Alignment Advice
- Thread starter TXRick
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JRZEE2000TR4LTD
Senior Member
I would be more concerned with the imbalance they created in your caster. Almost 1.5 degrees cross caster. I'll bet it pulls a little to the left. (with no road crown) Honestly your before readings were better before as far as pull goes although with the slight toe issue on the left side you would be cupping the outside of your front tire. Just because it's in the green doesn't mean it's good. Very common misnomer. It has to be in the green with no more than .5 degrees (caster and camber) difference from side to side.
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BrianSD_42
New member
THIS.
I was just told this by a local shop that build trucks for Baja. The logic goes YES for stock height and stock tires and stock lift then ... green is good.
But for aftermarket lift, tires and more ..... its not that simple and green may not be best.
They claim to be able to align it correctly for a lifted truck but not by going on what the computer says, more so by using their experience with working on and building lifted trucks.
:tea: That is just what I heard :tea:
TXRick
New member
I replaced the LCA bushings last summer and when I did the cam bolts came out easy and undamaged.
Where do you have the LR ball joints set?
Here is how I set mine
And they were able to get this alignment without touching the LR setup
Yeah, mine are set the same.
I talked to the tech before he worked on it. He's a 3rd gen owner as well so he was somewhat familiar with the LR UCAs.
He said he didn't notice anything bent but...could something be bent?
JRZEE2000TR4LTD
Senior Member
It really doesn't matter stock or aftermarket especially on a truck. Just get the toe close to zero, put the camber close to zero maybe a little negative and caster to whatever the spec is. Both caster and camber should be within .5 degrees side to side. More positive caster gives better steering wheel feel and return ability but too much makes the vehicle hard to steer. Some shops put a little more caster on the right side to compensate for road crown. Now on a car with sport car suspension specs are critical.
TXRick
New member
What else should concern me about cross caster?
Ok, that's what I figured. After driving it a bit tonight it seems to drive pretty straight, but my steering wheel is just a little crooked. On country paved roads it kinda follows the road and veers to the right but it's easily correctable with one finger. On the highway, I have to steer it straight but it pretty much holds.
The previous owner hit a light pole in a mall parking lot on the left front side. It had that brush guard in it so it damaged both fenders, the hood, and the left front bumper. I'm always leary when something doesn't line up on that side. I'm pretty sure that's why that headlight is so hard to align.
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JRZEE2000TR4LTD
Senior Member
The only concern with cross caster is a pull to the more negative side. It's not a tire wearing angle so no concern there. After looking at your alignment sheet again, your camber is more positive on the other side by .8 degrees so since camber can cause a pull to the more positive side, your camber and caster are basically fighting against one another and would probably make the truck drive relatively straight. The crooked wheel could just be an after effect of the caster and camber being off then setting the toe to those angles. Proper alignment procedure is setting the rear angles first (in the order of camber/caster then toe) then move to the front and do the same, Then lastly, perform a caster swing and recheck the reading and verify steering wheel center, then perform a road test (almost all shops don't do this they just let the customer do it and if there's a problem the vehicle comes back. Sorry for the long, drawn out explanation.
TXRick
New member
No, thank you for the response.
I can deal with the almost but not quite right driving characteristics, but it was the tire wear i was mostly concerned with.
I drove it again this morning...sometimes it seems to go straight, sometimes it veers to the left, sometimes to the right, but if I keep my hand on the wheel it goes straight...if I straighten up the wheel then it goes left.
I think I am going to decide to be happy about it
IBallEngineer
New member
I think you've done a great job explaining the OP's situation. I have a very minor disagreement on two things though. Surprised? I think maintaining .5 degrees of cross caster is a bit of a stretch. Factory specs allow for FAR more than that, and most seasoned techs will tell you 1 degree is more than acceptable. But hey if you can get close to .5 with the right side being most positive, I'm all for it.
The other variance here is the concept of caster NOT being a tire wearing angle. This is often misunderstood, with good reason. If a car never does anything but go straight down the road, it would be true. But since they do things like turn right or left, there are many other variables involved. Positive caster creates camber changes in turns, in fact the way caster is measured is by comparing camber difference between 20 degrees of turn. The different camber angles in turns created by CASTER in effect, wears tires. Here is a link to an explanation. Look at "front caster effects".
Wheel Alignment Terms
JRZEE2000TR4LTD
Senior Member
Yep you're right IballEngineer, I didn't realize that. Very good information in that link. I guess I should have said major tire wearing angle as that how we were taught but I'll admit it wasn't very in depth. Plus I always had to keep it simple for the Pep Boys Alignment Techs. (sorry to any PB techs out there)
IballEngineer tell me Hunter or John Bean? :hatsoff:
IballEngineer tell me Hunter or John Bean? :hatsoff:
IBallEngineer
New member
John Bean
JRZEE2000TR4LTD
Senior Member
Greetings from an ex Snap On Equipment Tech. :cheers:
IBallEngineer
New member
Were you a service tech? How long ago?
JRZEE2000TR4LTD
Senior Member
About five years ago. I was a factory guy for about six years and an independent contractor for snap on equipment for three years.
IBallEngineer
New member
This is my second go around with the company, 7 years in the 90's as an industrial sales rep. I'm just a year in as an ESS now.
OK enough thread hijacking.
IBallEngineer
New member
lol no no go ahead guys. It's good to know where this info is coming from. Being a school teacher, I always expect people to take my advice with a grain of salt...unless it's about history or proper use of the English language
Well I've always had a problem with grammar! I do get frustrated sometimes when I see misinformation from less then knowledgeable sources. But I don't want to pound my chest and tell everyone why I know better. :baby:
TXRick
New member
I try not to do that but....It seems as summer approaches "Because I said so!" comes out of my mouth more often. lol