For all of the alignment experts out there...

[DaytonaBill]

Ok basically, I'm just about ready to do a complete rebuild of the suspension, including ball joints, steering components as well as the bushings, bearing and races, brakes and flush, you know, overhaul the bottom end without going into the gear cases. That is for a later time...

I don't like alignment shops doing the alignment on my truck because they will cheat me on the camber and just say "it's within range"...

I know this because my front wheels has the bulldog stance ( / \ ) and for a while, I thought it looked really cool...

But it's ruining my tires on the insides and the left side now leans in a little more at the top than the right side does and it's starting to look retarded...

So, I intend on doing the alignment myself.

For me, toe in is easy with a tape measure, camber is just a little trickier but the caster might be out of my league.

What castor - camber gauge do you like to use and do you have any pointers for someone who is fairly competent mechanically?

Thanks in advance, you guys are really the best and the reason I ask questions on this forum!

 

[IDIoit]

this is what we use on the race cars. works great on a completely flat and level surface

http://www.speedwaymotors.com/DECO-Magnetic-Caster-Camber-Gauge,2698.html

 

[DaytonaBill]

I saw those and others like it, but I wasn't sure if they would do the job to our satisfaction...

How about this one?

It's cheap and easy to use, per instructions...

About 35 bux...

 

[david85]

Caster doesn't usually require adjustment. My suggestion would be to get the tow-in, and camber correct (bushings, spring height, etc), then see how it drives. Caster angle is what allows a vehicle to automatically pull to center. This allows consistent tracking on straight roads, and causes the wheel to straighten when coming out of a turn. Caster needs to be the same on both sides. If it isn't, there will be a tendency to pull toward the side with less caster angle. Caster angle tries to lift the vehicle the further you steer away from straight ahead, so if one side has less angle, the other side can overpower it and cause an unbalanced pull. This is NOT however the only source of a vehicle trying to pull to one side or another. Radial pull from tires and frame alignment can also do it.

 

[hce]

I use this toe in gauge and digital caliper. Zero seems to work the best for toe in.

This is my camber gauge, a flat piece of metal with two all thread bolts and a digital angle finder.

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It can be used to find caster by taking the difference of the wheel turned left and right then divided by two, but setting caster on a ttb is more trial and error till the steering does not pull. I would also recommend adjustable camber caster bushings and use of a washer between the bushing and the nut to keep the markings on the bushing. If you can, make the washers so it will not spin on the bushings. I machined a hex into the washers to fit the bushings(advantages of a owning a small cnc mill). My other recommendation is to adjust camber by shim between the axle and the springs so the bushing is close to 0 degrees of correction for the camber. This will give more range for caster adjustment, and easier on the ball joints.
As a side note this pickup always pulled even with so called professional alignments being performed. After I got my hands on it and started playing with the caster, know it will track straight down the road with no hands on the wheel. The redhead steering box also improved the steering feel.

 

[DaytonaBill]

Well, after careful studying of the alignment specs for the F 350 4 wheel drive, I'm pretty much set on something that isn't even marketed as a gauge or tool for checking the camber and camber...


It's this thing...

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Yikes! that's a big picture!!!

The angle finder is really 2"x2" in size...

I know that after the replacement of the ball joints, with the proper alignment bushing, the bottom ball joint has to be torqued down to 40 ft lbs and then the top one gets torqued down, then the bottom one is finish torqued to specs...

Well, it dawned on me that to torque the bottom one, the stub shaft has to be out of the way... I don't have the proper wrench attachment to fit on my torque wrench...

So, since the spindle is coming off for needle bearing replacement, I can just use this guy and slap it on the recessed face in the knuckle where the spindle sits and do the camber fix..

Before I install the spindle and stub shaft!

Of course it's a no brainer that the driveway has to be flat and level anyway...

Best of all, it's digital with 1/10th of a degree accuracy and magnetic!!! The important thing to keep in mind is to make sure that it is zeroed on a horizontal steel beam or something that is known to be perfectly level. I wonder if I can zero it out on a vertical surface??? That would be even better! We'll see!

I've got a rotating laser with a plumb feature and some steel stock with a brand new bench vise that also rotates full circle as well as swings 270 degrees on it's base... Shouldn't be too hard to provide a perfectly plumb surface to zero out this guy...

 

[DaytonaBill]

Oh, hce has already mentioned the digital angle finder...

 

[Bashby]

You should not need to adjust camber on a solid axle truck unless something is bent. Worn ball joints will make the camber go negative, but I suspect your toe is out and the camber is an optical illusion.

 

[DaytonaBill]

I think I mentioned on another thread that I get a really bad shake from 65 mph to 75 mph and you can actually see the wheels leaning inwards when you stand in front of truck...

At any rate, I will soon know what is going on...

