Well, last weekend I installed my new 4 inch BDS suspension system complete with extended radius arms and replacement leaf springs, but it didn't go off without a hitch. The front now sits 3 inches lower than the rear; the replacement rear springs gave me 7 inches of lift. Also, the front wheels are pulled back in the wheel wells so that from a birds eye view the front axle is bowed so much that the drive axle is almost touching the suspension arm at the point where it enters inside the arm.
I have verified that all the brackets are in their exact right locations and everything is installed correctly, yet nothing is right. It's almost like I got the wrong kit, but according to the part numbers and BDS's website and customer service I got the right parts.
Does anybody know if there were any changes in the Bronco's TTB design from 1985-1995? If anybody has run into this problem before or knows what the problem is, please let me know! Thanks.

There were no changes.

Some pics of your current situation would help. These were brand new rear springs? You aren't exagerating on your height difference? The springs will settle.

we need Pics.

Then we can help.

It sounds like your radius arm brackets are mounted too far back or the arms are too short... maybe you got the brackets lined up to the wrong holes? As for the rear, that is about 3" too much lift as 4" lift should level it with 6" up front. Springs will settle, however, so ask BDS how much their springs settle. I'm with Juice... PICS!

For the rear you could just take out the factory lift blocks, for the front??

im with muddy on this one i think that you might have miss measured the radius arms and put them too far back. just double check and measure twice. not saying that you are tape measure illiterate but hey evryone makes mistakes.

Ok, I finally set up my Superford Registry so that I can post pictures for all to see. If you click the link in my sig. you can see the album dealing with the BDS lift and see what I am talking about.
I am 99% sure that the radius arms that BDS sent me are not built correctly. I have tried new Ford bushings and they didn't fix the problem with the unthreaded portion of the bar being too long. I have remeasured the bracket location twice now and it is in the exact right location. It's pretty hard to mess up because in order to locate the brackets you use an exising hole in the frame for one of the bolt holes and you can double check it by measuring to the body mount rivets. I am 100% sure the brackets are in the correct locations.
Another thing that seals the deal for me is that they advertise on their website that the arms are supposed to be 46 inches long, while the ones that they sent me are only 41 inches long, even if you trace the bend with the measuring tape.
Let me know if you see any flaws in my logic here.

As for the stance of the truck, it is higher in the rear by one inch because of the stock wedge that was needed to correct driveline angles. As for the other two inches...who knows where they came from. The springs will settle, and the front will come up slightly when the axle is sitting square under the springs, but I don't expect to see two inches of lift come from that. I hope those springs settle a lot, otherwise I'll probably be putting some 6 inch coils in front sometime soon! Thanks for your help guys, it's much appreciated.
Ben Schilling

That is very odd indeed. I read the instructions on their site and you aligned the bracket just as they show, and everything else looks right too. You could always move the brackets forward on the frame, but I would definitely want some form of compensation from BDS if I had to do custom work like that. What's their take on this? Try to get some dimensions of the radius arms from them so you can compare, since the only thing I can think of is that they got off a couple inches when building the arms, but surely that couldn't happen on both arms. I don't think there were any changes to the TTB or body mounts that would cause this problem, so I am clueless. Get ahold of BDS, email them the pics, and see what they think... that's all I can tell ya [img]images/graemlins/bs.gif[/img]

One step ahead of you...I emailed them the pics on Friday and talked to an engineer there for a little while and my next step is to call them back with the dimensions of the radius arms that they sent me. He told me that those arms are welded in a welding jig, so it's unlikely that they would be "off", but if they were, it would make sense that at least one batch of them would be "off". I really hope that the arms are built incorrectly, I hesitate to go drilling even more holes in my frame and I don't like rigging stuff. I want it to be done right, it's the only way you can be sure it's going to work. I'll update you on Monday as to what they have told me and what they are going to do.

Are you sure they gave you a 4" kit and not a 6" kit? If the rear is really that much higher, id try changing the axle pivot into the lower hole on the drop-bracket and see if it helps with anything.
very weird!![img]images/graemlins/confused.gif[/img] [img]images/graemlins/confused.gif[/img]

OK Ben, the pics help alot. Having a 4" lift as well (or what was once a 4" lift), couple things I will mention:

Passenger side axleshaft, when I am really flexed mine rubbed too. Just a bit, so I ground the TTB arm in the exact location you show as being close. no more rub.

Something is surely amiss with your radius arms. all else looks good in the front. The fact that your front driveshaft slip joint is very compressed, along with your side pic showing the front tires (33's as well!) being too close to the rear part of the wheelwell, and having to used 7/8" worth of spacers (which would move the radius arm/TTB forward)...something is not right in your radius arm spacing. Now, roughly your arms are at about the same point as mine, I can't be exact because my Rancho arms use the stock brackets, so your measurements will not be quite the same. But, I have to say you are still off (even after the washer/spacers) by about 1" or so. Looks to me like the arms/TTB need to go forward this much at least. My guess is the arms are made to the proper size, the mounting is off. Not saying that is your fault, whether you or BDS giving you wrong directions, I think the assembly needs to come forward.

What about your coils? They would show evidence of this issue. They would appear to be leaning a bit from the side, since you have not touched the mounting on top (the coil tower) yet the bottom TTB mount I think is likely back a bit. Same goes with shocks.

On the rear, the pic does not really show much. It does look to be a little rear high, not 3" though. If it really is that high, the springs will settle some, and I would pull one leaf from the pack and that would solve your problem. I would definitely focus on the front first though.