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[Powder_Hound]

Yeah that's way too low a Caster setting, I'm not sure how they even gave that back to you like that. It will feel floaty with such low Caster.

I have a feeling they didn't set the cams up right when they did the alignment, because even with a lift they should have gotten a bit better than that.

Thank you!

Those were my thoughts exactly, but not being an expert in alignment :fear: I thought I would ask for an "experts" 2nd opinion. I realize it's a Firestone "recheck" / lifetime / chain cheap alignment, but I was hoping for better especially when you compare the 1st alignment specs with Daystar lift to the new alignment specs with OME lift. Guess I'll have to take it back and talk to mgr., and ask for them to do it right.

I was told since castor #'s were the same I would be good to go.

Thanks again for taking the time to look!!!

 

[BlackWorksInc]

Thank you!

Those were my thoughts exactly, but not being an expert in alignment :fear: I thought I would ask for an "experts" 2nd opinion. I realize it's a Firestone "recheck" / lifetime / chain cheap alignment, but I was hoping for better especially when you compare the 1st alignment specs with Daystar lift to the new alignment specs with OME lift. Guess I'll have to take it back and talk to mgr., and ask for them to do it right.

I was told since castor #'s were the same I would be good to go.

Thanks again for taking the time to look!!!

It won't pull so yes that's "good to go", but low Caster means the wheels will wander at higher speed (think pushing a shopping cart with it's super negative camber wheels vs. a bicycle with it's very positive caster; the shopping cart wheels sorta flop around when you start going fast) and will translate in to a more "floaty" feeling steering at high speed.

I don't know what condition your alignment cams, tabs, and lower control arms are; but ideally you'd use the rear cam bolts on the LCA to set the majority of your Caster and then fine tune Camber with the front cam bolts. They should be able to get it somewhat close to factory that way if everything is in good shape.

You're running close to 3" lift right? You might not be able to get to Caster and Camber to play well; but it should be better than what it is now. Worst case scenario I'd have them dial in Caster as close to factory as they can while keeping Camber acceptable; if they can't get much better than what it is now or get it within specifications a new UCA may be needed. But first I'd want to see how close they can get it, because .5 leaves a lot of room to be desired.

 

[Powder_Hound]

It won't pull so yes that's "good to go", but low Caster means the wheels will wander at higher speed (think pushing a shopping cart with it's super negative camber wheels vs. a bicycle with it's very positive caster; the shopping cart wheels sorta flop around when you start going fast) and will translate in to a more "floaty" feeling steering at high speed.

I don't know what condition your alignment cams, tabs, and lower control arms are; but ideally you'd use the rear cam bolts on the LCA to set the majority of your Caster and then fine tune Camber with the front cam bolts. They should be able to get it somewhat close to factory that way if everything is in good shape.

You're running close to 3" lift right? You might not be able to get to Caster and Camber to play well; but it should be better than what it is now. Worst case scenario I'd have them dial in Caster as close to factory as they can while keeping Camber acceptable; if they can't get much better than what it is now or get it within specifications a new UCA may be needed. But first I'd want to see how close they can get it, because .5 leaves a lot of room to be desired.

I took my T4R back today and they put my T4R back in the alignment rack. They claim that castor adjustment is maxed out and can't get it any better. They indicated UCA's or different ball joints as possibilities to help get Castor better. I'm guessing new UCA's are going to be a mod for my future...If #'s are different I'll post specs when I get outa here.

 

[Powder_Hound]

LCA alignment images

Insert your choice of explosive here "#%!?!##!!!"

So I'm a little OCD, and I don't want to spend $$'s on UCA's if I can avoid it. This option will definitely keep the boss at home happier! She was good with the OME upgrade as the cost to replace was essentially the same as repairing XRREAS. ���� So my question to [MENTION=66389]BlackWorksInc[/MENTION] and [MENTION=101553]t-man[/MENTION] (thank you for all your input on T4R.org ansd specific help to me) is this. Can I do anything else to help improve Castor? Yesterday I was informed that Castor adj. was maxed. I took pictures this morning and the rear cam on LCA's looks maxed, but the front looks like it's mostly centered. I've attached images (2 posts) showing this.

2 trips to Firestone (Free lifetime alignments)
Images of specs are posted earlier in the thread if you wan to look.
Toe and Camber are perfect (center of spec), but Castor is at .5 both trips
T4r drives straight with a little floaty at 60 (expected with castor #'s), but first trip steering wheel was slightly crooked to left and 2nd trip slightly to right.
WTF is going on here.

If nothing can be done: cool. I'll upgrade to LR UCA's over time.
If you think something can be done: what do I TELL alignment guy at Firestone to do?
I will take to 4x4 shop if absolutely necessary, but I've already spent $$'s so trying to take advantage...
Thanks!!!!!!!

Drivers side LCA
Left image is rear cam and right image is front

 

[Powder_Hound]

Passenger side LCA cam pics

Passenger side LCA
Image on left is front cam and image on right is rear cam.

