2nd Gen Non-Engine/Transmission Need Help - Truck Pulls Right

[MRiley]

Here is the deal. . My truck has had a slight right pull for about as long as I can remember. Lately it has gotten worse. I have gone to 2 alignment shops and they could not get the pull out. Now it's at the delear. They just called to tell me that it needs some type of off set ball joint and a shim kit. Out the door it will cost $650! Is it just me or does that seem way out of line? Any adivce would be great they are waiting on me to order the parts or pick up the truck.

 

[fox]

That should fix it so ask them to guarantee it to go straight, pay them.

Yes it is a lot of money but it is anoiying to drive one with pull.

you should feel good about a dealer who will correct a pulling issue. Most simply say it is in spec and won't do anything.

 

[MRiley]

The alignment shop did exactly that. Tey put it on the rack and said it's within specs nothing we can do... That really got me bent.

 

[Dave M]

I had an offset cylinder put in the right knuckle to correct right front tire wearing out on my 97 4x4. I don't know if iyours is the same as mine or if they're adding an aftermarket adjustable ball joint. It cost me $130 at a frame alignment shop last year. That included alignment. It fixed my problem. Here is a link to my thread on right front tire wear:



https://www.turbodieselregister.com...mission-discussions/144154-steering-woes.html



Here is an excerpt from that thread including the before and after specs for alignment:

The alignment shop said the trucks camber was in spec (barely) but that the spec is so wide it could still cause problems. Everything in the front end was tight according to them. They removed a offset cylinder thing on the right front knuckle and replaced it to change and make the camber more negative to compenstae for the tire wear. This adjustment required replacement of the offset sleeve (cylinder) which changes both the caster and the camber so it takes longer to get all the specs set. After 4 months it appears to have corrected my problem. I requested they keep the caster between +3. 5 - +4. 5 deg, as recommend on this site, to correct for "death wobble".



Here are the alignment spec's the shop took before and after the camber change:



Before:

Camber: Left= +0. 0 deg Right=+0. 2 deg

Caster: Left= +3. 5 Right=+4. 2

Toe: Left=+1/16" Right=+2/16"



After:

Camber: Left=+0. 0 deg Right= -0. 5 deg

Caster: Left= +3. 5 Right=+4. 1

Toe: Left=+0/16" Right=+0/16"



The alignment shop said since doing the adjustment at the right front knuckle affects both both camber and caster it took 1 1/2 - 2 hours to do. That was 3 months ago and the tires still show no signs of the outside edge wear I had before.

I'd take it to an good frame alignment shop and pay less or pay the MAN at the delaer 3 times what its worth.



Read my thread and you will see it took a good frame shop to diagnos the problem and fix it. BTW it was in spec (barely) before the fix but the spec is so wide it takes someone who knows how to correct problems to fix it.