Alignment - Caster adjustment

Had my truck aligned after putting on new suspension stuff up front. My camber and toe are satisfactory but my caster is 1.3 (right) and 1.7 (left). Can I adjust the caster on the spc arms without screwing anything else up? I can mark around the washer to keep my camber where it was, but I'm not sure my toe and camber at the lower cam bolts wont be impacted by the adjustments.

 

Planning to go from Position D to Position C.

 

That will effect camber and toe also which is easy enough to correct at home. They should of been able to get caster better than that at D position. Did you max out you lowers for max caster before you took it in ?

 

My truck was at position C when I got it and it was miserable to drive like that. My lowers aren't maxed out either. I moved them to position D which was a better feel but my 305 tires were still rubbing the cab mount so I moved them to E and I like it but still get minimal rub once in a while. What size tires are you running? You might get some rub at C. You could try C and if you don't like it, put it back to D and it should leave the toe in the same spot, the camber will be a guess once you loosen them up though. I don't know what my numbers are yet since I wasn't sure if I'm done making changes yet or not. It seems like I'm getting a little better gas mileage since moving to E as well, but with the weather getting warmer and me towing the boats more often it's tough to do a real comparison vs the lousy winter mpg.

 

If you would max out the caster settings on the lowers before you do anything you will gain the most cab mount clearance to start with . That will move the tire forward as much as possible . Set the uppers at D and camber at 0 then toe in. This is very easy to do yourself before you go for an alignment . You will drive good and you should have clearance at the cab mount. Read through this thread to get a better idea as to how to set the uppers and lowers up and what adjustments give what results...... alignment-caster-clearance-and-driving-report-with-light-racing-ucas.158795

 

Exactly what I did to fit 315 tires after installing new LCAs. Drives like a dream.

 

My lowers are frozen in place so that's not an option without cutting out the lca's and most likely replacing them or doing the bushings if I can get the old ones out.

 

Well crap. After the alignment I was scrubbing in reverse and forward at full lock, which on my previous arms I had no scrub on position D. Running 285/75/16, I used a paint pen when I got home to mark the cam bolts and around the washer on the UCAs, then adjusted the UCAs to position C on both sides. Didnt seem to impact the settings on the cam bolts. I asked the tech to max the caster on the bottom but it's pretty obvious he just ignored me, I swear asking for certain specs at a Firestone is like pulling teeth

 

I guess I'll call to take it in again, how do I max out the lowers, rotate to the farthest position towards the tire?

 

I’ve heard that because firestone offers lifetime alignments, they burn through their alignment guys like hot cakes. They can’t align it right the first time so you take it back to align it again and again, it’s their own fault really.

Rear cams out, front cams in

 

Yea I miss the Firestone I used before I moved, manager was cool enough to spend some time on the truck with me out there and align it properly. I'm debating swapping it back to D in the morning, worried it'll drive like shit and then I'll be 30 miles out from my tools. I'll call and just tell the guy its scrubbing and take it back in.

 

Taking it back in today, guy was bitchy about it but agreed

 

At the shop now, holy hell I had to argue a lot just to get them to adjust the caster. I'll have to start taking the truck elsewhere, this isnt worth the hassle

 

So right now hes got the caster at 2.7 right 3.1 left, camber is good on the right but the left is -1.3. I have about a finger widths room of adjustment on the UCA to bring the camber out but it's still going to be negative

 

Cut your loses, take it to a true alignment shop. Or buy a digital angle finder from Harbor freight and do it yourself.

 

The alignment guys an idiot. If he would turn the left rear alignment cam inward, it would dial back the left caster to match the right, and also fix the camber at least some.

That's just an obvious observation without even seeing the position of the cams.

With SPC UCAs, there's no reason to have numbers like that.

 

Final settings, caster 2.8 left, 2.6 right, camber -1.2 left, 0.2 right, toe in spec. Frustrating experience as always, but I can pull that camber out some using the UCA. If I had to guess it will be at -0.5 if I pulled it out to the max based on where it currently sits

 

So, without knowing the position of the cams, here's my logic. With the upper ball joint at position D, you had .6 and 1.7. Moving the ball joint to position C should have increased caster by 1 degree and theoretically increased camber by .25 degrees. So if you only changed the ball joint, you should be at +.825 and +2.7 degrees. So to get to -1.2 camber, the guy had to be really stoned.

 

I moved the control arms back to the D position before taking it in this morning. I'm going to another shop after speaking with them, they have no issues adjusting the UCAs if needed

 

Cool. Hope you get it worked out. Let us know what you end up with.