Front axle not centered

[Kbug]

So I was looking at my 92 fj80 today and noticed that it looked like my left front tire was about flush with the fender, whereas my right front tire was tucked up under the fender a good bit. So I pulled out a tape measure and sure enough my left tire sticks out almost an inch further than my right tire does. I crawled under the truck and didn't see anything obvious, the truck has never been totaled and nothing looks bent underneath it, and the truck is stock (no lift). So far the only results I've found have been people having this issue due to lift kits, but I can't find any info on why this would happen on a stock truck. Any ideas?

 

[doughboy]

Saggy suspension maybe. Are the springs and socks original?

 

[Malleus]

Give it to @nukegoat for a weekend. He can roll it over on the right side for you and push the axle back in place.

 

[bajaphile]

Your panhard bar generally centers the axle. However, without a lift, or a severly sagging suspension, you wouldn't notice an 1" of offset. If your axle is pushed over to the left side, that would indicate you had a lift.

If it were me I'd use a straight edge and put it against the radius arms. If those are good, then your bushings may be out. Besides the panhard and radius arms, there isn't anything else that would be pushing the axle over. How many miles on the truck?

 

[Kbug]

Truck has about 180,000 miles on it. I replaced the shocks a little while back but never replaced the springs, and given that the truck had original shocks on it when I got it I'm assuming the springs are still original.

 

[lumbee1]

The panhard centers the axle under the truck left to right. The panhard is connected to the drivers side on the frame and the passenger side on the axle. As the axle moves down, the left tire will stick out more than the right side. As the axle moves up the right side will stick out more than the left side. Think of the axle moving in a arc with the frame mount being the center.

Now if your left side is sticking out more than the right and nothing is damaged, then the truck must be lifted. But with an inch of stickout, the lift would have to be 4 to 6 inches for the stick out to be noticeable. With sagging suspension, the right side would stick out more than the left side.

Verify that the PO did not put on an adjustable panhard. The panhard should be a solid piece. If there are nuts and threads, then it is adjustable and needs to be readjusted, by lengthening, to correct the stick out.

 

[Kbug]

It's the stock panhard, there's no adjustment nuts on it

 

[nukegoat]

Give it to @nukegoat for a weekend. He can roll it over on the right side for you and push the axle back in place.

Ive never rolled my rig! I am cautious

 

[LandCruisinMy93]

I'm going with fatigued springs.

 

[Tools R Us]

I'm going with fatigued springs.

Don't see how that would cause a lift? Some of us have broken panhard mounts, but that is associated with frequent/hard wheeling. Pix would help.

 

[LandCruisinMy93]

Don't see how that would cause a lift? Some of us have broken panhard mounts, but that is associated with frequent/hard wheeling. Pix would help.

Oh boy, I read it wrong. Front tires move left with a lift and right with sagging springs and the rear moves opposite. My bad.

 

[LS1FJ40]

There is an assumption that he measured correctly. What method did you use to measure?

I’m going to go with “passenger fender flare has been replaced with a 95-97 flare instead of a 91-94 flare”.

Or he’s parked on a side hill...

 

[Kbug]

Measured the gap from the spring to the tire. I'm pretty sure it's my bushings though, everything under the truck looks fine, nothing is bent, but the bushings are 25 years old at this point and have never been replaced.

 

[Fzj80 1997]

Did you ever find a solution to this issue? I’m ealing with it right now. Any help is much appreciated. Thanks

 

[cody c]

Stock wheels? Maybe you got aftermarket and one of them had different offset, had that happen once

 

[Fzj80 1997]

They’re factory wheels and the truck doesn’t have a lift. I think that the bracket for the front pan hard bar is bent

 

[lumbee1]

They’re factory wheels and the truck doesn’t have a lift. I think that the bracket for the front pan hard bar is bent

The bracket for the front panhard could be cracked. Checked the weld with a flashlight. It has happened before but usually on lifted rigs wheeled hard and put away wet.