Super High Tech Driveway alignment success!

[KeggerTx]

Upgraded the Y steering on my '02 to the T steering from an '08+ and did the super high tech driveway alignment with a long piece of string and a couple of cheap pizza pans under the tires.

Truck drove straight with no pull etc. but my mind was still worried it wasn't within spec (Thuren Spec) and I don't want to eat up the new tires.

So off to the alignment shop I go this morning. They slap it on the machine.....almost perfect.

Thuren specs call for 0* toe up to 0.05*.

I was at -0.05* with a piece of string and pizza pans!

We adjusted it to 0.02* and called it good.

So took an '02 with sloppy steering, upgraded to the T-style steering, added a steering box stabilizer and had the alignment checked.

She drives like a new truck now!

Just wanted to share that the High Tech driveway alignment is definitely possible on these rigs, you just can't tell how close you are. I'd have been ok as it was, but I paid for a little peace of mind this morning.

Gonna be a great day everyone!

KeggerTx

 

[Topzide]

That's great to think outside the box to solve a problem! That's how a farmer has to do when planting/harvest time is upon them. What you use for the measurement to work with? Did you make string with the rear tire distance? Curios minds want to know!

 

[KeggerTx]

Here is how I did the high tech pizza pan alignment in the driveway.

I parked the truck on level surface with a pizza pan under the drivers side front tire. None on the passenger.
I took a long length of para cord that I had and tied a loop in one end and looped that around the rear leaf spring on the passenger side.
I pulled the string all the way around the truck with the string right at the mid height of the tires, keeping it at the center of each tire.
I pulled it tight and tied the other end to the leaf spring on the drivers side.

Now I have one string going all the way around right in the center of each tire.

I then started the truck and adjusted the steering until the passenger side lined up as close to perfect as possible. The object right now is to have the string touching all four contact points on the passenger rear and front tires. And to have the string perfectly straight. If you look down the string from front to back and see any bend in the string where it contacts the tire, or any gaps between the string and tire on the “inner” contact points, you need to adjust the steering again until the string is barely touching the tires at the inner contact points and is perfectly straight.

Once that’s done, turn the truck off and go to the drivers side and look at that string. If yours is like mine you’ll see a noticeable bend in the string. On mine, the drivers side tire was toed in so the string made contact at the rear of the front tire and had a gap between the string and the tire on the rear.

Now you start adjusting the toe adjustment. The pizza pan with a little dirt under it will allow the drivers side tire to move with the adjustment. The passenger tire without a pizza pan should stay put.

adjust until the string is perfectly straight and making contact at all four points on the drivers side.

check the passenger side again and adjust steering again if needed. Back and forth, adjust steering if needed - check for bends or gaps and keep going back and forth until all 8 points where the string touches the tires are barely touching on both sides. No gaps between string and tire and no noticeable bends in the string at those contact points.

Once you’ve got it where you want it, tighten down the toe adjuster sleeve and check the string again. Sometimes just tightening the adjuster sleeve can make adjustments to the toe, tho they are probably too minute to notice without a real alignment machine.

I figured it would be good enough to get to the alignment shop to have the real deal done.

Well….it was! The alignment tech said I would have had no issues with tire wear as I had it set.

He did make minor adjustments to get it as close to zero toe as possible but I was within the threshold of the Thuren alignment specs that they recommend for 2nd gen with the 3rd gen steering linkage upgrade.

Thuren says 0.0* to 0.05* total toe is where you want it. I was at -0.05* in the driveway and am now at 0.02* after the full on laser beam alignment (that I didn’t need after all). They also have specs for caster and mine was in line with their specs so we left it alone. Thuren says the most important part is the toe in adjustment.

I’m ok with paying for that alignment today even tho it wasn’t needed. Like I said, I paid for peace of mind today. And came away knowing that if you take your time and adjust toe in using the above method, you can get “close enough for the girls I date” right in your own driveway with a $5 pizza pan (don’t use your wife’s pizza pan - go buy one at the dollar store) and some string.

I hope I’ve explained this well. And I should have taken some pictures while I was doing it. Maybe I’ll do a full on write up later on with pictures.

I doubt I’ll ever pay for an alignment again now that I know this method is pretty accurate.

I hope this helps!

 

[jfmaz]

This only works if the front and rear track widths are the same. 2nd gen dodge srw is equal track width front and rear. Not so on alot of trucks, ie my Silverado

 

[KeggerTx]

This only works if the front and rear track widths are the same. 2nd gen dodge srw is equal track width front and rear. Not so on alot of trucks, ie my Silverado

I should have put the disclaimer in there but didn’t think about vehicles with a wider rear axle than front.

This definitely would not work if the F/R track width are not the same!

Good catch!

 

[Ozymandias]

It still works, one just need to know the track difference and take it into account.
I did it on my Gen3 where the rear is 1" narrower, works perfectly fine.

 

[petersonj]

My method uses only the front tires for the setup. I raise both front tires just off of the ground with a jack.

I start spinning a front tire with one hand and begin spraying white paint on the center of the tread with the other hand allowing for a thick coat of paint to build up all the way around the tire. I repeat with the other front tire. I let the paint dry completely on both tires.

I then start spinning a tire with one hand and press the tip of a screw driver on edge on top of a block of wood into the center of the painted area to scribe a line all the way around the tire. I repeat with the other tire.

I then lower the vehicle to the ground. I back up the vehicle about 15 feet. I pull forward 15 feet, stopping gently into the work area. This last step is to simulate road resistance force placed on steering components in a forward motion, as if the vehicle was traveling down the road.

I then measure the distance between the scribed lines on the front side of each front tire. I repeat this procedure on the rear side of each front tire. I compare the two distance measurements. If the distances are equal, I know the toe is set to 0 degrees. If the rear distance is greater than the front, then I know the toe measurement is positive. Vice versa if the distances are reversed.

If I make a change in toe adjustment, I make the adjustment first, then I back up the vehicle 15 feet and pull back into the work area to reload the steering components. I then measure the new adjustment.

Same results as @KeggerTx , just a different method.

- John

 

[Cummins12V98]

^^^ EXACTLY ^^^

 

[KevinLewis]

My method uses only the front tires for the setup. I raise both front tires just off of the ground with a jack.

I start spinning a front tire with one hand and begin spraying white paint on the center of the tread with the other hand allowing for a thick coat of paint to build up all the way around the tire. I repeat with the other front tire. I let the paint dry completely on both tires.

I then start spinning a tire with one hand and press the tip of a screw driver on edge on top of a block of wood into the center of the painted area to scribe a line all the way around the tire. I repeat with the other tire.

I then lower the vehicle to the ground. I back up the vehicle about 15 feet. I pull forward 15 feet, stopping gently into the work area. This last step is to simulate road resistance force placed on steering components in a forward motion, as if the vehicle was traveling down the road.

I then measure the distance between the scribed lines on the front side of each front tire. I repeat this procedure on the rear side of each front tire. I compare the two distance measurements. If the distances are equal, I know the toe is set to 0 degrees. If the rear distance is greater than the front, then I know the toe measurement is positive. Vice versa if the distances are reversed.

If I make a change in toe adjustment, I make the adjustment first, then I back up the vehicle 15 feet and pull back into the work area to reload the steering components. I then measure the new adjustment.

Same results as @KeggerTx , just a different method.

- John

This is how we've done all our off-road race cars and go Karts back in the day. I did my truck the same way except I used a utility knife to cut the tread right on the scribe line because I was by myself and stuck the end of the tape in the cut to hold it. No wear issues in 15 years.