Rear Cradle Alignment

[vxr50t]

hey guys just want to know how most workshops align/realign the rear cradle if they came out crooked from Ford

I got my front diff and side bushes done today by a reputable workshop and I have 10" rear wheels both running -1.5deg camber with adj camber arms.

after the install I noticed the passenger side sits flush while the drivers side sticks out and the only explanation I can think of is that the rear cradle isn't aligned properly

Passenger Side

Driver's Side

can anyone shed some light on this? I got told there isn't much room to play with in terms of adjusting the rear cradle.

is it simply because one side was tightened up fully before the other rather than a gradual tightening of the rear cradle bolts before fully locking it into position?

[Mr_4.0]

To do it properly, there are two dowels that you use to locate in two holes through the cradle and body of the car. Without using them, it's not going to be ideal.

[jas98]

I never used dowls. I used the ends of a supercheap jack handle and moved it around a little untill the holes lined up...worked perfect, but I have seen them wayyyyyyy out, see if the holes line up, if not take it back to them and tell em to do it again

[ratter]

I had a mechanic that came from a ford dealership, he used to just use his pry bar to align the holes and that's how they did it in his dealership.

Not every car that comes into the shop has the holes aligned, are we supposed to put it back to where it was when it came in or align it correctly with the holes?

if we do not put it back to where it was, the rear end will be different.

to answer the question before it gets asked, yes we align it ti the holes and then get a 4 wheel alignment done on it.

[Mr_4.0]

Considering how simple and effective the dowels are. I'm surprised that the ford dealership mechanic used a pry bar to align. I can promise you at Ford product development and at proving ground, that is NOT how they are taught to do it.

How often would you see customers cars with misaligned cradles mick?

[ratter]

not every car, but is very common

[JETURBO]

We talking the two oblong almost oval holes ?

And where can u buy the dowel pins from ?

[spook]

I did mine yesterday (diff bushes) and marked it all up before disassembly. My rear wheels were always (since iv'e had the car) slightly too far to the drivers side (few mm) but never caused any issues with alignments etc. All went back together fine and mesures up the same as before. Guess I could get fussy and square it up then get an alignment - maybe one day as it's not that difficult.

[Ralph Wiggum]

We talking the two oblong almost oval holes ?

And where can u buy the dowel pins from ?

SPX tools make them for Fraud (along with quite a lot of the service tooling) I tried to buy a set from a couple of dealers and was told they are not available to buy. I also tried an industrial SPX agent and they couldn't supply and also tried SPX directly....... no dice. So I got some machined locally.

[wa g6et]

Just pop into a Ford dealership and check the FGs on the lot, guarantee most are out at least a few mm. Might not be the cradle out, might be the body panels!

Always seems to be towards the drivers side too.