Alignment spec's for pulling right
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From: IL
Alignment spec's for pulling right
My truck is going in for an alignment tomorrow. I thought I read somewhere that you can set it up a little different to allow for the hard right pull these truck's have. Mine's has done it since day one. Dodge say's "with in spec."
Anyone know what I'm talking about. Thank's.
Anyone know what I'm talking about. Thank's.
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Joined: May 2004
Posts: 3,539
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From: Caistor Centre, ON, Canada
You can add a little more caster to one side over the other BUT this can only be done by using the offset camber sleeves in the upper ball joints and rotating them 90* so as to not affect the camber and only caster instead. Some people will tell you that you can use the lower control arm adjustments to offset caster left to right - but you cannot....the control arm bushings will simply just crush enough to maintain equal caster side to side and you could also end up with an axle slightly out of square to the chassis until the bushings crush enough to equal out the caster. Lower control arm caster adjustments must be the same side to side. Don't pay anttention to the "in spec" people....the range of "in spec" is far too wide for useful caster settings to be useful. These trucks need 3.5* positive caster minimum to steer straight and true.
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From: North Carolina or Kentucky. Take your pick
Assume is 4WD? All 3500 don't have hard pull to right!
There is a bulletin(not Tech) That covers pull. It is old but will still work. Sometimes scrub radius is not the same from one side to other. There is a REASON it pulls to right. You have not found person smart enough or willing to go extra mile to fix.
There is a bulletin(not Tech) That covers pull. It is old but will still work. Sometimes scrub radius is not the same from one side to other. There is a REASON it pulls to right. You have not found person smart enough or willing to go extra mile to fix.
Last edited by dozer12216; Mar 4, 2008 at 08:04 PM. Reason: add info
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Make sure you find a shop that will set the truck into spec but lives in the real world. Not everything can be set in perfect spec and drive correct. Most chain alignment stores have people that knows how to set up the machine and can read what is spec is but if they have a driveablity problem, all they can do is say that its in spec.
I can see in your pics that you are in a 2wd truck but how many miles so far, sets of tires? Has the pull changed with different tires, worse when pulling the trailer loaded?
I can see in your pics that you are in a 2wd truck but how many miles so far, sets of tires? Has the pull changed with different tires, worse when pulling the trailer loaded?
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I don't remebmer where the thread was at, but I copied this from here the other night and put it in a folder. Might help, might not, but here it is.
Well, I thought I had it fixed! But that tire lasted about 3 months. I then found a highly recommended alignment shop and explained the problem and showed them the first ruined tire and the second one which was still on the truck.
Quote:
The alignment shop said the trucks camber was in spec (barely) but that the spec is so wide it could still cause problems. Everything in the front end was tight according to them. They removed a offset cylinder thing on the right front knuckle and replaced it to change and make the camber more negative to compenstae for the tire wear. This adjustment required replacement of the offset sleeve (cylinder) which changes both the caster and the camber
so it takes longer to get all the specs set. After 4 months it appears to have corrected my problem. I requested they keep the caster between +3.5 - +4.5 deg, as recommend on this site, to correct for "death wobble".
Here are the alignment spec's the shop took before and after the camber change:
Before:
Camber: Left= +0.0 deg Right=+0.2 deg
Caster: Left= +3.5 Right=+4.2
Toe: Left=+1/16" Right=+2/16"
After:
Camber: Left=+0.0 deg Right= -0.5 deg
Caster: Left= +3.5 Right=+4.1
Toe: Left=+0/16" Right=+0/16"
The alignment shop said since doing the adjustment at the right front knuckle affects both both camber and caster it took 1 1/2 - 2 hours to do. That was 3 months ago and the tires still show no signs of the outside edge wear I had before.
Prior to this a new BFG KO 245/75/R16-E was ruined in less than that time. I ruined almost 3 tires out of the 6 new ones I put on last July (about 30K miles ago). After this last alignment by a reputable alignment/frame specialist I took my truck back after about 6 weeks cause it appeared the left front tire was now showing outside edge wear. They checked everything again but they said everything was OK. I guess I was getting real sensitive to this issue and maybe over-reacted regarding seeing the left tire wear. I rotated the tires so many times it may have had the wear from before the fix. I'm keeping an eye on it.
I found this shop by calling a 4X4 parts/accessories shop and asking for a good alignment shop. They said they do 4X4 alignments but when I explained all the problems I'd been having, he referred me to a frame shop that they use for problem alignments like mine and all the dealers send their problem front ends to this guy also. This shop charged me $130 to fix it and said they back up their work. If anything is wrong he said bring it back and they would fix it for free.
The alignment shop said that the tire shop (a well known chain that I go to all the time for tires) did align it to specs but they just don't know how to correct it for problems. All they do is get it in spec with their fancy laser alignment machine but this guy did it the old fashion way...no fancy alignment machine can help correct a problem that is in spec. You have to know what your doing.
