Help!!! Kings made my steering wonky.

[Fordified1]

Additional update. He explained how he air hammers the shocks out and doesn’t remove the CV’s when he did the install. How he explained it did make sense and he said they looked good.

You absolutely have to take the hub nut off and beat the cv shaft partially out of the hub to get enough length to get the old shocks out and new shocks in without chancing damaging a cv joint. Anyone who has done a bunch of these will tell you that I believe.

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[userdude]

@AccuTune Offroad

So it's "torque steer" and there's nothing they're going to do? Did they at least do a diagnostic, put it up on a lift and check things out?

 

[TXBronco1313]

Wait so they drove it and gave it back to you?

 

[Big Boss]

Hate to say it, but sounds like it's time to take it to a different shop and have them look at it. I am by no means an expert on this stuff, but it definitely seems like the original shop might have screwed something up and is now in cover their ass mode.

 

[Johnny Rebel]

Update: the update is no update the shop drove it with me in the car and I watched them fight the car center and was told “yup torque steer”.

I asked if they could check the cv’s to see if it was damaged by chance. He said they don’t really go anywhere and don’t get loose during the install process and I’d know if they were loose or damaged. I also asked about why the shocks were all the way firm on one side and all the way soft on the other side, and he just said “that wouldn’t cause this.”

so I’m at a loss. I’m annoyed as heck. @Accutuneoffroad wasn’t much help when I called. I used the shop they recommended and this car drives worse than it did before installed the kings. Borderline safety hazard.

Not sure where to go from here.

I was thinking about your problem on the way home from work yesterday, so decided to test something out.

I shifted into 4H on dry pavement at a very slow speed and accelerated several times like you mentioned in your post. There was absolutely no torque steer, BUT the rear squatted a LOT and the front lifted A LOT; way more than in 2H.

That made me wonder how your rear shocks are set up? In theory, if your rears are set to full-soft on the preload, and the clickers are way off (like the front was), I can see how it might affect straight-line tracking under heavy acceleration on dry pavement, particularly if your alignment isn't perfect.

Try this: Note your current rear clicker settings, then set them to full-hard on both sides and drive it again. Don't do anything to the front clickers.

 

[Broncobro04]

Mine does this too. Only in 4a under hard acceleration. I’m pretty sure it’s because when you accelerate hard, you squat, which raises the front end. The toe change from the front raising up combined with the front tires spinning (4a) causes it to get a little squirrely. Try stiffening up the rear and see if that helps.

 

[AccuTune Offroad]

@AccuTune Offroad

So it's "torque steer" and there's nothing they're going to do? Did they at least do a diagnostic, put it up on a lift and check things out?

Thanks for tagging us in, sorry for the delay. I had some time to go through the comments and get a better understanding of whats gong on. I totally understand the frustration and wanting answers. I wish we had answers and an easy solution.

I agree with others that the shocks are likely not the issue. There were some assumptions that the shocks may not be set up for vehicle correctly, which is also not the case. Different preload settings on vehicles is totally normal and often times required to get the vehicle to sit level. Compression adjuster settings would not cause the vehicle to pull to one side like described. Those adjusters are for fine tune adjustments. Driving in 4wd on the street however, will definitely do some weird stuff. I personally have never driven a 21+ Bronco on the street in 4wd to compare to my other experiences.

I'm not sure what could cause this issue the OP has. If we had experience with this issue, our sales team would be trained and ready to help if the topic popped up. Fortunately, we've not encountered this issue before so we have zero experience diagnosing it. We are always happy to help and go above and beyond to help customers (or non-customers) with suspension issues. This is an oddball situation and doesn't seem to be a common problem others have encountered. I sincerely hope a solution is found without too much more of a headache.

 

[swooshdave]

Given that this is not the first set of Kings on a Bronco but seemingly the first reported issue there are two possibilities (maybe more but let's start with these): Issue with the shocks. Issue with the installation. The story about air hammering out the old shocks makes me lean towards an installation issue.

 

[Johnny Rebel]

Mine does this too. Only in 4a under hard acceleration. I’m pretty sure it’s because when you accelerate hard, you squat, which raises the front end. The toe change from the front raising up combined with the front tires spinning (4a) causes it to get a little squirrely. Try stiffening up the rear and see if that helps.

