Need help understanding Alignment??

[Jon88]

I installed my lift a few wks ago and today I went and took it in for alignment, it definitely doesn’t rub as bad now so that pretty much fixed the problem, it does have a bit more shaking to it which I didn’t notice prior to alignment? But anyway the main question is how to understand what I have since the ppl at the shop I took it to didn’t bother explaining it to me.. I’ll post it below.. Any input is greatly appreciated.

 

[MaineRunna]

The camber is how much the tires tip in or out at the top looking at the vehicle from the front. The caster is the axis that the front wheels turn on when you steer the wheel ie: how far the upper ball joint is tipped forward or backward from the lower ball joint. The toe is how much the front of the tires are pointed in or out from each other. When you install a lift you mostly mess up the camber and toe and if you lift it enough you may need a new upper control arm.

 

[Jon88]

Appreciate that, guess I should get some upper control arms.

 

[MaineRunna]

I recommend the SPC ones, they have an adjustable ball joint if you run out of camber adjustment on the lower control arms (or they're seized up), plus the ball joint is replaceable.

 

[theesotericone]

I recommend the SPC ones, they have an adjustable ball joint if you run out of camber adjustment on the lower control arms (or they're seized up), plus the ball joint is replaceable.

SPC uppers have both caster and camber adjustments. They are built with 2 degrees positive camber with the plate in the neutral position(D). Most guys get them to be able to push the caster forward to F or G settings. This allows you to clear the rear fender well and also still stay within spec on caster. The camber adjustment is just a bonus.

 

[Mark_BC]

FWIW Marlin Crawler has a new front IFS out. This is on a 4th gen.

Marlin Crawler's New Rock Crawling Long Travel IFS Suspension System (#RCLT)

 

[theesotericone]

FWIW Marlin Crawler has a new front IFS out. This is on a 4th gen.

Marlin Crawler's New Rock Crawling Long Travel IFS Suspension System (#RCLT)

It's not out. They plan on releasing it in the Spring/Summer. Which, by Marlin's usual timelines, means spring or summer of 2023. It's not gonna be cheap either.

 

[phattyduck]

How much front lift do you have? There may or may not be room for improvement on those numbers.

As for the shaking - swap the tires front to rear and see if it changes things. You might just have a tire balance issue. The alignment isn't perfect, but it is much better than it was before!

-Charlie

 

[JWaldz]

a little 'googling' never hurts.

But in a nut shell...

The camber and toe are usually tried to be set as 0 as possible. Sometimes, this can't always be the case for scenarios like a lifted/lowered suspension, aftermarket suspension components, etc.. Your numbers though aren't alarming.

The caster however, wont hurt anything being off the 0 mark. In fact, for lifted and larger tire applications it's common to see positive caster. This is because positive caster pushes the tire forward (towards the front of the vehicle), and in most cases there is typically more room for positive caster than 0 or negative (firewall, fender, etc). For example, my caster is set to about 2.5-2.75 on both sides. This gets my larger 35" tire away from the firewall and pinch-weld to allow me to not rub them when turning. Keep in mind that too much caster will push the tire into the front portion of the fender and also run greater risk of rubbing the frame towards the inner front. There's a sweet spot for everyone.