 

[t-man]

For alignment I have to defer to blackworks as I don't know a whole bunch there. I do know they should have no issues getting your steering wheel centered! With my stock uca's and 2.5" lift in the front mine floated all over but I didn't really think about it. I have wide tires and I expected it. The aftermarket uca's sure did help, but it will grab in the grooves still. I also need a new power steering pump so that might be some of my issue. I'd say run it and see how you like it in a week or two, then if you want uca's tell the ol' lady your bushings and balljoint are fried and it makes more sense to get the whole unit replaced! Then look up the most expensive parts you can find and cost of installation to support your argument. Works every time! :bat:

 

[Powder_Hound]

I'd say run it and see how you like it in a week or two, then if you want uca's tell the ol' lady your bushings and balljoint are fried and it makes more sense to get the whole unit replaced! Then look up the most expensive parts you can find and cost of installation to support your argument. Works every time! :bat:

Lol...at least I'll plan to be the installer so will save $$'s there! If I replace UCA's do I need to get adjustable like the LR? Or will the Camberg or Icon non adjustable style UCA's get the job done?

 

[t-man]

Lol...at least I'll plan to be the installer so will save $$'s there! If I replace UCA's do I need to get adjustable like the LR? Or will the Camberg or Icon non adjustable style UCA's get the job done?

camburg, icon, etc are built in with extra caster where the LC ones you can set them to different degree's. You know, if the lc ones were made stronger like camburg they would be great with that adjustability. I'm running them, no issue's yet, but I've seen a lot of failures on here too.

 

[FI460]

Any resolution here? My rig is going in on friday for alignment and it's a similar but different set up to yours, haha.

I have OME springs with bilsteins and camburg UCA's. I think it's about the same amount of lift. I'll let you know how my alignment goes.

 

[Powder_Hound]

Any resolution here? My rig is going in on friday for alignment and it's a similar but different set up to yours, haha.

I have OME springs with bilsteins and camburg UCA's. I think it's about the same amount of lift. I'll let you know how my alignment goes.

I had Firestone look at it again and no luck. I took to dealership on Monday for timing belt and H20 pump replacement and asked them to "evaluate" alignment. They confirmed Castor is maxed.

I'm curious to see how your alignment ended up with the Camburg UCA's? I'm looking at Camburg, Total Chaos, or the Light Racing, but prob won't get done for a while.

 

[FI460]

Sorry I didnt report back like I said I would. My alignment went good. It was a backyard guy that did it (came highly recommended from a few different shops in town) so I didn't get a print out of the specs but he said he got my caster just barely in spec.

It drives pretty well. I've only been on the freeway once but the dartiness I noticed at lower speeds is gone.

My rear cam bolts were seized so he said if I dealt with those he could add a little bit more caster but he didn't expect me to need it.

 

[Powder_Hound]

$800, including tax, spent at the dealership this week! I'm actually really stoked about the price. I had my timing belt replaced, my H2O pump replaced, and for 30 bucks I had them do an oil change too! I had a different dealer quote $950 for just the timing belt and H20 pump.

The t-belt and pump were a little above my comfort pay grade so I had the dealer do this one for me.

A little late to the game as I had just over 113,000 miles, but my V-8 should be good to go for another 90,000!

 

[Powder_Hound]

Hmmmm....loving my new suspension especially when I have 100 lbs gear or passengers. However, I am getting a weird "clunk" in the front end when it drops off a curb or going over a speed bump. I'm thinking it could time to upgrade/replace the sway bar bushings. For <$15 bucks I think this is a great place to start (a quick grab and tug of the sway bar produced a slight "pop"). It didn't make the noise prior to suspension swap, but when looking around for "clunk" posts the sway bar bushings looked to be a common culprit.

Eventually I'm looking at adding LR (SPA) or Total Chaos UCA's, however, that's not in the budget for now.

If anyone has any other thoughts on front end suspension clunk please share them.

 

[blind squirrel]

If anyone has any other thoughts on front end suspension clunk please share them.

I did a similar upgrade to my Runner, I opted for the light racing UCAs and it aligned perfectly plus looks fancy. The install of those takes about 30 min each side, really easy. Did you not put on a diff drop? Maybe that is where your sound is coming from? Also, if your sway bar links are not tight you can get a clunk too.

 

[GeorgeFF]

Looks nice! My 05 Ltd is the same color.

 

[Powder_Hound]

Clunk diagnosed and fixed! The 2 left side sway bar frame bolts were loose???? Guessing they got skipped on the final torque on sway bar frame bolts during suspension r/r. Oops.... Test drove over speed bump where I could duplicate clunk and no more front end clunk.

Sweet...

 

[blind squirrel]

Nice one! Yeah, one of my sway bar links stripped a little when I took it off so it wasn't 100% tight when I put it back. I also had a clunk until I replaced it with a tight one. Good stuff.

 

[Powder_Hound]

Nice one! Yeah, one of my sway bar links stripped a little when I took it off so it wasn't 100% tight when I put it back. I also had a clunk until I replaced it with a tight one. Good stuff.

Thx
I found the nut...lol...just like many a blind squirrel.

 

[Powder_Hound]

Inside bike rack.

After 12 years I finally decided to create a better attachment for my internal bike rack. It won't slide around and let my bike slam into the glass anymore! Pretty simple solution and it is a mod so I thought I'd share. I use the rooftop primarily, but as I'm getting older (cough cough) it's not as easy to put bikes up there.

I still haven't figured out how to get more than 1 picture in a post so there are 3. I haven't even tried to figure out photo bucket.

1 older Bike Tight rack
2 traditional 9 mm skewer Bike Tight
1 Rocky Mount Through axle adapter
2 1/4x20x30 connecting bolts
2 Fender washers for underside of shelf

I drilled 2 1/4" holes in the rear shelf. Then I inserted the 2 connecting bolts through the base rack and the shelf. Voila! No more sliding rack and bikes stay still!

 

[Powder_Hound]

Pic 2