I finally got my Rancho 4" installed and now the front wheels won't align...?? The alignment shop says I need to go to a frame shop to have them adjust the subframe (the rancho part). This doesn't seem right. They say it's off by about a quater inch so the left wheel leans inward at about 3 degrees and the right leans out, and now my steering wheel isn't straight either.

Has this ever happened to anyone here?

 

Bummer. I'd advise Racho of your problem immediately.

 

I agree. This is the first post I've ever read on this problem with the Ranch lift (or any other major lift brand).

 

Take a look at this picture of my sub-frame:



Can you see how there is an elongated slit type of bolt hole where the Rancho sub-frame attaches to the stocker one? Because of those elongated holes on the stock sub-frame, it looks like that allows for some play to the right or left before tightening the Rancho sub-frame to the stock one. Perhaps yours is all the way to the right or left...a little too much to correct with a simple alignment. Not sure though, just a guess.

 

Geez, thats no big deal. My alignment shop would of fixed that for me and never even mentioned it until I was done.

 

My procomp kit is the same way. They shifted my subframe over but it still wasnt enough. I have one side maxed out and one side maxed in. I had it done at 4wheelparts the allignment atleast and they said that sometimes happened due to the jig warping with welding all the kits and if you get the kit that was one of the last made befor they recheck the jig you could have a warped kit. Because I did the install my self though they wanted an hourly rate of 95 to take the kit off and grind out the holes to allow more shift in the sub frame and then reinstall it. they gave me the line that if they had done the install they would do this for free which is a bunch of crap I know they would have still charged me to grind the holes. I just rotate often and hope for the best wear I can get. Also my truck drives fine just i have some camber issue on one side.

 

Well I called Rancho and they advisewd me to waranty it... They'll pay for the labor too, but what a pain here's another week without my truck.

My mech told me it may have been a warped jig, but Rancho said they haven't heard this before and it most likely was damaged in frieght. The aligment shop adjusted the subframe as much as they could but no dice.

I'm gonna take it to a frame shop to double check that my frame is fine before I send it back to Rancho just to be sure, but this is G@Y! Especially because the Rancho kit is sooo damn expensive. (although I got a steal of a deal on mine but had to wait 7 weeks for it and now this.)


Well it looks good at least... Too bad it doesn't drive like it should.

Thanks for the replies guys! Gotta love this forum!!

One of these centuries I will have the truck I paid for... I hope.

 

Well finally got this BS resolved. The alignment shop didn't know what they were doing as Brian from Rancho and I found out. I sent a pic to him and right away he noticed the bolts attaching the lower control arms were snug to the inside and the alignment shop was simply trying to move the LCA with just th bolt rather than manually attemping to pull the control arm out and the fine tune with the bolts.

Anyway got that fixed and now I have to get ford to replace the 4WD spindle collar thinngy because its doin the baby rattle and I tested it with a vacuum guage and its slowly loosing vacuum.

 

Glad you got it worked out

 

Me too, I was having trouble believing that the kit was bad.

 

nxtlvl, could you post some pics? I am looking at the same lift/wheel combo for my 2005 screw. Have you had any rubbing or clearance issues?
thanks

 

I'm looking to get some rancho shocks later but not sure now. Can you tell me what model shocks you got?

 

I have the RS9000x 9 setting adjustable shocks designed for the rancho 4" kit. I haven't installed the remote damping yet since I've been too busy trying to figure out the alignment shop didn't know what they were doing. She's all straight now and the Kal Tire I took it too had her finished in about an hour and a half with no issues.

I highly recommend Rancho for there awesome customer service and great produts.

Back to the shocks, I drive on street with the front at 8 and the back at 4 or 5, but as soon as I'm on a dirt / logging road I soften them to 3 all the way around and it handles like a champ!

I also highly recommend the ProComp Xtreme ATs! I've been a die hard BFG AT fan forever, but the quiet ride on the street and awesome grip offroad makes them worth the xtra $$$ although I did catch the buy 3 get 1 free sale which is really why I decided to try them.

Check out the pics in my gallery

 

Nxtlvl - what size ProComps are you running? That's a nice fit with the 4" lift.

 

The tires are 35 x 12.5 R18LT Kind of expensive, but when I bought them there was a buy 3 get 1 free sale so I got the pro-comps instead of the BFGs.... And I have to admit they are way better than the BFG A/Ts for noise, traction and style.. the only negative I see is that they're directional so they may not wear as even, but so far I love them!

They're really quiet on the road and i go offroad in the backcountry here in BC all the time and the only time I've been stuck was when I tried to get stuck in a foot of snow on top of mud... But i was only stuck because I was in 4 low and 4 hi has positraction which actually got us out. I was going to take pics, but I was a bit stressed about being stuck out in Grizlly Bear country and just wanted to get back on the FSR (Forest Service Road).

Hope you get a set of ProComp Xtreme ATs cause they kick ***!