Quote:
The alignment shop said the trucks camber was in spec (barely) but that the spec is so wide it could still cause problems. Everything in the front end was tight according to them. They removed a offset cylinder thing on the right front knuckle and replaced it to change and make the camber more negative to compenstae for the tire wear. This adjustment required replacement of the offset sleeve (cylinder) which changes both the caster and the camber
so it takes longer to get all the specs set. After 4 months it appears to have corrected my problem. I requested they keep the caster between +3.5 - +4.5 deg, as recommend on this site, to correct for "death wobble".
Here are the alignment spec's the shop took before and after the camber change:
Before:
Camber: Left= +0.0 deg Right=+0.2 deg
Caster: Left= +3.5 Right=+4.2
Toe: Left=+1/16" Right=+2/16"
After:
Camber: Left=+0.0 deg Right= -0.5 deg
Caster: Left= +3.5 Right=+4.1
Toe: Left=+0/16" Right=+0/16"
The alignment shop said since doing the adjustment at the right front knuckle affects both both camber and caster it took 1 1/2 - 2 hours to do. That was 3 months ago and the tires still show no signs of the outside edge wear I had before.
Prior to this a new BFG KO 245/75/R16-E was ruined in less than that time. I ruined almost 3 tires out of the 6 new ones I put on last July (about 30K miles ago). After this last alignment by a reputable alignment/frame specialist I took my truck back after about 6 weeks cause it appeared the left front tire was now showing outside edge wear. They checked everything again but they said everything was OK. I guess I was getting real sensitive to this issue and maybe over-reacted regarding seeing the left tire wear. I rotated the tires so many times it may have had the wear from before the fix. I'm keeping an eye on it.
I found this shop by calling a 4X4 parts/accessories shop and asking for a good alignment shop. They said they do 4X4 alignments but when I explained all the problems I'd been having, he referred me to a frame shop that they use for problem alignments like mine and all the dealers send their problem front ends to this guy also. This shop charged me $130 to fix it and said they back up their work. If anything is wrong he said bring it back and they would fix it for free.
The alignment shop said that the tire shop (a well known chain that I go to all the time for tires) did align it to specs but they just don't know how to correct it for problems. All they do is get it in spec with their fancy laser alignment machine but this guy did it the old fashion way...no fancy alignment machine can help correct a problem that is in spec. You have to know what your doing.
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Joined: Jan 2008
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From: Ahwahnee, Ca
That post above by "hink" is part of a LONG post of mine from this thread:
https://www.dieseltruckresource.com/...d.php?t=194839
My truck had right front tire wear and pull to right but its a 97 4X4 3500 with solid front axle. If yours is 2 WD I don't know if you have the offset cylinder sleeve I have that fixed my problem, but the alignment specs may still apply...at least it makes sense to me they would.
I hope that helps some. Perhaps those familiar with 2WD will verify this for you...the alignment spec that is.
Good luck,
Dave
https://www.dieseltruckresource.com/...d.php?t=194839
My truck had right front tire wear and pull to right but its a 97 4X4 3500 with solid front axle. If yours is 2 WD I don't know if you have the offset cylinder sleeve I have that fixed my problem, but the alignment specs may still apply...at least it makes sense to me they would.
I hope that helps some. Perhaps those familiar with 2WD will verify this for you...the alignment spec that is.
Edit: I can't stress enough, as others have already stated, find a good alignment shop and I prefer a FRAME and alignment shop because they deal with problems like bend frames etc and can align to fix your problem. As also was stated, the spec is so wide on these trucks that IN SPEC doesn't necessarily mean OK for your truck if its pulling to right.
My truck was "in spec" but I ruined 2 brand new tires in 3 months each at a Chain tire/alignment shop because they could not adjust the alignment to my problem. I found a good FRAME and alignment shop that handled body damage and wrecked vehicles and they knew immediately what to do to correct my problem.
My truck was "in spec" but I ruined 2 brand new tires in 3 months each at a Chain tire/alignment shop because they could not adjust the alignment to my problem. I found a good FRAME and alignment shop that handled body damage and wrecked vehicles and they knew immediately what to do to correct my problem.
Dave
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From: North Carolina or Kentucky. Take your pick
The other item I noticed in suplied thread and I recomend also is very low toe settings. If camber is a little off than toe setting will kill tire on that side.
O'K 2WD. Different from 4WD. Should be able to get into non wearing specs. If not suspect tire offset. Sometimes shims are been placed between hub and wheel to get scrub radius the same. (explain - The difference from where line through ball joints hits ground and middle of tire) It is very easy for this to be 1/8 or more off from side to side. Difference in wheel offset can really mess things up.
O'K 2WD. Different from 4WD. Should be able to get into non wearing specs. If not suspect tire offset. Sometimes shims are been placed between hub and wheel to get scrub radius the same. (explain - The difference from where line through ball joints hits ground and middle of tire) It is very easy for this to be 1/8 or more off from side to side. Difference in wheel offset can really mess things up.
Last edited by dozer12216; Mar 5, 2008 at 09:25 AM. Reason: add info
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