What a good wheel alignment did

[RonD]

My 2005 3500 4WD always had a sort of floating light steering feel to it, it was real bad before I replaced the steering parts with the new updated parts, added a steering support, new ball jounts and a new alignment, they set it to within stock specs, it drove fine, but still not right, so I went back to the alignment shop and told them what it was doing, he drove it with me and agreed, put in back on the alignment rack, and put in all the Caster it would offer, the book says pos 4-5. 5 degrees, I was at about 4. 3, I now have 6. 7 on one side, and 6. 8 on the other, total toe in about . 04 , all I can say is it really drives better than new, where Dodge came up with the 4-5. 5 I don't know, the steering also is stiffer than before, a great feel.

 

[MQuirin]

My 07 is the same way. Who did your alignment? Anyone know of a good shop in/near Florence,SC? Anywhere remotely close?

 

[jelag]

Caster is designed into the front end, and the more caster, the more the front tires wish to go straight... if you can imagine the front wheels of a shopping cart that swivel... more caster and you push the cart and it goes straight... . less caster and you push the cart and it wonders around... . at least this was how I was taught... Caster is the forward and rearward tilt of the king pin at the top.....

What I also learned but haven't seen in years is a tech who can rub his hands over the tires and reset the alignment to correct tire wear... . camber, the inward and outward tilt of the king pin at the top helps in turns... but will wear tires if out of spec...

Like toe... toe is designed for the compression of the joints at speed so that when your driving at speed the compression on the joints will result in zero toe... again if its out of spec you'll wear tires. .

You can see from my text (king pin) that I was taught this process with truck axles and cars before modern suspensions added all the other stuff... . but the basic facts and rules apply... .

Usually the guys I've know, or found have their own shops and have been doing it for 20 years... and know their stuff... . I don't use a tire shop or tire dealer... where if they test it and its close they charge you for a quick adjustment and say its in specs... .

In fact my current set of trucks... . listed below, plus 2 that have not been listed have never been on an alignment rack... I do however have a class 8 straight truck rated at 56K lbs that needs some work...