how to correct bronco lean?

[4x4man514]

hey guys, ive read on here the main reason broncos lean is incorrectly torqed c-bushings. the cure is to tighten the bushings down while the front end is on jack stands out of the truck,making sure the radius arms stay the same distance off the ground.

it makes sense but my question is; if you have a wristeds axle housing how do you keep things right since each side is now independant of each other?

do i need to install the radius arms before the wristed axle joint?
thanks!

 

[rguest3]

I think you are both correct. It's a combination of things.

I have installed the Radius Arms with New bushings while the front axle is disconnected and on jack stands underneath the truck. I also have the rear ends of the radius arms on jack stands as well. Tighten the Radius Arm cap bolts in a criss cross fashion and little at a time while switching from left to right arm. Takes some time, but you can get the arms parallel with some patients.

Even when I have replaced the body Bushings with new, the frame to body measurements have still been off some. I just took off the original body bushings from my 69 Bronco a couple months ago. The factory actually installed extra washers in some spots to even things out.

Springs are probably never exactly the same spring rates either. Don't think they are matched pairs.

Lots a variables to make your Bronco lean. Mine is now within 1/4" with the Driver's side slightly lower.

 

[Jeff76]

I think you are both correct. It's a combination of things.

I have installed the Radius Arms with New bushings while the front axle is disconnected and on jack stands underneath the truck. I also have the rear ends of the radius arms on jack stands as well. Tighten the Radius Arm cap bolts in a criss cross fashion and little at a time while switching from left to right arm. Takes some time, but you can get the arms parallel with some patients.

Even when I have replaced the body Bushings with new, the frame to body measurements have still been off some. I just took off the original body bushings from my 69 Bronco a couple months ago. The factory actually installed extra washers in some spots to even things out.

Springs are probably never exactly the same spring rates either. Don't think they are matched pairs.

Lots a variables to make your Bronco lean. Mine is now within 1/4" with the Driver's side slightly lower.

All of this and more. When I changed bushings, I followed the guide on here religiously. Had to change the bushing a couple of times to get the proper caster, too, so I got pretty good at it. Once I finished, the bronco was level at the frame. Looked perfect from a distance. Have a few thousand miles on it since, and now I have a visible lean. I pretty sure it's due to the new springs settling in, but who really knows?

All in all, a quarter or even half inch lean doesn't really bother me. My dads original 76 always had the lean, and I thought it was the way Broncos were supposed to be until I read otherwise on here....

Jeff

 

[4x4man514]

well im repacing the body mounts, installing new springs and cbushings with the WAH. so im trying to cover all bases while its apart.but as i said before im not sure if there is a proper technique to the cbushings with a WAH.
thanks

 

[Rickb1b]

Has anyone tried putting a spacer under the leaf springs on just one side, to make it level. Seems like a pretty simple way to fix the lean.

My experience, although limited to two broncos, has been the lean is caused by weak springs.

 

[70_Steve]

if you have a wristeds axle housing how do you keep things right since each side is now independant of each other?

do i need to install the radius arms before the wristed axle joint?
thanks!

If you have a wristed axle housing, you have eliminated the cause of the lean.

The "Bronco Lean" is caused by the improper installation of the c-bushings. That improper installation caused the radius arms to not be parallel. When reinstalled under the Bronco, the uneven radius arms combined with a soft suspension would torque the suspension to one side or the other, resulting in a lean.

That "torque" would be created by the rigid structure of the front differential housing and the radius arms. If you install a WAH, you eliminate that rigidness, and eliminate any lean due to improperly installed c-bushings.

 

[bronconut73]

If you have a wristed axle housing, you have eliminated the cause of the lean.

The "Bronco Lean" is caused by the improper installation of the c-bushings. That improper installation caused the radius arms to not be parallel. When reinstalled under the Bronco, the uneven radius arms combined with a soft suspension would torque the suspension to one side or the other, resulting in a lean.

That "torque" would be created by the rigid structure of the front differential housing and the radius arms. If you install a WAH, you eliminate that rigidness, and eliminate any lean due to improperly installed c-bushings.

My question regarding this WAH theory is that although the arms can be made to be parallel since the axle is wristed but won't that throw off your static caster atleast on one side?

 

[70_Steve]

My question regarding this WAH theory is that although the arms can be made to be parallel since the axle is wristed but won't that throw off your static caster atleast on one side?

I thought about that while writing my response. Yes, that would appear to be a possible hidden result. Seems like it would be a good idea to get a full alignment done after installing the WAH, just to verify acceptable caster numbers.

 

[4x4man514]

If you have a wristed axle housing, you have eliminated the cause of the lean.

The "Bronco Lean" is caused by the improper installation of the c-bushings. That improper installation caused the radius arms to not be parallel. When reinstalled under the Bronco, the uneven radius arms combined with a soft suspension would torque the suspension to one side or the other, resulting in a lean.

That "torque" would be created by the rigid structure of the front differential housing and the radius arms. If you install a WAH, you eliminate that rigidness, and eliminate any lean due to improperly installed c-bushings.

thats what i was thinking but i wanted to hear it from somebody else

My question regarding this WAH theory is that although the arms can be made to be parallel since the axle is wristed but won't that throw off your static caster atleast on one side?

i was wondering about that too. thats why i figured maybe i should try to install the c bushings while the axle is in one peice, then cut it and install the WAH. my worry there is that it will be too much heat put on the bushings. im not sure how close they are yet.

 

[Crude dude]

Something to check also, I have a set of C bushings in my Bronco right now that are labeled wrong. I installed them years ago without checking this and when installed my Bronco had a pretty bad lean. I took them back out and sure enough only 1 of the bushings is labeled incorrectly. It looked like one of the springs was about an inch or two shorter than the other side. I flipped it over and it fixed the problem

 

[bad 68]

I Too am a sceptic of the C bushing being installed with the axle out of the vehicle to get the arms paralell. I did this twice to no avail.

I changed brands both times just too be sure. Then my C bushings wore and fell apart and I still had the lean.

When I replaced the Cs for the third time I went with Daystar(?) and swaped the left spring and bucket with the right spring and bucket and now it sits flat as can be.

 

[keymonkey]

So I have been contemplating correcting my driver's side 1/2" lean. It was much larger, but new coils and springs corrected most, leaving the driver's side 1/2" lower than the pass. I'm wondering what the functional difference would be between jacking up, disconnecting the axle, and levelling as described in most threads on the topic, and........ Jack up the front up onto frame jacks. Remove front tires and lower the front axle down on to two jack stands until the pass settles, but the driver's is 1/2" above dangling. Loosen the driver's side radius arm bolts until the axle settles down on the jack stand. Re-tighten and lower everything back down.

 

[ksbronco75]

Welcome to hell. I tried and did correct mine when I put in new WH stock suspension 7 years ago. I've been noticing the more I've been driving it these past few years that it is slowly returning

 

[BGBronco]

I would leave 1/2 alone.