Alignment - Close Enough?

[Kae006]

Installed Bilstein 5100’s at 2.5” up front today and went to Sears (I know) for an alignment. Tech said he got it as close as he could. It drives good but pulls to the right a bit however it could have been compounded by the crown in the road on the highway. Felt ok on slow streets in the neighborhood. Wanted to see what the consensus was, whether I need to someone who specializes in lifted vehicles for another alignment or call it good before I put some expensive rubber on it. Here’s the spec sheet:

 

[HeartGuy]

Installed Bilstein 5100’s at 2.5” up front today and went to Sears (I know) for an alignment. Tech said he got it as close as he could. It drives good but pulls to the right a bit however it could have been compounded by the crown in the road on the highway. Felt ok on slow streets in the neighborhood. Wanted to see what the consensus was, whether I need to someone who specializes in lifted vehicles for another alignment or call it good before I put some expensive rubber on it. Here’s the spec sheet:

I think you could use more caster. You may need an aftermarket upper control arm.

 

[4Rnr4Evr]

NVM I didn't realise this is about 5th gens

 

[3wbdriver]

I've been running ~1.5" of caster since 2014 on factory UCA's. If you're comfortable with it you should be fine. Just be aware it will be a little drifty in crosswinds at highway speeds. Ultimately it's up to your comfort level.

 

[nglayton]

It looks like to me all the current setting are within guidelines except maybe one. In most cases the before settings weren't within specs to begin with.

So in my opinion you are good to go, but I am no expert.

 

[Jetboy]

It probably is as close as he could get. UCA's are necessary for getting any closer to 3.5ish caster. I ran stock UCAs for a long time just like that. It was okay - but not adding upper control arms to get the caster back to a higher number was eventually what I did. Tires should wear normally. You're just going to have to add more input more often to track straight on the road.

 

[MaD HuNGaRIaN]

So many factors with this. Was the road you were driving on perfectly flat? Most roads are either crowned from age / use or canted in a certain direction for drainage purposes. The slightest thing will make a truck with big tires feel like it's drifting.

 

[wfo9]

You really need UCAs to get it right.. There is simply no other way. You will hear people live with it and claim all types of uneducated BS about how they are not necessary. I'm here to tell you they are necessary if you are picky about how the truck drives with a lift. If you are not picky, then by all means.. live with it.

The reason you feel the pull is the that it is set with the wrong cross caster. Ideally, you want the passenger side higher to make up for road crown. The vehicle will tend to steer towards the side with the least caster. This is very evident when caster is low and less evident when caster is high. That is what you are feeling. But even if you lower the passenger side, it will still feel twitchy with low caster and that is the reason UCAs are required to get a good alignment with a lift. They add 2-3* of positive caster when lifted. Trying to get that much caster with stock UCAs will just throw off the camber and you don't want that.

 

[Eryan36]

You really need UCAs to get it right.. There is simply no other way. You will hear people live with it and claim all types of uneducated BS about how they are not necessary. I'm here to tell you they are necessary if you are picky about how the truck drives with a lift. If you are not picky, then by all means.. live with it.

The reason you feel the pull is the that it is set with the wrong cross caster. Ideally, you want the passenger side higher to make up for road crown. The vehicle will tend to steer towards the side with the least caster. This is very evident when caster is low and less evident when caster is high. That is what you are feeling. But even if you lower the passenger side, it will still feel twitchy with low caster and that is the reason UCAs are required to get a good alignment with a lift. They add 2-3* of positive caster when lifted. Trying to get that much caster with stock UCAs will just throw off the camber and you don't want that.

Totally agree. I trusted the “conventional wisdom” that you don’t need adjustable UCA with a 2.5” or lower lift, and at 2” my lack of caster is obvious. The truck “follows” the road and is much more twitchy at highway speed. I’ll be adding adjustable UCA in the near future (and going a little higher up front).


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[Kae006]

Sounds like I might as well grab some UCA’s and pave the road for a 3” in the future. I’ve put some miles on the truck today and yesterday and don’t mind the handling but it definitely is more “twitchy” with the current alignment. I’ll probably run it as is for a bit until I come across a GB or a deal on some UCA’s. Will larger tires exacerbate the alignment issues or can I expect similar handling?

 

[gm350reratliff]

I would also recommend some aftermarket UCA's but if you wanted to make it drive better (no pulling to the right) with the OEM UCA's, I'd recommend adjusting the caster so it is higher on the right, basically opposite of what you have now. Also, I'd shoot for a little less Camber on the right side as well.

 

[wfo9]

Totally agree. I trusted the “conventional wisdom” that you don’t need adjustable UCA with a 2.5” or lower lift, and at 2” my lack of caster is obvious. The truck “follows” the road and is much more twitchy at highway speed. I’ll be adding adjustable UCA in the near future (and going a little higher up front).


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Need is strong word.. It really comes down to how picky you are and what particular combo of tires, suspension and road conditions you are dealing with (heck even weather plays a factor) everyone's situation is obviously different. This is how a lot of the misinformation spreads.. "My truck is fine with stock UCAs drives perfect..." Perfect to some is a workout to others...., not to mention they are all a little different from the factory. In the end.. any lifted 5th gen will drive better with aftermarket UCAs.

To be clear.. Adjustable UCAs are typically not required. Just aftermarket UCAs designed for a lift. These tend to be less problematic since finding a good alignment tech is unusual these days. Throwing adjustable UCAs into the mix is just asking for more trouble in most cases unless you want to pre-adjust and take that factor out of the equation.

 

[sandcrawler]

To be clear.. Adjustable UCAs are typically not required. Just aftermarket UCAs designed for a lift. These tend to be less problematic since finding a good alignment tech is unusual these days. Throwing adjustable UCAs into the mix is just asking for more trouble in most cases unless you want to pre-adjust and take that factor out of the equation.

well put. spot on.

 

[Coler2002]

I just had my second alignment done on my 5th gen after putting on my 6112/5160. I also have aftermarket UCA. The first alignment they got 2.0 and 2.6 on caster. The second time there both over 3. I can tell you it made a big difference for me. It was drive-able before, but now its less twitchy and highways are better. I am around a 2.5-2.7" lift.

 

[dawudih]

He did a good job with 2.5" of lift. I'd be a little uncomfortable with those numbers though. Emergency avoidance & windy, bumpy roads wouldn't be fun.