DIY front end alignment -- toe in

[tugboat1st]

I can't believe I just read that.

 

[Axtell3]

Look at the picture. That is a simple tool, certainly not worth much money.

 

[Gumby79]

An alignment used to be a complete package that include all rubbers

Ive curently have a shop telling me that my truck is all tight. But have fethering scallops developing (this is after they had to re do all 4 baljoints the 2nd time. ). I must interpret there responce as - nothing broke bad enough for me to take your money. The rear shackles were bad, there responce I've seen worce why do you want to pay for work not needed. ( just drive like its a wore out pos insted of making it right)The kids don't understand what +/- 5° thrust angle duse to a truck pulling 87 through curves marked 45mph. ( turn left add throttle turn right and keep going left was the original complant). Bought a gopro to solve . Rear spring eye moves +/- 1/2" of center...

body mounts play a major role in a stable pridictable ride ... the reason for the chase 1 its yaw slopy 2 it was diffrent left to right felt like a flat tire on the right and a low trie on the left. Fixed this with the '80's ramcharger body mounts . The left raidator support lower puck was missing alowing the body to move independently of the frame. This reduced the excessive yaw shiftyness to about +/-2°. Shackles /spring rebuld , lower controlarms , and 1 tierod is all that remains for acompleet suspension rebuild
Dream big chisel down to reality

 

[EDankievitch]

The 1989 Shop manual says toe in spec 1/16"-1/8" measured at a point on the inside of the wheel rim from side to side. Compared at the same height off the ground , the highest point that you can measure both in front of and behind the axle. I use 2 pieces of 3/4" x 3/4" aluminium angle about 5' long each and a small vise grip. use two jacks to take the weight off the front tires. you want them just touching but just off the ground. This allows a accurate measurement and adjustment. Lay under the truck place both pieces of angle together find the inside bead of the rims slide the angle apart from each other until they touch the beads on each wheel in front of the axle as high off the ground that the suspension allows both in front and behind the axle. Lock the angles together with the vice grip the carefully move the angle to behind the axle at the same height off the ground. touch one end to the inside of the wheel and see how much you come up short on the other side. I set them around 1/16" when everything is nice and new and have had No strange tire wear or handling issues. It's quick and dirty but it works. On one truck it actually solved the dreaded DEATH WOBBLE. On that truck the local tire shop did my friend a favor giving him a "free alignment". They had the Toe in set at 1/4" Hey they sell a lot more tires that way!

 

[mysteryman]

REALLY...???? GIVE ME A BREAK !

 

[mysteryman]

For the record. I set the alignment as follows . (NOTE) Before aligning the front end be sure that none of the brakes are dragging ! Rebuild front brake calipers with STEEL pistons !!! all 4 tires need to be the same size and brand for best results.-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Drivers side), I set the camber to Zero with the maximum + caster I can get. Passengers side) I do the same BUT,you will need less caster on this side . This is due to the fact that our trucks will most ALWAYS pull to the right ! So, set pass side caster initially to slightly less than the drivers keeping the zero camber. Next set toe to zero to 1/16th in. Test drive on a flat road !!! If it pulls to the right lessen up on the right caster until it tracks straight. Example : if it pulls right set at 3 degrees + the knock it to 2 !/2 degrees ect till it stops pulling right. keep in mind which way the road is sloping. it has a great effect on pulling !!! Reverse this if it is pulling left. IT IS RARE that our trucks ever pull left. When they do it is normally a dragging brake or bad tire or sagging spring ect. Find and fix that problem first . Alignment on older vehicles is touchy feely. It is an art that takes years of experience to develop !!!! Modern vehicles do not require much talent or experience to align.. They are alot easier to align.. The guys that had talent and experience for the old vehicles like ours are either dead or retired. Rural communities have a lot more older vehicles still on the road . You might have better luck finding a mechanic there that can do the job than you will around the big cities. good luck

 

[EDankievitch]

If you check the factory service manual it says to measure from the inside bead of the left to right wheel as high off the ground as you can and the same height on both sides and compare that measurement from front to back of the axle. It should be 1/16 to 1/8" I have two pieces of aluminum angle that I can slide out to touch each wheel in front of the axle then lock together then move it to behind the axle and check the end gap. It's fast and works every time. I've found trucks right out of the alignment shop that were tearing up the outside edges of the tires off as much as 3/8" . My 2013 really likes the toe in to be right around 1/16".

 

[mysteryman]

I know well what the manual says . At this point in time it does not matter. The truck must go down the road straight , It should NOT pull either way on FLAT road ! The steering wheel/steering gearbox MUST BE DEAD CENTER ! The truck should NOT wear the tires strangely .. If you do not understand my instructions printed above. You need to find someone who does ! good luck !

 

[EDankievitch]

No offence was just trying to share what I have found and how I have solved some issues.
Solid Axle trucks, unless you have installed adjustable Ball joints, don't have Camber adjustment only Caster and Toe In. There is No way to adjust just one side for caster as both are connected by the solid axle.

 

[petersonj]

There is No way to adjust just one side for caster as both are connected by the solid axle.

I disagree. The solid axle is held in place by two upper control arms and two lower control arms to contend with forward and rearward forces, and the axle is held in place by a track rod to contend with side to side forces.

Each lower control arm is independently adjustable for caster and one side or the other can be adjusted separately to cancel the effects of road crown. This minor adjustment is possible because there are flexible bushings in all of the control arms and trackbar.

- John

 

[ofelas]

My suspension alignment is optimized to pull towards a bar.

 

[Bob4x4]

You can’t twist a solid axle but you can preload the bushings.......

 

[EDankievitch]

Pre Loading the bushings causes them to fail sooner. Caster just helps the wheel return to center. Too much caster and the truck will follow the crown of the road. It will want to drive "down hill" in other words wonder off to the right in the right lane or wonder to the left in the left lane on a highly crowned road.
Camber is what controls the "pulling " from side to side. On our Solid axle trucks unless you have installed adjustable Ball joints, do not have Camber adjustment.