Alignment..

[HARDTRAILZ]

Can someone share some info an aligning our trucks? always paid for alignment, but not sure which direction I am going on a few things and thought that maybe I could do a bit of self aligning to help my toe. The tops are just pushed out a bit and i think i should be able to straighten it up a little.

I am fairly certain I could figure it out, but never have looked into it. So who has tried to do some slf aligning and what do I need to adjust for toe?

Thanks

[Trail X]

I've only adjusted toe. Pretty simple... in the picture below, there is a jam nut on the outer tie rod that locks the inner tie rod from spinning.

Loosen the jam nut, then turn the inner tie rod to help align the wheel.



The best garage alignment method I've found is to take 2 long pieces of angle aluminum or iron and hold it against the tire sidewalls (a bungee or ratchet strap around the angle and the wheel can work if you only have 1 person - otherwise it requires 3 people), so it spans across the center of the wheel and touches the sidewall fore and aft of the wheel. The angle needs to extend forward of the truck a good bit so you have room to measure.

Measure the distance from left aluminum angle to right aluminum angle in 2 locations - close to the truck and far away. Try to get those two measurements as close as possible.

It's always better to have a slight amount of toe-out... so the further measurement can be a little more than the closer measurement.

Hopefully that makes sense... hard to describe without pictures.

ETA:

Here's another similar home-made method. He measured in front and behind his wheel. Same basic idea.

ETA x2:

Camber can be adjusted with a level in the same method, but vertical. Be careful not to affect your caster though.

[HARDTRAILZ]

http://www.extremehowto.com/xh/article. ... e_id=60130

Found that.

I appreciate the info. I really do need to adjust my camber as well. Need to figure that one out now. Any advice on that one?

[Trail X]

It's the 4 large bolts under the LCA attachment area. There's a plate that the LCA attaches to... it's pinched by those bolts.

Unbolt those large bolts, and your LCA can be forced around. Hard to do without a zero-friction plate under your tire.

[MrSmithsTB]

If I would be so brave as to attempt the camber, I'd start off by using a paint pen(or nail polish) to mark reference points where the LCA and the plate meet. After muscling the wheel around, you'll be able to make sure the LCA has moved out evenly by measuring the gap created between the paint lines. If you were pushing the wheels in, marking in 1/2" intervals towards the center of the truck would give the same accuracy in measuring.

[The Roadie]

Really 3 large bolts on the LCA.

[HARDTRAILZ]

I looked and thought of doing a bit to fix the camber, but decided to start by removing the extra plate from outside the strut and drop the front down to take some of the angle out of the shafts. Gonna drive it for a couple days and see if it still looks like it really needs messed with.

[glfredrick]

This may be helpful.

http://www.allpar.com/fix/alignment.html

I know how it works, but I've always had the benefit of a rack and pro tools.

[HARDTRAILZ]

Factory is our camber 0 or is there a bit of in or out? I have read that some vehicle have a certain amount they set in for handling.

[The Roadie]

Camber 0.0 +/- 0.5 degrees. Cross camber matching 0.0 to +/- 0.3
Left caster 3.5 +/- 0.5
Right caster 4.0 +/- 0.5
Toe in total 0.1 +/- 0.2

I do driveway and trail toe-in by taking a straight edge like a tent pole across the tire rearwards to compare to my rock sliders. About 1/2" constant distance from the rock sliders is 0 degrees toe in. Enough to limp home and to the alignment shop who hates to see me coming by now since I paid ONCE for a lifetime alignment and I typically see them 3-4 times a year.

[HARDTRAILZ]

Where is a good place to go for lifetime alignment? Any national chains?

[Gordinho80]

I went with Firestone. There was one right by my old residence when I first had it done, and there is one not very far from current residence. Plus, it was during a promo where the lifetime alignment was discounted like $75 or something.

[MrSmithsTB]

I went with Firestone. There was one right by my old residence when I first had it done, and there is one not very far from current residence. Plus, it was during a promo where the lifetime alignment was discounted like $75 or something.

I've heard nothing but good about them. Anew one is opening up right around the corner from me. So their Grand Opening sales should just about coincide with my new springs and flipped UCAS.

[glfredrick]

The trick to getting a decent alignment at some shop is the technician, not the shop name or brand. Find a guy that actually knows how it works instead of looking it up on the computer, and also find a guy who is not frightened of modified vehicles -- in other words, an enthusiast.

In our area, we use one of the Senn's body shops. They don't even blink at a 12" lift and 44s.

[fishsticks]

The trick to getting a decent alignment at some shop is the technician, not the shop name or brand. Find a guy that actually knows how it works instead of looking it up on the computer, and also find a guy who is not frightened of modified vehicles -- in other words, an enthusiast.

In our area, we use one of the Senn's body shops. They don't even blink at a 12" lift and 44s.

There is a place about a mile from me, Carl's Alignment and Brake. They're spendy for the area @ around $90 for an alignment, but they're skilled, and fearless. There's hot rods and lifted trucks in there all the time. They install lift and drop kits as well, and let you bring your own parts. Also, they don't care if you hang around in the shop and BS while they work (big plus in my eyes).

I was referred there by another shop years ago, as they were the only people in the area who had the "special tool" to align my Camaro. I got it in there and the tech put the tool on the car, messed with it a bit, then took it off and did the alignment by hand instead. Dialed it perfect.

They're the only "professionals" who are allowed to touch any vehicle I own.

[irishboy02]

I have the firestone lifetime. Iv used it 6times already so its basically paid for itself 3x already...that reminds me, i need to go on monday

[HARDTRAILZ]

Well some of my alignment issue is gone after wheeling the piss out of my truck yesterday. No more steering vibrations at any speed and the steering wheel is straight. drives great. May be that is the best alignment. Slam the truck off rocks until the front end aligns itself.

[OregTrailBlazin]

The trick to getting a decent alignment at some shop is the technician, not the shop name or brand. Find a guy that actually knows how it works instead of looking it up on the computer, and also find a guy who is not frightened of modified vehicles -- in other words, an enthusiast.

In our area, we use one of the Senn's body shops. They don't even blink at a 12" lift and 44s.

I always look for the 'grey hair'!!.. As long as he isn't burnt out, they generally know how to actually align a vehical, not just follow the computers instructions!!

[bdp1978]

I'm bringing this back to the top, has anybody ended up trying their own camber adjustment? I have researched it on here and the OS and see a lot of discussion but havent seen where anyone has been successful. I had my alignment done after the lift but have messed with a couple things since. CV etc and can see that my camber is off, most noticeably on my passenger side. I'm thinking of trying the paint pen method but wanted a litte encouragment if anybody has tried it succesfully yet from home.

I called to see if the shop would re-check my alignment for free since I had it done from them but no dice.

[The Roadie]

I always fiddle with my own camber and caster before it ever sees the shop. Just loosen the three bolts, and shove the LCA mounting bracket inwards until it won't move any more. That is about the best you can to to fix camber unless you machine out the slots in the bracket. There are places down there to pry with a large screwdriver to get the bracket to shift. Then I shift the rear side of the bracket out a bit at a time to move the lower ball joint forward to get reasonable clearance from the rear edge of the tire to the rear of the wheel well. We will NEVER be able to get perfect specs on camber and caster given the lift, so the important thing to make sure they get on the machine is toe-in.