What do these Alignment Numbers Mean?

I just got my truck aligned after the install of Camburg 1.25 uniball UCA's.

The numbers given to me were:

Left..................Right
1/2..................1/2 Cam
1 1/2..................2 Cast

1/16N

Can someone shed some light on this?

 

cam is camber that is how much you tires lean in or out top to bottom. so a positive camber your tires will be sticking out on the top more them the bottom. if you look at the truck from the front the tires will look like \ / this with much camber 1/2 a degree is to much. the cast is the caster which means the angle the tire sits at front to back. positive caster is good, ideal is 2.4 to 2.8 depending on your tires.

camber will create wear issues, so zero is best the tire sits flat on the road.

caster has nothing to do with wear but how well it tracks down the road and steering.


ideal is
0 camber
0 toe
2.4-2.8 caster

 

^ what he said. If you don't like the way your steering feels now or it 'wanders' on the highway you should go back and get that caster closer to 2.5*. One of the benefits of buying aftermarket UCAs is that they allow you to get the caster back into spec after lifting... so you should.

I do think that 0.5* camber isn't bad at all, you're ok, but '0' is best.

Also make sure they get that toe at '0' too. (pigeon toed or duckfooted depending on - or + 0)

 

If 0 is ideal, why wouldn't the guy put it there to begin with. I notice the outside edge of my right front tire is worn slightly more than the inside tread. This wear is from my last alignment which pulled to the right.

The guy who did the alignment is a reserve for our Sheriff's department (I'm friends with him as I work for the PD) so I don't think he was trying to shortcut my truck. It seems to drive pretty good, but I have only driven through town today. I'll go the long way to work tomorrow and put it on the highway to see how it tracks.

 

wear and pull generally are different problems. wear is a camber problem and pulling is a caster problem. most shops will tell you the right side should be hire caster due to the crown of the road (a car or truck will pull to the side with the least caster). so with the crown of most roads they say you need to compensate by having the left side at less caster so it pulls that way again to compensate. i am OK with mine at .3 degree different on caster it seems to drive straight on most roads. camber being off will cause the tires to wear funny and it affects your ability to turn corners at higher speeds. i think 0 is perfect but plus to minus .1 is OK to.

 

I don't think the guy short-changed you, .5* camber is still in Toyota Spec; if your tire is now wearing funny since the alignment something might be off. If the tire was worn on the outside before the alignment then it is probably good now, just rotate them.

As for the caster, I'm not an alignment guru nor have I ever done my own but it looks like yours could definitely be better... how much that '1' affects the steering I can't say but mine personally tracked alot better after my caster was in the 2.5 range... per Toyota specs.

If you do make changes post your opinion/results on the before after.