>> TORSION bar crank-up = ALIGNMENT needed or NOT?... the controversy continues...

[fixizin]

Actually, 4x4junkie's FAQ is thee ONLY post I've ever seen saying NO front-end re-alignment is necessary...

... OTOH, JohnnyO's '1998+ Lift FAQs' (and EVERY other one I've ever seen) says you DO need an alignment...

... some even go so far as to say you'll need new eccentrics to even be able to align it!...

WHAT say ye, RKIs?

 

[4.0blue98]

Interesting... I'm curious about this too. I cranked mine about three years ago and it really brought the camber back from the sag before. I was just leveling the front to rear. Probably about three rotations on both sides. Never professionally aligned after but checked things myself and tires wore fine.

 

[bobbywalter]

this assumes you do not already need an alignment. which odds are. you do.


you have to measure....before and after. only way to know.

 

[19Walt93]

Just get it aligned, ride height is one of the prechecks because it makes a difference. We had one customer who must have weighed at least 350 lbs, he came back about a month after an alignment with obvious camber wear on his left front tire. Our old alignment guy somehow got him to sit in the car while he redid the alignment, compensating for his weight. Somehow he managed to do it without insulting the customer.

 

[rubydist]

The answer is "it depends" because you can adjust the torsion keys some without getting outside the spec, but eventually it will be outside of spec. The toe should not change, and the caster should not change, but the camber will change as you adjust the ride height. So, depending on how far you move the ride height, eventually you will get out of spec on the camber.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

I’m going with “it depends”. Theoretically with the A-arm suspension if it’s correctly aligned it should cycle through it’s entire range of motion without ending up out of spec, assuming you didn’t need an alignment.

Another thing I’m gonna throw out there is that adjusting ride height, I’ve found that the suspension needs to “settle” before an alignment. Leaf springs seem to take a little driving to fully settle. Coils and torsion bars not so much, but they need to be rolled a little. Case in point, my green Ranger. I took a bunch of turns off the torsion bars to lower the front and rolled the truck forward about 5’ and when I measured my gap between the tire and top of the wheel arch, I had about 2.5”, which was still more than I wanted, so I took the weight off the suspension and wound the bars down about as far as I could and when I put it back on the ground without rolling it, I suddenly had 2.75” (I took like 8 turns off the adjusters) and I scratched my head as to how I ended up gaining height instead of losing it and after jacking the one side back up I realized what was going on, much like the TTB/TIB fronts, when you jack them up and set them back down, you have to roll them on the wheels to settle everything in place.

 

[franklin2]

I’m going with “it depends”. Theoretically with the A-arm suspension if it’s correctly aligned it should cycle through it’s entire range of motion without ending up out of spec, assuming you didn’t need an alignment.

I do not agree. Most vehicles including rangers have short arm-long arm front suspensions. This design has been around ever since the a-arm suspensions came out.

Like most everything else in the front end, the a-arms swing in a arc through their travel. If you wanted things to stay the same, you would make both arms equal length. But no, they make the top one shorter on purpose. That is so when you go around a turn, and the outside front suspension compresses, it tucks the top of the tire in and kicks the bottom out, changing the camber. This keeps the tire contact patch flatter and helps the vehicle go around the turn better.

When you change the ride height, you are changing the camber because it's intentionally designed to do so. Like the others said, there is a tolerance in the specs and you still may be in barely, depending on how much it was sagging before and how much you move it. But changing the ride height always changes the alignment.

 

[19Walt93]

The answer is "it depends" because you can adjust the torsion keys some without getting outside the spec, but eventually it will be outside of spec. The toe should not change, and the caster should not change, but the camber will change as you adjust the ride height. So, depending on how far you move the ride height, eventually you will get out of spec on the camber.

Close but no cigar. "In spec" means withing the allowable range, "set to preferred" means the vehicle is actually in alignment. For example: if the camber is at max positive and the toe in is at or near max, it will eat the outside edges off the tread. Tires are more expensive than ever.

