IsItFast

Okay, I have read that most recommend an alignment after a leveling kit is installed. But others say it isn't necessary. My question is why? I can understand why you need alignment on IFS such as many cars I have lowered but with a solid axle it doesn't seem to make sense. What would get thrown off after the level install? My steering wheel is still perfect.

I leveled mine and threw on a 22.5 inch "BIG RIG" wheel/tire kit at the same time. The problem is, nobody can align the truck with these wheels. The last shop said it shouldn't need it unless I am having a problems. Can someone explain?

pullin hard

if you look at your axle , you will find that from adding the leveling kit, it has push the control arm farther down ward, which in turn has change the way the tires react to the road. i think that is castor, but i am not 100 % sure.
i had the aliment done after my install, and it did make a difference for me the way it handled down the road and ride quality.
i would think that if you could put your stock rims and tires back on the truck they will be able to do it, then put the bigger tires and rims back on, it might not be 100%, because of the extra rim and tire, but it will put you back to stock specs, which will be better for tire wear and road manners, and front end parts.

gerry

I had mone realinged after the leveling kit... they showed me that the toe in was off.. looking at the front end of the truck the rod from the steering arm goes to the right wheel.. bolted to that is the rod for the left tire.. if you raise or lower this junction point it will affect the toe in..

when the Suspension is compressed or extended in these truck toe in is affected and that is some of the cause of cuffing on the tires and also contributes to thedeath wobble..

Look at Cowhands picture gallery he has redone his front end and the front tires wear better than the rears.. Very Nice set up.. I plan on calling on him when the front end get sloppy on mine..

The Castor was also slightly affected but mine was still within the tolerances..

djgaston

The reason you get an alignment is because:

A) your steering wheel is off center because the drag link needs to be extended to compensate for the extra lift, and

B) your track bar has no adjustments in it. When you put a spacer on, or any suspension ride height change, your axle becomes off center. If the track bars were adjustable, this would not be a problem, you could just lengthen it a little. Since the stock track bars are non-adjusting, your axle gets pulled to the driver's side a little, thus causing the truck to slightly pull to the center or driver's side.

Your toe in is only affected by your tie rod, nothing else. The drag link can pull on the tie rod, but all it does is turn both knuckles unless the tie rod bends.

If you have a 15mm socket or wrench and a few minutes, you can align your steering wheel yourself. There is an adjusting collar on the drag link that you just simply turn. I just did it myself. You go out on a flat street and drive down the middle of it... see where your steering wheel is when the truck is driving straight. Make note and then you turn that collar until the steering wheel is straight again. Go test drive it and you'll usually find it's still a hair off... you'll usually adjust it at least twice. When you are done, just tighten down those two bolts and you are set.

You can also check toe-in yourself but I do not recommend that to 90% of truck owners because if you do not do it right, you will screw up the tires and start wearing your front end pretty fast.

I learned how to do this stuff when my other Dodge kept losing alignment all the time, and I got tired of paying $30 every couple of weeks to have it done for me. I just finally asked the alignment guy what he was doing and he explained it all to me. It's very simple to do.

Anyway, to summarize... you get an alignment most of the time because your steering wheel is off. People assosciate that with the alignment, but the steering wheel can be upside down or whatever and it will not affect the actual front end alignment. When you add spacers, you change the axle centering and steering wheel alignment.

djgaston

And you thought I was done.

The reason that an alignment shop says they cannot align your truck because of the wheels/tires is because of a few various factors, depending on what equipment they use.

Most use clamp on sensors that clamp to each wheel, then either a machine in front of the vehicle uses lasers to read each sensor, or the sensors shoot friggin laser beams from one to another to get their readings.

If your wheels are wider than stock, this will sometimes keep the machines with lasers in front of the vehicle from getting an accurate reading. I have done them with wheels up to 10 inches wide but 12 inch wide wheels are a definite "hell no" on a full size axle.

If the shop uses the machines that level out and then shoot laser beams from one to another, your oversize tires are probably too big for them to shoot side to side and get that measurement.

Your best bet is to throw on stock wheels and tires and do your alignment that way, or at least have it checked.

gerry

Just went out and looked at this again.. The steering link goes from the body (steering box is attached to the body) to the left side tire.. About 10" from the left tier the tie rod attaches to the steering rod resulting in a slight inverted "V". When the Suspension compresses the Inverted "V" is straightened causing the tires to toe out. (front of the tires go outward) because the steering box (attached to the body) is lowered in realtion to the axle reducing the angle and in effect lengthing the rod.

I had a 79 Chevy with a dana44. on that truck the steering arm went directly to the left tire and a straight tie rod went from the left tire directly to the right tire. The result of that was no toe in flex but when you his a large enough bump the truck would turn slightly as the angle in the Drag link? changed and lengthened or shortened the distance between the Steering box arm and the connection at the left tire.

DmaxEter

Bring it by my shop and I will align it for $79 bucks. I have wheel sensor mounts for 12" all the way through 26".

IsItFast

Thanks to all for the explainations. I guess I will have to see if a tractor/trailer shop can align it. Changing out the wheels/adaptors is a good 2 hour job so that really isn't an option. The shop that said they could do it, couldn't because of the extreme off-set of the front wheel.