Or_rdnek

I have a 94 4x4 pickup. The drivers front wheel is pushed rearward an inch. Truck pulls hard left. I am not sure what would cause this. I am about to swap out Tre's, ball joints(top and bottom) pitman arm and idler arm and center link. All at the recommendation of the alignment shop. They may all need changed but i dont see how it could fix my issue. I read a post about bent LCA brackets but i dont know how to check if they are... any suspension wizards care to help a newb out?

rattlecanpaint

Could just be the adjuster on the lower control arm turned max one direction. Or that the little bracket that it rides in broke. Did you hit anything? Pot hole, tree, pedestrian?

Or_rdnek

Im sure someone hit something at some time. Of course the "family" member who borrowed it didnt hit anything... i have looked underneath for anything bent or out of place but i am yet to find where its at. It does look like the lca rear cam adjust bolt could be adjusted to push the rear out. If i take it in for an alignment do u think it could be resolved?

Jimkola

someone skilled may be able to see the damaged area, or at least narrow the focus. I doubt simply doing a alignment would remedy the pull if the wheel is truly a 1” further back on one side.

Or_rdnek

I took it to a local shop and they wanted to do all the ball joints tres pitman arm center link. Thats why im changing all the parts.

RJR

FInd another shop. None of those parts will move the wheel forward or back at all, they'll just affect toe and steering tightness. The wheel position is set by the LCA and UCA, and the LCA alignment bolts. Most likely causes of your issues are:
- Slipped LCA alignment cams/bolts
- bad LCA and/or UCA bushings
- bent LCA or UCA. (Those parts are very difficult to bend unless you were in a wreck.)
- bent frame

A combination of slipped LCA alignment bolts and bad bushings could add up to an inch of wheel motion. That works out to about a 4 deg change in caster, and I think the alignment cams have about that much range. By the way, that 1 inch rearward position is almost certainly the cause of your pull. 4 deg of caster mismatch would be huge, and the vehicle will always pull to the side with the lowest caster (most rearward wheel position given our geometries).

Definitely start with the LCA cams and bushings.

Paul22RE

Same thing happened to my 87 4Runner after hitting a bad ditch on one side 4-wheeling. Alignment shop adjusted control arm as far as it could go and truck did ride straight after that, but one wheel was always further back. Everything was replaced on that side over time, including upper & lower control arms, but wheel was always further back on that side. I attributed it to a slightly bent frame. Truck was only 2 months old when I did the damage

Or_rdnek

Thanks guys ill put the new parts on and take it somewhere else for alignment

akwheeler

I agree with everything RJR has to say except where to start. I would start with inspecting the frame, upper and lower control arm mounts and all of the components you are talking about replacing to see what really needs to be done.
the only reason that an alignment shop could get away with their recommendation that you replace all of those parts before they do an alignment is if there is play in them or they are trying to sell you on "the alignment will last longer if you start with new parts".
A good alignment tech will tell you if anything is bent and if anything has play and needs replacing before they can lock down the alignment. if you were to replace any parts after the alignment has been done then you should do another alignment so if anything is questionable replace it now.

Or_rdnek

Thank u. I already have the parts so im putting them all on so i know what ive got. Taking it to a different alignment shop after i install the parts

Co_94_PU

iTrader: (-1)

If you measure the distance between the cam tabs for the control arms it will tell you if the frame/cross-member are bent. There are actually factory measurements and locations in the FSM also for doing this.