Exactly!

 

[35tires]

I have done enough of this nonsense to say that you need a second set of paid eyes to give this a look.

Time is money but I've sunk FAR too much into fixing a problem that wasn't even the right problem in the first place just because I couldn't see outside of my install to identify the (very easy to make on accident) mistake. Happens to EVERYONE at some point.

 

[userdude]

I have done enough of this nonsense to say that you need a second set of paid eyes to give this a look.

Time is money but I've sunk FAR too much into fixing a problem that wasn't even the right problem in the first place just because I couldn't see outside of my install to identify the (very easy to make on accident) mistake. Happens to EVERYONE at some point.

We call that an XY problem in the IT field. Very easy to do, and is usually disrupted by a "oh wait" moment... lol Sometimes after lots of, uhh, arguing and pointing of fingers.

 

[Aonarch]

Additional update. He explained how he air hammers the shocks out and doesn’t remove the CV’s when he did the install. How he explained it did make sense and he said they looked good.

That is wild.

There are two methods of removing and installing shocks on these.

Method A. Remove tie rod from knuckle, remove sway bar end link from knuckle, remove upper control arm from knuckle, Remove axle nut, push out the CV stubs, then the top nuts of the strut, and then pressure down on the lower control arm to wrestle the strut out.

You absolutely have to remove the CV axle nut and put it out of the hub to prevent damage to the CV if you do method A.

Method B. Remove the lower control arm to the frame.

I prefer to do A, since it doesn't completely jack up the alignment.

Sounds like your guy just brute forced it, which DOES NOT WORK. I bet you have a separated CV joint.

 

[F-Spot]

Update: the update is no update the shop drove it with me in the car and I watched them fight the car center and was told “yup torque steer”.

I asked if they could check the cv’s to see if it was damaged by chance. He said they don’t really go anywhere and don’t get loose during the install process and I’d know if they were loose or damaged. I also asked about why the shocks were all the way firm on one side and all the way soft on the other side, and he just said “that wouldn’t cause this.”

so I’m at a loss. I’m annoyed as heck. @Accutuneoffroad wasn’t much help when I called. I used the shop they recommended and this car drives worse than it did before installed the kings. Borderline safety hazard.

Not sure where to go from here.

I'm thinking maybe take the Bronco to your dealer and just describe the issue. I would not mention you just got a new suspension installed. Just say you were in Sport 4A and you noticed the violent pull. I say this not to try to be shady with warranty, but so they don't automatically assume its the new suspension and don't even bother to check the CVs.

 

[AccuTune Offroad]

That is wild.

There are two methods of removing and installing shocks on these.

Method A. Remove tie rod from knuckle, remove sway bar end link from knuckle, remove upper control arm from knuckle, Remove axle nut, push out the CV stubs, then the top nuts of the strut, and then pressure down on the lower control arm to wrestle the strut out.

You absolutely have to remove the CV axle nut and put it out of the hub to prevent damage to the CV if you do method A.

Method B. Remove the lower control arm to the frame.

I prefer to do A, since it doesn't completely jack up the alignment.

Sounds like your guy just brute forced it, which DOES NOT WORK. I bet you have a separated CV joint.

Air hammer was used to push out the lower shock bolts that are pressed into bar pin. This allows you to remove the shock in a more efficient way.

 

[BAUS67]

That is wild.

There are two methods of removing and installing shocks on these.

Method A. Remove tie rod from knuckle, remove sway bar end link from knuckle, remove upper control arm from knuckle, Remove axle nut, push out the CV stubs, then the top nuts of the strut, and then pressure down on the lower control arm to wrestle the strut out.

You absolutely have to remove the CV axle nut and put it out of the hub to prevent damage to the CV if you do method A.

Method B. Remove the lower control arm to the frame.

I prefer to do A, since it doesn't completely jack up the alignment.

Sounds like your guy just brute forced it, which DOES NOT WORK. I bet you have a separated CV joint.

It does not jack up the alignment too bad, just mark a line on the cams that goes onto the crossmember. Then when reinstalling line up the marks and you should be close enough to drive to the alignment shop.

Agree the "brute force" method does not work as it pulls the CV apart, I've seen others do it.

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