Front end alignment check

[crispyboy]

Hey guys,
My wandering truck has been wearing me out. Wife doesn't like to drive it.
The truck has good ball joints.
In 2018 I put on a Moog draglink and a new old stock Carli trackbar. Everything else seems tight. 88k miles on the odometer.
I was trying to rule out the steering box - as the wander is when driving down the interstate highway. The faster you go the worse it is. Stock tires (good shape 70 psi). The truck has been reversed leveled.
I recently had an alignment performed and they only changed the toe-in.
The total toe is now 0.22. Is this too much? I mentioned to the mechanic that I wanted the toe close to 0 but he claims if you get too close to 0 there is a risk of toe out when the truck travels down the road.
Steer ahead is 0.01 (what is this?).
Caster is 3.8 degrees
See attached print out.
Let me know your thoughts.

 

[Ozymandias]

If you have the T-Steering Setup you can set it to dead Zero because there is zero toe change while driving.
Tell this to your alignment shop.

 

[AEdelheit]

That is wayyyy too much toe in, with the 03-08 "Y" style steering it should be about .10 deg total, 08.5+ "T" style should be 0.00-0.05 total toe in.

 

[04blackcherry]

Might need to check the caster too. I had the same thing happen after my leveling kit. They set the toe and didn't check the caster.

 

[AEdelheit]

Might need to check the caster too. I had the same thing happen after my leveling kit. They set the toe and didn't check the caster.

3.8 is a pretty good for caster, could add a little more but doubt that is the issue.

 

[crispyboy]

I dropped the truck back off this afternoon. I wasn't real good at making my case but he said he would do it. This is a local family owned shop with a good reputation. I gave him a copy of the reasoning from Thurens website so he could understand why I was asking this particular alignment spec. He also said he would give all the components a good look over again including the steering box.

 

[crispyboy]

I stopped off at the shop to check on the truck. The total toe has been adjusted to 0.02 (0.01 left, 0.01 right). Caster is 3.9 left and 3.7 right. I will drive the truck over the next week and see how it behaves.
The mechanic said the wandering in the Dodge trucks is just the nature of the beast. I asked him if other brands have these issues. He answered that 3 to 1 Dodge front end problems over Ford. He said the Fords just had heavier duty and higher quality parts. I thought the 2009 steering system was supposed to address these issues. He drives a GM truck. If I ever sell this truck I am going to do a lot of comparisons before I buy another.
Thanks to those who commented on this issue.

 

[AEdelheit]

I hope it handles well, I wont argue Dodge could use some better components but I have found that when a mechanic says something like its the nature of the beast I find a better shop quickly as that usually means they dont know how to fix it and are not willing to learn anything new.

 

[seafish]

Thuren has a web page that provides vital info and specs for 3rd get front end alignments.

https://www.thurenfabrication.com/tech/alignment-and-handling.html

They even have a printable PDF link that I am sure your family owned alignment shop would not mind reading and would probably agree with most of it

 

[Prairie Dog]

Wandering is not normal.
Mine was terrible when new - the steering gear was junk!
After it was replaced it drives like a dream.