Had some alignment work done today

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Guys,

My new truck has not steered as good as I would hope from day one. Today I took it in to what I have been told is the best alignment shop within 100 miles. All of the collision work and dealer "can't fixes" go to this one guy. He does a lot of Jeeps, and a few Rams, all of which have "problems". Says he has not had a Ram that did not have a complaint, so he is not sure what a good one steers like. Not sure if he corrected it yet, but I am heading out on a 200 mile trip in the AM. The specs were basically on, or in the acceptable range. He maxed the caster out to 4. 3° Left and 4. 8° Right. (they were at 2. 4° and 2. 9° from the factory) Changed the toe slightly. More caster theoretically should produce less wander with slightly increased tire wear, enhanced by lots of tight turns such as a delivery truck would make. I don't fit that category so I should be OK. Guy has being doing alignment for 20-30 years and alignments exclusively for the past 18 years. Does it all, from 18 wheelers to BMW's to drag cars. He should know what he is doing, unless the wandering is not fixable.

Will post results after I return. Scheduled to return home on Saturday.

Shelby

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2001. 5 2500 QC LB 4WD, ETH, DEE, 3. 54 gears, Laramie SLT, Camper Special, Trailer Tow, Travel Convenience Group, Power Driver Seat, Alarm System, Remote Keyless Entry, Fog Lamps, Cab Clearance Lamps, HD Transfer Case, Bright White with a Gray Interior. Built 09-15-00, took delivery on 10-06-00, 1749 miles as of 11-25-00. Custom aluminum work body / flat bed. Coming soon: E-Brake and gauges.

 

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I hope it works out for you. BTW,caster is an angle which affects driveability not tire wear. Camber and toe in are the tire wear angles.

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2001 HO 6spd,Quad cab,LWB,4x4,Flame Red,all options except for leather,Westin Brushguard/Push bar,Painless wiring,Radio Shack CB( so what it works},my own designed CB mount,Smittybuilt nerf bars,NW Custom rocker covers,Custom built stainless rocker light bars(more to come)

 

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Mike,

Yes, but excessive caster will create a scrub effect in hard or tight turns. Only a problem if you are turning a lot like in a UPS delivery truck type of application.

Shelby

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2001. 5 2500 QC LB 4WD, ETH, DEE, 3. 54 gears, Laramie SLT, Camper Special, Trailer Tow, Travel Convenience Group, Power Driver Seat, Alarm System, Remote Keyless Entry, Fog Lamps, Cab Clearance Lamps, HD Transfer Case, Bright White with a Gray Interior. Built 09-15-00, took delivery on 10-06-00, 1749 miles as of 11-25-00. Custom aluminum work body / flat bed. Coming soon: E-Brake and gauges.

 

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Just had my alignment done by a reputable guy,as ihad a slight steering wander& some wear on the outer edges of my fronts. He corrected everything asi knew he would. I thoroughly recommend taking your truck to a good alignment guy over the dealer if you guys are having wear problems no matter how old the truck is . Mine is only 6mths old. After taking my 96 into the dealer 3 times for excessive tire wear to be told everything was within specs each time & 2 sets of tires in the trucks 1st year,I finally took it to a reputable guy & never had a problem after that. At $200 a pop for tires the money is well spent. Incidentally he told me my track bar had play in it & needs replacing ,so i have to go to the dealer anyway,**** it!Ijust hope they dont undo all the good work i just payed for. Ian

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2001,2500 q-cab,auto 4x4,4. 10 anti-slip rearend. All options except leather seats. Line-x bed & tool box. Slide-in -removable rack,BFG 295,s ,Fender flares. Westin nerf bars,billet grill & fog inserts. Isspro gauges on their way,more to come.

 

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Ian,good news,I'm on my third track bar,so far replacing it hasn't effected the alignment.

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95' 25004X4,AT,Driftwood,Banks Stinger,Warn fender flairs and running boards(Play truck)95 3500,5 speed,Driftwood,Banks&Phscotty,34,000 GCVW apple and tractor hauler(work truck)

 

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Shelby - we should meet some time it's convenient for you. I have not had any tire wear that's not ordinary - although I change tires every 20K miles - they are wearing evenly. I do change when the wear bars are noticable. . I'd like you to drive my truck to see if the steering is much different from yours.

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99' Quad 4x4 A/T LB 3. 54 30K Miles.
26' Terry w/slide 7500GVWR
"KISS your truck and it will be forever faithful"

 

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Will post results after I return. Scheduled to return home on Saturday.

Shelby

WELL???? #ad

 

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Jnutter,

I guess I never posted back here, but did give a hint of a report here.

In short, I still don't think it is as good as it should be. I got some advice from a member here to jack the truck up and load the upper ball joints full of grease while turning from lock to lock with the weight off the wheels. It took a bunch of grease, I think they must come dry, and this seemed to help a little. My alignment guy indicated that a good front end would try to seek a straight ahead natural position, so lots of friction in the front end could cause a problem according to his theory. In any event I think I will see if it improves with some wear in and the lube. Since it is new, I don't see how any parts could be wore out yet, it has been aligned and has the Delphi AF box, and what I feel is correct tire pressures for my weights. I don't know what else to try. I am probably going to have the dealer look at it, if and when the promised TSB using the alignment specs posted on this site comes out.

Shelby

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2001. 5 2500 QC LB 4WD, ETH (Built 09-10-00), DEE, 3. 54 gears, Laramie SLT, Camper Special, Trailer Tow, Travel Convenience Group, Power Driver Seat, Alarm System, Remote Keyless Entry, Fog Lamps, Cab Clearance Lamps, HD Transfer Case, Bright White with a Gray Interior. Built 09-15-00, took delivery on 10-06-00, 3873 miles as of 01-04-01. Custom aluminum work body / flat bed. Coming soon: E-Brake and gauges.

[This message has been edited by Surveyor Shelby (edited 01-25-2001). ]

 

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Shelby,

I'm having problems with my alignment and pull (to the right). I took my truck to the oldest alignment shop in Denver and they said I needed a new ball joint to get the correct alignment specifications. I said fine let get it done (because DC now says they will pay for the correction). They get my truck apart and try to put in the ball joint and low and behold! They don't fit and DC has not made a replacement part for the '01 trucks yet.

Hopefully (per the alignment shop) they will have a ball joint in in June. I'll wait till it is received and post the results. Currently, I still have a pull to the right and a wandering truck. I guess I will have to live with it until the part is made.

Frank

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01 White, Quad Cab,Short Box ,Sport SLT+,5 speed,4X4,line-x ,Nerf bars,fiberglass tonneau cover