03 Alignment

[Deed04]

Dude thanks for the info. I'm going to anyone but my dealer to get this fixed.



Thnx

Deed04

 

[PJ]

I have had my 04 4x4 back to the dealer 4 times with NO LUCK. Yesterday, I was having my sons Honda aligned and took the guy out to look at my truck. He said by the looks of the tires, something was wrong. He put my truck on the rack and said it was "15 ways from Christmas". ! He printed out the specs and gave me a copy. I went 2 blocks down the road to the dealer and asked how my truck could be so far out of line in less than a week and 100 miles. . The service Mgr looked at the sheet, paused, and then called the shop up the road and made an appointment to have my truck done. Well, today, I drove 150 miles and I must say it has NEVER since day one been such a joy to drive! It is dead on! I take my hands off the wheel and the truck stays in my lane! Hats off to Les Schwab Tire in Oregon! They fixed my truck! Also, Dodge took care of the bill!

 

[Deed04]

Did they put it in specs with the previous article? If not what did they use. I assume your steering wheel was turned to the left whileing pulling to the right. Any more info would be great.



Thnx

Deed

 

[PJ]

Before my steering wheel was turned to the left and the truck pulled to the right. Now the wheel is centered and there is NO more pull at all! This drives as well as my 72 Chevy truck collection!

 

[Deed04]

Is there anyway you can find out how they fixed the camber and caster since we have unadjustable ball joints?



Thanx

Deed04

 

[Shooter]

Don't have a part number but the manufacturer is: STEMPH Automotive Industries, Inc. http://www.stempf.com/index.htm



Don't have the part number.



Before anyone gets excited about this let me tell the rest of the story. First the alignment is good and the new ball joint is greaseable BUT there is no seal to keep dirt, sand and water out. I took a look at mine today and saw grease around it and thought he greased it and broke the seal. I cleaned the grease off and there is no seal. Every ball joint I have ever seen has a seal, doesn't matter weather it's greaseable or not they should have a seal, IMO. It didn't cost me a penny to have this thing put on but when it wears out, I'll have to pay for the next one and that will be like the one that was there in the first place. If your truck doesn't pull too bad, maybe you should just get used to it. I was so used to mine pulling to the right that when I first got in it after the alignment I thought it pulled to the left. Took about 5 miles to get things settled down so I could go straight down the road. My hope is that D/C will come out with an adjustable ball joint for '04 and maybe it will fit the '03. By that time the one I have now will probably be worn out and I'll need a new one.

To resurrect this thread:::



My uppers are toast, 36k mi. Called Stempf and ordered a pair of adjustable uppers , part # 44297 for 03-05 for $88. 17 each plus ups. After reading this thread and this post in particular I asked and they verfied that all their ball joints come with zirks and grease boots and if someones were installed and did not have the boots on then the installer removed them.



They are due here 8-8 and we will see

 

[Shooter]

Hey Guys,



Found this in another forum, (sorry can't remember which one), and made a copy of

it some weeks ago.



I think you will find it worth reading



begin:

----------------------------------------------



In a previous posting written by ???? (don't remember), they were complaining about a shimmy in their

Ram 4x4 after striking bumps in the road.

I suggested that the front end alignment has either too little or too much caster, thus causing a caster

shimmy. He did not like my response and changed his concern from a "shimmy" to a "bounce" (big

difference), and insisted it was the shocks. Maybe it is, I haven't driven it. He also said the alignment

"checked out". Here's the problem:

Alignment programs (and service manuals I believe), give a wide acceptable range for front caster on

the 4x4 Rams. I believe the range is 2 degrees to 5 degrees (if that's not correct, it's pretty close). The

problem occurs when the alignment tech (independent or dealer) tells you that the measurements

"checked out fine", just because they were in this broad range of acceptance.

Caster readings that fall on either end of the scale are subject to caster shimmy, even though they are

"acceptable". I had to align some 30 trucks and attend a 9 hour "Dodge Ram Chassis Dynamics

Diagnostics" training session (fancy name, ehh?), before finding out that 3 degrees to 4 degrees is the

optimal caster setting for 4x4 Rams that eliminates caster shimmy.

Below I will post what specifications I set Ram trucks to. First I want to give a little more info on correct

Ram alignments so you can see if you had a job well done,

The eccentrics on the lower control arms ARE NOT for individual wheel caster adjustments (even though

our alignment machine says they are). The eccentric sleeves in the upper ball joints are for adjusting

individual camber and total cross caster (difference in caster between two front wheels). This is why

replacement eccentrics are positionable in eight different ways.

Once camber and cross caster are attained with the eccentrics, the lower control arm eccentrics are

then used to swing the caster readings into specifications. The two eccentrics must be swung in the

SAME direction in EQUAL amounts. If they are not, it will create a setback condition (one front wheel

further forward than the other).

FYI - Comparing between the two front wheels, caster will cause a pull to the smaller value and camber

will cause a pull to the larger value. A truck set up with caster pulling in one direction and camber

pulling in the other direction, can lead to a wandering truck; even though it is "in specifications"!!!!!!

If the eccentrics on the lower control arms of your truck are not pointing the same direction, the

alignment was done incorrectly and the axle was "twisted" or "forced" into position to attain the

acceptable values (seen them from the factory this way, go figure).

A correct alignment will set the truck up with a slight negative cross caster (truck has slight pull to left)

to compensate for right hand road crown. Camber will be equal side to side slightly on the negative

side. This will help maintain acceptable camber when hauling heavy loads, as the truck tends to lift in

the front when towing. Camber will then fall slightly positive when towing.

Just because the alignment shop says "it's in specifications", that does not mean it is set up for proper

performance and handling!!!!!!!!!



Specifications (my personal settings for every Ram I align): all specs below are in degrees.





Left Wheel Right Wheel

-------------- ----------------



Caster 3. 2 3. 5

Cross Caster -. 3



Camber -. 10 -. 10

Cross Camber 0. 0



Toe - standard specs, (maybe a little out if you tow a lot, they will pull in as the front end lifts up).



Brent

ASE Certified

Gold Certified Chrysler tech



__________________

98. 5 24 valve auto, 4x4, QC, LB, EZ, 275's, DTT Rebuild by Fred Swanson, EGT, FP, Boost and trans gauges, BHAF

9 1/2ft 3500# slide in S&S Camper, Torque Lift tie downs, Rancho 9000's

--------------------------------------------------------

end:

Don't want to bust anyones bubble but this post and the specs are 2nd gen So you may not want to use them on your 3rd gen truck





Check out this thread for another solution.

https://www.turbodieselregister.com/forums/showthread.php?t=99102

 

[ECappleman]

To resurrect this thread:::



My uppers are toast, 36k mi. Called Stempf and ordered a pair of adjustable uppers , part # 44297 for 03-05 for $88. 17 each plus ups. After reading this thread and this post in particular I asked and they verfied that all their ball joints come with zirks and grease boots and if someones were installed and did not have the boots on then the installer removed them.



They are due here 8-8 and we will see

Let us know!

I would love to have some adjustable ball joints.

 

[JWHays]

Have an '05 and it runs straight- no problem. My '99 was delivered (by the pendejos in Long Beach) horribly out of alignment. Really like the new beast!



... John

Long Beach

Bought '05 in Faribault, MN

 

[E2360]

My 03 with 16000 tracks straight and always has. Have had other trucks with a "pull" problem even though the front alignment is ok. . every time a 4 wheel alignment fixed the problem. If the back end is trying to "drive" the truck off center it will pull.



Just my 2 cents FWIW