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Replaced upper control arm now alignment is way off


oachs83

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2002 Ranger 3.0 4x4 torsion bar suspension. I replaced the upper control arm today and I am not kidding but the old one had over 1" of play when I would wiggle the tire. The truck always went down the road straight as an arrow and no irregular tire wear but that much play scared the heck out of me. I replaced the upper driver side arm immediately. The new arm went in a bit tight but seem to match perfect side by side with the old one. Anyways now the truck pulls to the left pretty hard and also the steering wheel is cocked to the left. I don't get it, this old arm with the ball joint practically falling out went down the road straight and this new one is all whacked. My only question is on the control arm there is that cam plate washer. Is there only one of these washers as I did not appear to have on on the front portion of the arm. Also should the flat side of that funky bolt be facing away from you as you are working on it or at you? I currently have it where the flat portion is facing away as you are staring at it. I don't understand why I would need an alignment after replacing the upper control arm. It appeared to me with the cam washer I could only go one way with the bolt but I am unsure. Am i missing something? Thank you.
 
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Divh

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it will need an alignment samething with my dads 98 his mechanic changed it and he cut up tires so i got stuck fixing it all
 

GodAmRanger

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The UCA has cam bolts that are used to align the truck.. Typically, even if you're going to align it after, it's best to mark the spots on the cam in relation to the mount, almost like if you were indexing a drive shaft before removing it.. Then, when you put the new stuff in, get it close to the mark you did and still get an alignment, but if you have to wait a day or 2 to get one, you won't trash your new suspension parts or tires..
 

Earl43P

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oachs83

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Thanks guys, a little update. I started to examine the other side and noticed that I put the washer cam on backwards according to the passenger side. Basically on the rear mount of the upper in my truck it can only go one of two ways and I of course put it in wrong at first. It made sense to as the flat side of the bolt was facing inward toward the engine on the passenger side so therefore the bolt on the driver side basically mirrored it flat side facing out. Also the front mount was put in opposite as well according to my passenger side. As the Passenger side flat part was facing inward but diagonal upwards. There are these clips that basically the bolt can go in either one of two ways. The driver side front mount the flat part of the bolt is facing inward as well but diagonal downwards.

It seems there are a bunch of variations of this suspension as I was trying to get some good pictures on google and there was so many different styles. The style I have seems to be one of two ways, the right way and the wrong way. There is no inbetween that I could see do to the way the clips and cam washer force you to have the bolt only put in a certain way. The steering wheel is now back to dead on straight. It does still pull a bit to the left but it goes down the road straight when I hold the wheel straight. That is telling me I have a issue elsewhere. The steering feels a little different but I am sure it's because the old arm was so bad I probably got used to it and now its correct I will just need to adapt.

I am in bad need of some new tires as well so probably have an alignment done the same time. The weird thing is the passenger side front tire has a bad very inside chop and wore the tread to where I can see a hint of cord on one spot. I moved that to the back and the the rear tire that is now on the front seemed to have perfect even wear across. IDK maybe that is contributing to my pulling? Thanks again guys.
 

oachs83

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Another update: So basically I am a tad embarrassed to admit this but want to put it out there to show the problem has been resolved now. After I flipped that cam washer on the upper control arm it was better but still had a pull to the left. I mentioned on the first post I had a chopped tire and moved that from the front right to the rear. Well I decided to check my toe on the front. I placed a pin in the tread of the tire midway up on the front and made a mark on the other tire. I took my measurement and rolled the truck backwards to the same height to take that measurement. Then I found my stupid mistake.

I noticed the pin height on the passenger side was not the same as the drivers. For example I put my pin height at 10 1/2" on both sides of the front. When I rolled it back The driver side was at 10 1/2" but the passenger was at 12". I thought how can that be? Then it hit me, dammit I forgot to take the other rear tire and complete the rotation. I did the right side first and then got caught up during my rotation when I discovered how bad the control arm was I went to the part store replaced the control arm and completely spaced off finishing the rotation. So basically what was going on the driver side tire was smaller than the right side by a total circumference of 1 1/2" causing the truck to pull to the left.

It was a dumb mistake and oversight but just wanted to hopefully close the book on this issue for now.
 
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