Post lift alignment help!

Finally installed my OME lift (885's & dakars w/o UCAs) and had it aligned on Monday. The pic shows my numbers. I know everyone shoots for the 0,0,3 but the alignment guy said that it was the best caster he could get with camber and toe being 0.

However, he said it would be possible to get 2 or better on caster if he adjusted the camber to be mid-range (.7 or so). At this point it seems to drive and track fine but curious if I should have them adjust it to increase caster.

Does overall stability come from caster or whats the reason for "max caster." Also, should I have him shoot for caster = 3 or is anything above 2 ok?

Thanks in advance for any advice.

 

I'm by no means an expert but this is what I've experienced myself. I'm running 5100's with 884's and I thought I could get away with stock UCA's but couldn't get the alignment where I needed without aftermarket. You are correct in thinking caster affects stability, lower the caster angle is when you'll experience wandering etc. As you stated with increasing caster the camber also increases and you may end up with this \--/. That equals bad for tire wear. I was a little less than 2 degrees of caster and about .6/.7 of camber after my install and alignment and that was enough for the positive camber to be visible and after spending $ on new tires I wasn't about to have them wear prematurely. So I did what I should have done initially and replaced the stock UCA's to gain more adjustability. As I'm sure you've read here it seems to be a crapshoot, some get the adjustment dialed in fine with stock UCA's although it seems that most end up going with aftermarket UCA's. Hope this helps a bit...

 

Thanks for the reply, hard to imagine a fraction of a degree can make camber visible! So you had tire wear issues with caster <2 and camber at .7?

 

Hello from Bozeman!!

I've had my truck aligned 4 times in the last two weeks. Initially post Moab, and the other times trying to tweak things.

That being said I have SPC's Light Racing Upper Control Arms. Dark Horse Customs and I have been working together to improve my forward Caster to reduce wheel well rubbing. I'm sitting at about 2.4 Caster on the driver side as I recall. I left my most recent Alignment sheet in my truck so I don't have it to post here. Big difference with my having different UCA's though.

I'm running OME 886's & Dakars with Steel Plate Bumpers and Steel skids.

Max Caster is about pushing the front wheels forward so they are less likely to rub on the back side of the wheel wells. This means you can fit bigger tires, stuff them in while off-roading, and not rub as much.

EDIT: Your "Final" Caster measurements are way out of spec too. Your wheels/tires are sitting farther rearward than recommended according to that alignment sheet.

 

Tires seem to be be pretty well centered in the well (i'd go check but its pouring rain right now) but I'm only running 265/75s. Like I mentioned, ride feels ok just read a shit load of posts about 0,0,3. Also, visually tires look straight, no noticeable \--/.

 

You are probably okay.

Here's my alignment sheet from Thursday.

 

I can't think of the specs that you want at this moment. Been a long week and my brain hurts. But what I can tell you is this. Think of a shopping cart and motorcycle. A shopping cart with those goofy front wheels is considered negative caste . A motorcycle is positive caster. What happens if you let go of the shopping cart? That sucker takes a sharp turn and smashes into something. A motorcycle is the opposite. You can coast right down the road without holding the bar. More positive is my stable. Your rig won't dart constantly with bumps, road crown, and anything else in the road. I hope this helps.

 

I know, that was my main question. Should I go up in camber to get my caster closer to 2 or higher. Doing so would move them further forward?

 

Ok, that helps a little. Does too much caster making driving/steering more difficult? Thought I read somewhere that driveability suffers a bit when caster is too high? Maybe I'm making shit up now...

 

I haven't noticed any steering changes since having my caster adjusted. I just don't rub anymore! lol

As long as you keep your camber within spec I wouldn't worry too much. But replacing your UCA's at some point will give the alignment tech a lot more flexibility with trying to get everything into spec more easily. It's not cheap to do it though!

 

I know, UCAs are in my future, but from what the tech said he could get my caster at 2 or better by adjusting camber to .6-.7, which leaves everything in spec. He just put camber and toe at 0 because I asked. Thinking I should return and just have him do that, just don't want to cause undue wear to my tires.

 

^ what he said. I know the UCAs are expensive but it makes a big difference.


I could have probably gotten the camber a little closer together but it partially accounts for road crown. To the eye they're dead center of the wheel wells and i have zero rubbing after a minor inch and half of inner fender plastic trimming. No cab mount chop needed, yet. I havnt flexed it much off road yet.

 

Thanks to you and @Kyitty for posting your specs. From what the alignment tech told me, he can get me 2 or better on caster by adjusting camber to be .7 or so, which is where both of you guys are at (even with stock UCAs). Think i'll take it in Monday and see if he really can!

 

The truck actually tracked fine, I just didn't want to risk the tire wear with the positive camber. I installed the SPC UCAs about a month or so after the lift and new tires so I didn't give them the chance to wear. It might have been ok but just didn't want to risk it plus it looks goofy. If you're looking ok and your truck is tracking well go with it. Here's my alignment specs after the SPC install...

 

I'd be interested to see if he can really get that caster close to 3 with stock UCAs. I kinda find that hard to believe.

 

I'm pretty sure every vehicle is different when performing an alignment, but I spent about 2 hours performing an alignment on my vehicle making adjustment every way possible to get caster within spec, the best I was able to get caster to was 1.7 with .7 camber. Looks like yours might be able to get to 2 with some more adjustments.

 

I ran full OME (886 coils) on my truck for several years with 265/70 17's. My caster was low, but it drove OK with some "float" at around 70-75 on the highway with no rub. After I switched out for 33" Cooper ST Maxx's on 16 wheels I started to rub. I switched out my UCA's for SPC and set them up per the instructions. Got caster to 3 on both sides and 0 camber and 0 toe. No more rub, runs and tracks straight and feels more "planted" at speed on the highway. Should have just done it at the time of the lift.

 

Here is mine, I was able to zero everything out.

 

Yeah, we'll see but he said he could no problem. Is .7 camber and 2.0+ caster better than where I sit now?

 

2 caster is realistic with positive .7 camber , no way he can get to 3 without having camber at +1 or more.