I don't think castor is bad, it's just that if you don't align it right when you correct the camber, the castor will run off and actually cause driveline vibration (it's 4 wheel drive) and I certainly don't want that...

 

[Bashby]

Your vibration is most likely tire imbalance. I know you can get camber bushings for a dana 60, but the only way you need it is if you wrecked the truck bad enough to bend something. I have installed hundreds of camber bushings in Tib and ttb
trucks, the only solid axle ones I remember doing we're a dodge and a jeep. The dodge was a company truck with a bent housing. With the camber adjusted it ate up the bearing inside the spindle. The jeep bushing was such a poor design that it would not stay in place, kept rotating and adjusting itself on the fly. I think you will find loose wheel bearings, bad ball joints, or that it isn't out as much as it looks like.

 

[DaytonaBill]

All very interesting and valid theories... Except you don't know anything about this particular truck's history...

The leaf spring bushings are bad... Originals... Also the reason the whole suspension "truck" oscillates back and forward... Not up and down... I'm gonna have to check the slip joint at the front of the transfer case...

The last Firestone shop who "aligned" my truck left the wheels cocked but told me that "it's within range"... We will see...

When I bought my mud claws, they tried to warn me that the tires weren't going to last as long as they should... I thought they just wanted my money... Looking back, that was really a warning, they saw something and tried to tell me... But I wouldn't listen...

The truck has over 358 thousand miles and the side with the most lean in just happens to have the original ball joints that came from the factory... When my former boss took it in for an alignment, the passenger side ball joints were replaced and they told him that the driver side ones are a little worn out and should be replaced at the same time but he rejected the recommendation.

The truck has gone over 200 thousand miles since then and guess what? Now the driver side that got passed over has the wheel that leans in the most and the other side is probably bad too.

I'm going to replace both of them and be done with them... With XRF's! They will last a very long time, possibly for the rest of my lifespan!

Also, the Front Right Outer Tie Rod End is worn... That gets replaced with XRF's!

"I know you can get camber bushings for a dana 60, but the only way you need it is if you wrecked the truck bad enough to bend something."

I guess you didn't know that quite a few Ford trucks left the factory with corrective sleeve bushings to bring imperfect housings into the required camber range and also to their credit, they used little (it don't take much) wedges on the passenger side leaf springs to bring castor into range... The reason for that was to keep the drive shaft phasing in synch with the transfer case.

The centerline angle of the pinion gear shaft and the centerline angle of the transfer case front output shaft had to be the same or within range of a very small set of tolerances or u-joints would get worn out and vibrations (sometimes severe) were produced that increased with road speed.

That's why the side closest to the pumpkin never gets a spring shim... In the world of lifted trucks, nobody except the pros ever pay attention to that little detail anyway...

The dodge was a company truck with a bent housing. With the camber adjusted it ate up the bearing inside the spindle.

Must've went outside Dodge's recommended range... And failed to check for binding... Did you know the housing was bent when you adjusted the castor?

I don't know Dodges, but it's obvious that if the castor is moved far enough forward or backwards, eventually the centerline of the bearing migrates beyond the centerline of the stub shaft and that ***** the shaft in the needle bearing making it harder for the shaft to rotate.

I've heard cases where it actually bound up the shaft to the point where you couldn't turn it by hand after it was assembled together... Of course those cases were extreme, but still...

But you could still overcome that resistance by virtue of the engine being able to generate enough torque... As you proved...

In your case it was bound up due to centerlines being offset so much. That axle housing should have been junked... But nobody knew better...

just my 2 cents...

 

[DaytonaBill]

Hey guys! I was hoping for more edification, but the participation has been very muted...

I know that posters can sometimes come across like an ******* without knowing it...

If that's me, please know it wasn't intentional and I apologize for turning you guys off with my demeanor.

But, I am who I am and I am hoping that no offense was taken, because no offense was given...

Edify me! I might have read some things about this subject and understand most of the basics, but know this...

I have absolutely NO experience in this field!!!

Educate me!!!

 

[Bashby]

Im not sure what else to tell you without knowing how far your camber is out. Do you have a printout from when you had it aligned. You can use a 2' level to get an idea how far out it is.

 

[DaytonaBill]

Im not sure what else to tell you without knowing how far your camber is out. Do you have a printout from when you had it aligned. You can use a 2' level to get an idea how far out it is.

I've lost the print out a few years back.

But, I've got a digital angle finder coming and by the end of this week, I should begin putting it all back together. I'll know how far out is shortly... Can't wait for the angle finder to get here!!!

BRB, I'm going to stick a 2' level on the worst wheel just for grins and giggles...

 

[DaytonaBill]

It started raining when I got out there, figures...

Well, taking a 2' level was rather shocking...

Here are the pictures, one for the drivers side and two for the passenger side...

The passenger side;

Yeah, they are cocked alright...

I don't know what the deal is with pictures lately... This didn't use to happen whenever I posted pictures...