Alignment shop

[onesloryd]

Any suggestions on a good alignment shop in So. Cal. ?

 

[GTani]

S and B brake and alignment. (310)515-7871. 725 W. Gardena Blvd. Gardena Ca.

They have been maintaining my 4 wheel drives since the early 80's. No complaints. I did my KORE installation at his shop. A bit far from Burbank but worth it for peace of mind.

 

[onesloryd]

Can someone help me out with alignment specs?

Thanks

Matt

 

[Matt400]

Can someone help me out with alignment specs?

Thanks

Matt

I didn't see in your sig if you had the long or short bed?



I do know the 03 short bed specs, your truck should be the same:

Caster= 4. 5 deg.

Camber= . 25 deg.

Total toe= . 10 deg +/- . 05 deg.



The long bed is ever so close at:

Caster= 4. 7 deg.

Camber= . 25 deg.

Total toe= . 10 deg +/- . 05 deg.



As for the alignment shop, look for an independent vs a chain store. Try and find a fella thats been doing them for a long time and what ever you do tell the shop what you want corrected. There has to be a reason you want the alignment.



People walk in and say they want an alignment, shop sets the alignment and customer comes back and says... its still doing it?? Ok doing what?



If you have tire wear fine, handling issues fine or maybe you modified the suspension with a lift just be sure and let them know what you want corrected symptom wise not service wise.

 

[onesloryd]

Matt

Thanks for the info. My truck is a long bed. The problem is I have a 5" lift and no matter what I do I get Death Wobble every once and a while. Any suggestions would be great.

Thanks

Matt

 

[GTani]

What might be happening is when you lift your truck,you are introducing more negative caster. I had them set mine on the high side of the spec(positive caster). Give S and B a call and see what they say. Ask for Sus or Paul. They are a small shop but maintain all the Gardena Police vehicles. Tell them Glenn recommended them. I hope this helps.

 

[Vaughn MacKenzie]

Speaking of alignments in general I've been told you're best off to avoid the typical tire shops that service automobiles and go to places that take care of the heavier rigs like tow trucks, ambulances, fire trucks, etc. Their equipment is more suited for HD pickups.



Vaughn

 

[onesloryd]

Had alignment keep by the shop that did my ’99. Caster is 3. 5 both left and right and camber is 0. What should I look at next?

Thanks

Matt

 

[Matt400]

For the death wobble thing I would first make sure the track bar bolt is tight at the frame- very tight. Next check for ball joint free play, support the truck by the axles and put a pry bar under the front tire, lift/pry up on the bottom of the tire to see if you get any movement in the ball joints. Any movement is bad. Some of the 3rd gens out there has had bad ball joints as early as 3000 miles.



Your alignment is not the cause for death wobble at only 3. 5 deg Caster.



Also with a lift that tall you probably have big tires & wheels. That kind of combo with the 5" lift would really benefit going to a modified steering linkage. A straight bar from one spindle to the other and then a straight link from that bar to the pitman arm.

Also add a steering dampener.

 

[JLEONARD]

Dang... ...

My son has a shop in CT and his alignment rack can accept duallys... . and he knows what the H he is doing.

Oh well.

Jay

 

[PJ]

Tyremans in Burbank Calif. I think they are on Magnolia or Burbank Blvd. They did a great job on my Suburban a few years back.

 

[onesloryd]

Thanks for all the input.

Any input on how to convert the steering over to an inverted tee style would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Matt

 

[Matt400]

There has been some talk here in other threads of others doing the conversion, I think 2nd gens used that style. With a lift you would want a drop pitman arm if you don't already have one.

 

[onesloryd]

Matt,

I am running a drop pitman arm. The angle and length of the drag link and trackbar are very close. I have been considering converting it over to the old style chevy 1 ton with hydro assist. I am also going to try to re-balance the tires as well. Ideally I would like to convert it to a crossover setup.