Replacing ball joints - '93 Ford E350 Motorhome

[rgnprof]

Thanks for the replies - appreciated!


Any thoughts on the caster?


How much toe? 1/16" enough?

[sibe]

Some toe in is required but wander is much more about getting caster to 5 on left 5.5 on rt..

I have had a 94 for 8 years and have a 96 now that drives arrow straight and wears tires pretty nice.

[rgnprof]

I am sitting at a tire and alignment shop feeling like I'm getting fleeced!

They quoted me $129 for the alignment and another $375 to "properly install" the adjustable bushings that I supplied from SP. He quoted me 3 hours of shop labor - "you have to keep doing it over and over, remove them you have to redo ...." etc.



I balked and he decided to only charge me 2 hours but total cost of an alignment will be approximately $430.00.


I don't know, but that seems a bit much! I feel like I'm a bit between a rock and a hard place, because something needs to be done, but am I getting fleeced?


ryan

[rgnprof]

And to top it off - I just overhead the guy - who quoted me the price - on the phone looking for instructions for these adjustable sleeve bushings. I heard him say "part no. 24180" and knew exactly what he was talking about. I happened to have a PDF on my laptop and he took some pics.


Not filling me with confidence here...

[donr103]

Go to favorite a/p store or online and get basic automotive repair book for ford 1993 vans book.. mine covers e350.. I have both Haynes and Chilton... saved me thousands of dollars... if you never done this..
Make sure you use all parts with grease fittings.. a/p stores rent tools free.. get yourself ford obd1 scanner too.. definitely replace tie rod end and all.. both sides ball joints.. beware some ford van ball joints use snap rings to hold ball joints in place.. and you cannot see them under all the crud ... so a lot or PB. Rust blaster.. at least 2 large cans per side...
I have 1993 ford conversation van I bought new in 1993.. and still daily driver..
Also you need many wire brushes.. I like the ones made like tooth brush.. and med size wire brush.. and big bottle of antiseeze..
Use lots of rust blaster.. then wire brush... all threads.. then antiseeze on threads.. before you take off..
Take many cell phone with camera and flash and record number of threads.. and record how each part goes on 1st.. now on mine.. you just as well be ready to re pack front wheel bearings.. and inspect them closely.. so add bearing grease and box of rubber gloves.. you may find that bearings need replacement.. also do a brake rebuild..
Change brake fluid and inspect rubber hose..
Good luck and keep us posted

[Ron Dittmer]

Originally Posted by rgnprof

I am sitting at a tire and alignment shop feeling like I'm getting fleeced!

They quoted me $129 for the alignment and another $375 to "properly install" the adjustable bushings that I supplied from SP. He quoted me 3 hours of shop labor - "you have to keep doing it over and over, remove them you have to redo ...." etc.

I balked and he decided to only charge me 2 hours but total cost of an alignment will be approximately $430.00.

I don't know, but that seems a bit much! I feel like I'm a bit between a rock and a hard place, because something needs to be done, but am I getting fleeced?


ryan

Ryan,

I brought a pair of those adjustable bushings to my alignment shop for aligning my 2007 E350 motorhome, but they refused to use them. They claim they move around, loosing their setting over time. I feel that statement was hogwash. They just refused to do the extra work involved with using them.

I decided to let the shop do what they want and returned the adjustable bushings. I wanted more caster which of coarse they could not achieve with the fixed bushing.

If you wonder why my original camber was so out of spec, I had just replaced the front coil springs with lower-rated ones, hence the need for an alignment.


For the benefit of others, here is an adjustable alignment bushing.


Here is a "fixed" alignment bushing.

[rgnprof]

They tried for several hours (I watched) and it was obvious that they did not know how to install them. For anyone who wants to know you almost HAVE to begin the installation with a Zero degree bushing from start so you know where you're starting from - they repeatedly did not do this, even though I tried to point it out several times.


Eventually I suggested "let's try the fixed one's again - maybe try to go up a bit from what was in there". If you remember from earlier in this thread I had 2 1/4 degree bushing installed on Driver's side and 1 1/4 degree on passenger side. They tried a 3 1/4 but that didn't work - camber was way off. So....we went back to the 2 1/4 on Driver and 2 1/4 on passenger side and finally got things close enough...I think.


I ended up with 6.5 degrees LEFT and 6.6 degrees RIGHT - CASTER, but my CAMBER is still off some - +1.35 degrees LEFT and -.15 degrees RIGHT. Very slight toe-in and RV seemed to run great the 15 mile ride home.



They said I might have some wear on the outside edge of the left front tire and the inside edge of the right front tire. They suggested swapping tires at oil change...I have read that Camber specs are not that important because these RV tires age out - they don't wear out - normally!

[rgnprof]

If you read through my previous post detailing the result of alignment saga - my question is this : Is it possible to get 6.5 degrees of Caster out of 2 1/4 degree bushings? Seems like a lot of Caster for these bushings...but I'm really new to this alignment stuff.


ryan

[sibe]

Originally Posted by rgnprof

If you read through my previous post detailing the result of alignment saga - my question is this : Is it possible to get 6.5 degrees of Caster out of 2 1/4 degree bushings? Seems like a lot of Caster for these bushings...but I'm really new to this alignment stuff.


ryan

Yes generally..
Back in the day, we did alot of ford vans and 4x4 pick ups.. same bushing styles..

I had a chart from MOOG that has columns that showed approx clock turning the bushing an result degree change..

Point is 2 or so change in bushing..is a bit more on vehicle from my experience..

Also if you have 3.5 castor now with stock zero bush then adding 2+ adjust bushing puts you in the 5.5-6 caster... Now that is just saying.. results vary.. but the concept works..