So just got my truck back from Big O (again) and this time I had the owner look at it. He ended up getting it leveled out for the most part but its still got a pull to it...but overall I'm happy at least it's not leaning anymore. Still haven't even gotten the new tbars yet so may return them and go pick up an offroad bumper, and some mud flaps so I don't get pulled over

 

did they re-do the alignment after they leveled it? if not, there might be your issue

 

Yea they said they did

 

My truck does the exact same thing. Is it really important to get it fixed right away? Could it mess something up? or is it something that just makes the truck look bad by leaning?

 

leaning means that your springs are not supporting your vehicle, can cause a rougher ride (bouncy) go through shocks faster because they have to work harder, if it's pulling it could cause premature tire wear in some spots but not others.

it's important to take care of anything on a vehicle that has become more hurt than help, but as far as priority some would believe it to be low on the list, which when it comes to driveability (engine trans 3rd etc) yea its low, but long run you'll be going through other components because they aren't getting the support they need

 

Yea I talked myself out of the bumper last night after literally drooling over it this past week. Gonna get some other stuff fixed to get it running at 100% first.
Few things that have just popped up I'm looking into:

1. The pulling right situation. Currently has rough country lift on blocks in rear so I'm looking into some springs that will get it off the blocks and hopefully this was the culprit for the lean in the first place.
Anyone have any suggestions on new springs?

2. Intermittent high pitched squealing coming from the front end somewhere when off road and front wheels are in locked position. Only happens on trails.

3. Squealing coming from back of instrument cluster (jumpy speedo is the culprit I presume).

4. After engine is warmed up if I turn it off and back on (while it's still warm) it has a very low/rough idle sub 500 rpm and dies sometimes if I don't get it into gear fast enough. After driving a little and stopping in neutral it idles fine though. Did some searching and have found recalls with part swaps (though some said wasn't the real problem) and others with no idea.

 

don't think the lift is your problem. I have the same lift, and don't have that prob. may be improper install tho. a pull is usually a tire and alignment thing. sure lifts change your suspension, but still. have your camber toe and caster checked. with a lift kit the specs on the truck are different than what shops have saved on their alignment machine computers. I guessed my alignment at school with my teachers and a tape measurer because the machine wanted to set the toe so that it would pull and bump steer, which is what alignments are supposed to get rid of.

as for the idling problem maybe check if you have an exhaust valve leak, my truck used to bog after warm up because my exhaust valves where toast. (hold a string by your exhaust tip if it goes out you have normal flow, if it goes in you're valves are leaking)

 

Oh and I'm gonna keep the Sway-A-Way torsion bars and have those installed too instead of paying the return shipping on those beasts.

 

Well the owner at Big O said that the install was done a little wrong as far as getting things tweaked the way they are supposed to be. Also said that with the lift it was hard/almost impossible to get it within the stock specs, and this was coming from a guy who grew up using string instead of a machine. They said they could mess with it some more but made no promises.

EDIT: and thanks for the how to on the exhaust valve leak test : )

 

well first: can't use stock specs. it's NOT STOCK
second: the string only really works on the toe, not much on camber and caster... not saying he doesn't know his stuff, I'm just a student and the ol' guys totally know their stuff.

as for the improper install really hard to mess up the rear end... its blocks that are engineered with an angle so that you don't lose the alignment angle of your transmission and differential. and they have alignment pins so they stay seated on the axle mounts

if it's dog tracking then the axle has shifted left/right or one tire is forward of the other.

most of the time you can't fix dog tracking on a solid rear axle, but if its really significant you can. (mine is 0.03 off, so you can't fix that, but you also can't feel a pull either)

I'd say if it's pulling a lot just ask him to string the front tires so they toe in slightly (normal for RWD, so when the truck drives forward they straighten out) don't worry about specs, just that the tires track right and the camber is good straight.

caster (3rd angle of alignment) isn't as important, it will cause a pull, but not tire wear. camber and toe do tho, which should be your main concern. pulling a little to the left is normal to compensate road crown, but to the right isn't normal. also heavy pull. you should be able to count to 6 before you notice a pull to either side for it to be within "spec" least thats what my suspension teachers told me, and i passed that top of my class (not boasting, I don't want to step on the ol' guys toes, I'm still green to the auto trade, but I did pay attention to some ol' guys teaching me this info)

If you strongly believe the lift is the problem, then have them take it off, get stock tires, and have them align a stock truck to stock specs. otherwise you're never gonna get it right if you use a modified truck to stock specs. nothing works like that. its like using domestic parts to fix an import or vise versa.

 

Yea he said (can't remember what it was called) but one side of the vehicle wasn't aligned and was pulling and that was the lean I'm assuming. And it starts pulling immediately after letting go of the steering wheel.
With the bad install advice, he said he took some bolts out and reangled some stuff. I could tell cause the passenger side lower arm was now angled a little lower than it was before.
The only thing that really bothers me is that all the repair shops in town have people with no real schooling messing with the vehicles so I'm really hesitant to pay $70 and getting it back worse. Not to mention the first time they told me the frame was bent and the 2nd time it was just some tweaking to be done. I have 2 more shops in town that do alignments so I'll maybe give another shop a shot at it first.

 

i know this isnt the primay culprit but also consider that your gas tank is on the passenger side and when full... your talking about 250ish pounds of fuel on that side of the vehicle. While that cant cause the large droop your having, it certainly cant help the situation.


I can actually see the difference in the "stance" of my truck after I fill up at the gas pump

 

I was searching torsion bar adjustment and found this thread. My original question was answered, and now I can help a bit, too!
Here's the factory service manual for a '93 pickup, so far I haven't seen any difference between this and my '92 pickup: http://personal.utulsa.edu/~nathan-buchanan/93fsm/
It covers a lot more than the Hayne's.
Also, for the rough idle and stalling out, I had the same issue a few months ago and about a month later I got a check engine light for the Oxygen sensor. I did a little research and it looked like the oxygen sensor could cause poor idling and stalling. I replaced it and it's been fine ever since.
Hope that helps!

 

Glad you figured out your torsion bar question too!
The rough idle thing though, was that just when the engine was first turned on when already warmed up (like say when running errands) or just at idle anytime in general. Cause mine idles fine after you get it running down the road, like I said when first started and if it's already warmed up I get the idle problem.
Still gotta do the string test to rule out my exhaust valves.

 

It only happened once during the winter when I went up to the mountains for a bit of snow wheeling. It wasn't too cold, though, I doubt it was below freezing. I had turned it off to park after driving for about an hour and a half and then when I turned it back on the idle lowered and stalled out. It could have been the altitude, but then I had the CEL on and I found out the stalling out was a symptom of a bad O2 sensor, too.