Need more info on a special Ford alignment repair.

I’m trying to research this repair job and need to know some search terms to find it. it’s on a 2000 Ford E-150 Van.

My Tire Shop also does a lot of mechanic repairs. I trust them but this is something new. I brought it in last week and the Front End guy said he couldn’t get the tires aligned. It’s the adjustment that makes the tire stand straight up. Not leaning in or out.

Theres supposed to be a bushing or shim that has to be installed above each wheel. He estimated and hour and half to two hours shop time per wheel. It’s a trial and error thing to get the shim/bushing sized right. About 4 to 5 hours shop time. Almost $400 bucks with parts.

This is a first for me. I had to replace the ball joints on this van 2 years ago. That was over $400 and they did align the front end then. This darn front end is eating my butt.

If I can find this repair on the web then I’d at least understaand better why its so expensive.

I’m pretty sure that this problem happened last summer. I got cut off in traffic and hit the center divider avoiding a wreck. Bounced off it hard with the front wheels.

This diagram helps. I have negative camber.
http://www.ictworkshopsolutions.com/ict/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/Camber.jpg

Some excelent photos of the front wheel assembly here. I can see why ball joint replacement is so expensive.

I see Nothing on this camber alignment bushing that I need.

Best article I found on alignment. But nothing specific on how it’s repaired.

does mention the bushing

Well I think this is the part. They come in various degrees. I guess thats the trial and error that the Front End guy mentioned. They have several bushing angles they can try.

I had this filtered for the 2000 E150 but the copied URL doesn’t bring me back to that page.
http://www.jcwhitney.com/alignment-camber-bushing-kits/p2018250.jcwx?filterid=d18876y2000g2j1

Ford calls the part an adjuster. Carquest calls it a caster/camber bushing, but it’s not the type of bushing referred to in the text you quoted (which would be control arm bushings). It looks like this. Illustration #11 in the second link in your second post shows it as an “upper ball joint cam adjuster.” It goes into the top of the spindle and receives the upper ball joint stud.

The factory type is available in 15 different “sizes,” offering positions of 0º-3½º in ¼º increments to allow adjustment. Also available from the aftermarket are some slightly different types that seem to offer a greater adjustment range (-2º to +2º, and +3/4º to +2½º), though it’s not clear to me just how they work.

Presumably if one measures the caster and camber and compares it to specs, an appropriate size can be selected to eliminate, or at least reduce, trial and error. For example, if you need 1º additional caster and the old adjuster is marked “¼º”, you would try a 1¼º adjuster first. My info shows “book time” for front wheel alignment at 2.5. Book time isn’t always realistic, but I can’t help but wonder if 4-5 hours is unnecessarily high.

On preview I gather you found the adjusters.

Thanks GaryT.

I see what they’re doing now. Helps a lot just seeing the right part.

Sure glad this front end guy I’m using is supposed to be really good. Need someone skilled for this job.

Hopefully he’ll get it done in under three hours.

it’s complicated by the fact that your van still uses the “Twin I-Beam” front suspension, which normally doesn’t offer adjustments for camber or caster. if you hit something hard enough to knock camber out of spec, it doesn’t surprise me that it’s being a pain in the ass to get it back in line.

Got the work done. They got it much better. The camber is .1 now. All green on the print out. Before the bad numbers were in red.

But it seems to drive worse now. It’s pulls to the left. The steering is noticeably looser. Even a small turn of the steering wheel gets a response. The steering was very stiff before this work was done and that really effects how it drives.

They swapped the front tires. Checked the air. Computer swears its on the money. All the alignment numbers look good.

only have 52,000 miles. Doesn’t seem like anything else should be worn out. Although the ball joints went bad very early. They rusted out at 44,000 miles.

It may just be a matter of getting used to it.

I sometimes differentiate between a “pull” – let go of the wheel and it starts to change lanes – and a “drift” – let go and it slowly eases to one side. It’s just a matter of degree, but a drift is a lot easier to live with (and maybe safer) than a pull.

A pull/drift can be caused by uneven camber side-to-side (goes toward side with more camber), uneven caster side-to-side (goes toward side with less caster), toe-in off center (goes toward side with less toe-in), faulty tire(s), or rear axle not perpendicular to thrust line of front wheels. Presumably all of these factors have been covered with the alignment and tire swapping. Nevertheless, human error is always a possibility, e.g. the steering wheel wasn’t really centered when adjusting toe, or the rear axle geometry wasn’t properly measured.

Roads are almost always crowned – high in the center so that rain sheds off to the sides. The slight slope from the crown can cause a drift to the right. This is usually compensated for by adjusting for a bit more caster on the right side, causing what would be a drift to the left on a perfectly flat surface. The alignment specs for your vehicle actually show a nominal caster value of ½º more on the right than on the left, no doubt for this reason. Possibly the left/right caster differential is too great (significantly more than ½º). This could be so even if caster on both sides is well within specs, which allow a range of almost ±3° from the nominal value.

If the steering requires less effort and is more responsive (and not “loose” in the sense of mushy/wallowy), I’d say that’s a good thing.

I’ve seen more problems with ball joints on Fords than on other makes. The aftermarket premium grade replacements are designed as improvements on the original.

Its a slow drift to the left if you take your hands off the wheel. No sharp pull thankfully.

I drove it again this morning and it wasn’t as noticeable. I don’t normally take my hands off the wheel anyway. If it becomes a problem I’ll take it back to the shop for sure.

thank GaryT