 

[rubydist]

Exactly what I said "it depends"

 

[Lefty]

I lowered mine about 3/4". I could see the camber change, but not that much. I'm just going to drive it that way.

 

[Blmpkn]

Apart from changing sway bar endlinks.. anything happens to the front suspension.. alignment.

 

[4x4junkie]

Actually, 4x4junkie's FAQ is thee ONLY post I've ever seen saying NO front-end re-alignment is necessary...

... OTOH, JohnnyO's '1998+ Lift FAQs' (and EVERY other one I've ever seen) says you DO need an alignment...

... some even go so far as to say you'll need new eccentrics to even be able to align it!...

WHAT say ye, RKIs?

Actually (really)...
The page linked from the FAQ does say an alignment is recommended (though not required). It also suggests not to crank the bars for more than 2" lift.
If you keep it to 1.5-2" addl lift, it is possible to get away with not having to realign it (this obviously assumes it was in alignment before you cranked the bars up). But no matter what, the alignment (the camber in particular) will change, it's just a matter of whether it'll change enough to affect your tires (it almost certainly will if you go over 2").

With the truck parked on level ground and the wheels pointed straight ahead, sight down alongside the truck and see if the tops of the front wheels appear tilted inward at all... If they look OK, chances are you should be fine. But if they tilt inward at the top (negative camber), then I suggest having a realignment done on it.

Hope that clarifies.

 

[franklin2]

Actually (really)...
The page linked from the FAQ does say an alignment is recommended (though not required). It also suggests not to crank the bars for more than 2" lift.
If you keep it to 1.5-2" addl lift, it is possible to get away with not having to realign it (this obviously assumes it was in alignment before you cranked the bars up). But no matter what, the alignment (the camber in particular) will change, it's just a matter of whether it'll change enough to affect your tires (it almost certainly will if you go over 2").

With the truck parked on level ground and the wheels pointed straight ahead, sight down alongside the truck and see if the tops of the front wheels appear tilted inward at all... If they look OK, chances are you should be fine. But if they tilt inward at the top (negative camber), then I suggest having a realignment done on it.

Hope that clarifies.

I don't agree here also. The 2 inches is about being able to get it aligned at all. Any height change will affect alignment. If you change it more than 2 inches with the bars, and then take it to get it aligned, the alignment guy is going to try to get it in, but there will not be enough adjustment. Even raising it 1.5 inches, he is going be able to barely get it back in before he runs out of adjustment. That is what the 1.5-2 inches is about in the instructions.

 

[4x4junkie]

I don't agree here also. The 2 inches is about being able to get it aligned at all. Any height change will affect alignment. If you change it more than 2 inches with the bars, and then take it to get it aligned, the alignment guy is going to try to get it in, but there will not be enough adjustment. Even raising it 1.5 inches, he is going be able to barely get it back in before he runs out of adjustment. That is what the 1.5-2 inches is about in the instructions.

Well if you're looking for it to be right dead-on, then certainly I suggest have it realigned afterward (and is exactly why I stated in the article that it is recommended to do so). I'm not arguing that it's not possible for it to be out of spec. Whether it's out enough to affect the wear of your tires to a significant degree however, is more up for debate.

I wrote that article two decades ago. Around that time I helped a friend raise his truck via the torsion bars (a Supercab 4x4, 2001 I think). In checking the alignment afterward, I found the camber did shift slightly (about half to one degree), with no significant change in toe or caster (contrast this with a TTB truck where all three change quite dramatically with any change in height). The slight camber change I felt was not an issue, and no abnormal tire wear ensued. Reports from others on the forum also seemed to confirm similar experiences. So I guess take it for what it's worth.

 

[sgtsandman]

I agree. When I did the suspension upgrades and replacements on the 2011, I took it in for an alignment and they said it was damn close but it was off. I could have just driven it as it was but better to make sure than to eat a set of tires because you didn’t. In my opinion, the cost of the alignment was money well spent.