Hard hit = Alignment out of whack. Looking for advice.

Need some advice/help from any alignment gurus out there.

Front end took a hard nose-dive last weekend that threw my alignment out (flattened my leaf springs too). After the hit my steering wheel was cocked 20* to the right to drive straight.

Took it in to get aligned today and having issues with the driver's side.




I'd like the driver's Caster to be around 3* (to offset pull to the right that's always been there). There's a strong pull to the right currently due to the higher driver's caster. Alignment guy says that he can't lower Caster because Camber will climb more negative. Also says the front cam is almost maxed out.

Side note....no shop has ever gotten my caster above 3.1* in the past so I'm thinking somethings not quite right.

He didn't offer any solutions to the problem and I'm second guessing what he's telling me.



The cams themselves do appear to be positioned for positive camber (correct me if I'm wrong).

So I need some assistance in what to look for.....new alignment shop....new alignment cams....other items to inspect?

And lastly is driver's Toe. Driver's side is Toe'd out. Can't bring it in anymore because the outer tie-rod end is bottomed out. No pic of that but there aren't any threads showing. Never had an issue with this prior to the hits last weekend.

His solution to this was to cut down the outer and inner tie-rods.

As it sits currently the wheel is cocked right slightly and there's a pull to the right. Did I trash something in the steering rack?

For reference the front end is lifted approx. 1.5 inches on fox coilers.

Thanks in advance for any input!

 

Hoping the man @jberry813 himself will chime in.

 

First off I’ll say I am by no means an expert, just spitting out what I’ve heard and read. Ive heard that doing the aftermarket upper control arms will help get the caster in(when lifted). I know with my old 08 after I lifted it I could never get the caster in spec. Idk if that will help you at least get enough adjustment to get it back where it was.

As far as the toe. I cant think of anything other than having the rod cut down and threaded to extend your adjustment. Or find out what got bent. That may get expensive though.

 

Appreciate the reply. I'm running TC UCA's. From what I understand aftermarket UCA's are needed to gain additional caster which I have. I'm trying to actually lower it a bit.

The toe issue is throwing me for a loop. Seems strange I'd have to cut the inner and thread it. Wanna find the root cause.

 

How hard was the hit? I work in a shop and we see people bending suspension components because of hitting potholes.. My guess is something is bent.. It may be tweaked enough where you can't see it by the naked eye as in most cases at my shop. Bring it somewhere else who can actually help you resolve the problem other than tell you there's something wrong..? I'm not an expert, but I am an advisor at a BMW dealership and see this a lot. Gotta love Massachusetts roads!
Good luck!

 

Is the rack pushed to one side?

Are you sure that you don't have a froze cam bolts? That would explain your "pull" that no tech could remove.

I think you might need to take the truck to a frame shop. Alignment shops can't straighten bent components.

 

Hard hit. Flattened leaf springs. Alignment off after the hit.

Sounds like you bent the shit out of something to me.

 

The rack looks like it's positioned on the frame correctly. Passenger tie-rod end has about 3 threads showing. I dunno if the ram itself got pushed to one side.

Regarding the cam bolts. I've had several alignments over the last 18 months with no issues. One of the driver's cam bolts used to give an awful squeak but an alignment a few months ago resolved that.

Gonna get the wheels and skids off this weekend to take a closer look.

Side note: the front skid took the brunt of the impact. Came over a hill at about 35. Front end got a little air and landed square in a washed out dip. Front skid hit the dirt before the bumps could do their job.

 

It seems the tech is correct. The rear cam is maxed out and the front is very close. If you adjust the rear cam in it will lower the + caster but increase the negative camber. I would say something is bent.

Eta: Many years ago I bent the LCA on my 1st Gen and I had to take it to a frame shop to get diagnosed.

 

All things point to the driver’s LCA. If the outer portion (ball joint area) is bent towards the rear that would explain the toe issue. If the cams or bushings are toast that explains the camber/caster issue.

Getting ready to pull the skids and wheel off now to take a look.

 

Got it pulled apart. Thanks to Arizona everything came apart w/o problems.

Only thing I’m seeing that’s obvious is the rear LCA bushing. The metal end plates on the rear bushing are loose as hell. Axial play and they can be rotated. Front bushing and end plates are solid.

 

All the hardware looks straight. Can’t see anything visually bent on the LCA.

Pics of the frame mounts also. Surprised at how thin the mounts are.

 

^^^that's going to be your problem, as soon as your bushing wear to where there's axial play your alignments wont go back into spec until their replaced.

 

Replace bushings with poly, or even better, grab some proper lca's. And then while they're out, get some cam tab gussets to help keep your alignment in. And if the welder is out, get uca gussets too if you're pushing the truck hard. Less chances of bending stuff if it is all gusseted.

Side note from when I was mid travel is I ran castor closer to 3.5. Handled great on and off road. Now I run it closer to 4.5 with the LT kit.

Good luck.

 

My cam tab actually bent over some so I’m going to do the total chaos cam tab solution when I get a chance

 

I say it a lot but, Firestone has Lifetime Alignments for around ~$170. After that it's free for as long as you own the vehicle. So you can get as many adjustments as you need.

 

Problem is finding one with a compitent tech. I've heard of lots of people having issues with firestone and having to try multiple different locations until they found a good tech. That said, if you find a good one it is well worth it. I have lifetime alignment through a local mom and pop alignment/ tire shop and they understand what's going on when I ask for specific settings. Usually end up with 3-4 alignments per year lol. not much they can do for me anymore though since I solid mounted the loweres other than keep fixing my toe until I do a steering upgrade.

 

While I can't vouch for each specific shop, I was lucky enough to get mine done twice with my local one with zero issue.

 

As of now I’ll probably order a new OEM LCA. That way the bushings will be tight and the arm should be straight.

When I get time replace the bushing in the old arm.

The TC LCA’s are crazy $$$.

Hopefully that’ll at least get the alignment in.

I use Big O for alignments. Not many chain stores in my area and so far they seem decent. Best they offer is a 3 year plan which I’ve been using for the last year.

 

But that does not answer why the steeringswheel is crookef