… not sure I’m up for pulling axle off again right now… just finished up a different grueling Bronco project, need a break! Half tempted to just 3D print or CNC custom coil spring shims…

 

[bronconut73]

Got it, well I had lean before I fixed everything, after I didn’t for a while, and now it’s slowly returned… not sure I’m up for pulling axle off again right now… just finished up a different grueling Bronco project, need a break! Half tempted to just 3D print or CNC custom coil spring shims…

Northeast classic has shims for the coils.

 

[CopperBronco]

Northeast classic has shims for the coils.

Awesome, thanks, I had been looking for this…. Does anyone else also sell tapered shims, I have 7 degree C bushings, would be great to level out coil cups at same time.

 

[bronkenn]

One of the most common causes of "The Lean".

 

[CopperBronco]

One of the most common causes of "The Lean".

Thanks, that’s not my problem, I’m a beanpole for better or worse.

 

[awest5321]

Loosen shackle bolts on rear springs and bounce the rear of bronco up and down a few times before tightening them back up. You may have tightened one side and got it in a bind or something. Worth a shot, easy to do.

 

[danbrunk]

Hey all
I have a 69 frame off resto and have new suspension in with the diffs, steering linkage, engine, trans and transfer case all installed and wheels and tires on. I have .25” lean on the driver side. So donI remove the c bushings and reinstall or hope it levels out after the rebuild is totally done and drivable?

 

[nvrstuk]

Hey all
I have a 69 frame off resto and have new suspension in with the diffs, steering linkage, engine, trans and transfer case all installed and wheels and tires on. I have .25” lean on the driver side. So donI remove the c bushings and reinstall or hope it levels out after the rebuild is totally done and drivable?

You really should start a new thread for this post but to answer your question. I would say wait until the build is done.

 

[CopperBronco]

Suspension will settle for a while, maybe a year, or leave it for now… or you could put in some coil spring shims… measure the distance from front of frame to towers as well as sometimes they were welded on unevenly causing this… I fixed mine with c bushings and leveling radius arms , but after a year it leans again…


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[ba123]

Yeah, I agree on the post about the springs not causing lean. Everything is loose and should move to its place.

I just did my C-bushings and really don’t see how they could move unless they weren’t done right the first time. You cannot do one side at a time, most likely, not sure if you did.

The whole axle needs to be detached.

Here’s what I did. Wheels on, detach everything else. I greased the c bushings with Vaseline and put together loosely. I set up the arms raised off the ground equally. As you tighten evenly, the c bushing find their one single locked spot to be in as they are formed. They can only go to one place and you can see from the side of the bushings if they aren’t right. You’ll see spaces.

When they are all tight, they will be equal unless you put your bushings in wrong. Measure how high off the ground they each are and if they are not even, yo7 will have lean. Figure out why before attaching the axle and radius arms.

 

[DirtDonk]

I agree you should leave it as it is and don’t worry about it until the build is absolutely completely done and on the road.
Yes, that means more work for you in that you might have to take some suspension components apart again, or at least loosen them again after the fact. But it’s worse still to spit in the wind by adjusting it perfectly now, then assembling the rest of the vehicle only to find that it leans after it’s finished.

 

[nvrstuk]

...and to add one thing about the "lean", yes, you can tighten the C bushings and they might look like they are even and tightened perfectly and your EB will be leaning. You will FIX the problem (if it's not one of the other 10 things (like bad body mounts, bent frame, bad springs, bent whatevers) that can cause lean) if you follow the Tech Article on WH site.

The naysayers can always find a problem that might not be the bushing that was causing the issue but that issue was there BEFORE and it wasn't noticed until the newer softer springs were installed. What allows this to happen so frequently with "newer suspensions" (post '95 era) is that when I figured this out back in the mid/late 90's we were all swapping from stock OE spring/suspension components (or from F150 springs because we wanted lift) so those springs are stiff enough that they don't transfer the C bushing fitment issues like the softer springs that we all use today do. Hence no lean with the stiff springs but it does lean when we put in the soft springs.

Hope this helps some.