Help me get a proper alignment

I don't understand this well enough to tell the tech what to do. Digiratus told me to have them set the camber and toe to o* and the the caster to as close to 2.4* as possible.

This is what the shop came up with:





The truck pulls to the left quite a bit right now. Before this alignment, it was pulling to the left, but not as much, and it also seemed to walk around a lot on the highway.

I have about 1.5" of lift on the front, with Bilstein 5100s and OME 880 coils.

TIA :beer:

 

They should be able to do better on the camber and caster. Toe within .05 degrees is about as good as you can expect.

 

i bet that thing pulls..... damn bring it back
lucky its not doing u turns

 

most places give you like 1year of warranty, yake that shit back and tell them the issue. they have to fix it.

 

God, looking at that bottom sheet (didn't see it the first go round) that thing's all fucked up.

Take it back and tell them you want it done right...

not "in spec", but 0/0/2.4

 

Yeah, I told him 0, 0, and 2.4 he didn't really get it. He was asking me about differences. Should I tell him 1.2 on left and right making it 2.4 total?

Tell me what to say to him so that it gets done correctly.

Thanks guys.

 

Or better yet, someone mark up that sheet for me with the proper information and I'll just print it out and take it with me.

 

1.5 is not a lot of lift you should not have to replace the upper control arms
have them even up the caster on the left side that's what in making it pull
But if the shop let you go with those #s i think i would go some place else
let me know how you make out

 

Well, they let me go under the knowledge that i was bringing it back to get it corrected. I had to use the truck.

I am about to drop it off again. So I should ask for 1.2 on both sides?

 

No. 1.2 on each side is too low and the truck will wander like crazy, especially at higher speeds.

If you like a little easier steering at lower speeds, you can lower caster a bit. I like mine around 2.0, but I'm not lifted. When I go to larger tires, I'll probably move up to 2.4.

You want 0 toe, 0 camber, and 2.4 to 3.1 caster on both sides. That should be plenty for you to go on.

 

Ok, well it's at the shop, I asked him to set it at 1.2 each side to = 2.4 total caster (when that was the assumption i was under), and he said that was too high. So, I'm stuck. They won't do it how i want it.

He also said that the truck wandering on the highway was not an alignment problem.

I guess let it be a lesson to you to not go to pep boys for an alignment.

 

Yeah...different shop...


Edit: Shit, did not even NOTICE until now this was a first gen topic. My numbers are probably way off. RECALL my previous posts.

 

Nah, that's what other first genners were telling me as well.

 

The advice you gave was good advice....even for 1st Gens.

The number (0 degrees of Toe, 0 degrees of Camber and 2.4 degrees of Caster) are targets. And apply to each front wheel.

It does look like you got an incompetent (or to be more kind, inexperienced) technician. Unless you have worn out suspension parts (unlikely) 0 degrees of Toe and 0 degrees of camber should be easily attainable.

Not sure how much lift you have but the more lift, the harder it is to get to 2.4 degrees of Caster unless aftermarket upper control arms are installed that specifically add 2 degrees of caster in their design.

The report that you initially posted showed that one wheel had a caster setting of 1.6 and the other wheel was very different. Something like -0.3. This is why it it is pulling.

What were the results from the 2nd visit?

 

How much lift do you have? Do you have aftermarket UCA?

The caster is per side and not total. The left and right caster should be equal or close enough (like 0.05 difference). The recommended caster is right at the center if you are stock height (1.7). If you lifted your truck to fit bigger tires, one guy here suggested to set to 2.4 each side (for 33" tires). Now, you can't achieve this caster if you don't have aftermarket UCA. So the best you can do is ask them to set it to the max adjustment.

 

Here's the results from the last alignment. It's still not good. Still pulling to the left.

I could take it back and have them attempt a 4th alignment, but at this point I'm thinking I should just spend the money and take it to a different shop, where I have a better chance of getting it done right.



Like I said, this is with about 1.5" of lift in the front with Bilstein 5100s and OME 880s. I installed the lift myself and it has been on for about 2 weeks, so everything is brand new.

The tires are 265/70-16 Fuzion XTi that are practically brand new, on stock 16x7 SR5 alloys.

We swapped the front left tire for the front right last night to see if the tires were causing it to pull. They weren't

so, option 1) take it back to pep boys today (the tech that worked on it last night is not there today) and demand the fix it. I have a 3 month warranty.

2) Take it to a dedicated alignment shop.


what do you guys think?

 

I bet if you keep annoying Pep Boys they'll either bring in someone to do it right or give you a refund. Personally, I'd be sick of them by now and ask for a refund.

 

It looks like that tech doesn't know about alignment. Look at the final results. The left caster is 0.8 yet that the specs says between 1.0 to 2.5. How can it be good when it's outside the range? Tell them to adjust both left and right caster close to 1.7. Camber and toe close to 0.

That shop needs a display or printout that has indicator that says pass or fail since the techs don't even know how to analyze results. Demand a refund or let them fix it.

 

I'll be taking it back one more time for them to fix it. I'm going to talk to the service manager before I drop it off. "put it to these specs, or refund my money." then when I see the printout, if it's not right, refund time.

 

Bringing this back from the dead to compare my last alignment with my latest.



and the truck: