Alignment Problems

[coreylubahn]

Okay guys I need some help/advice...I took my truck in for an alignment today and they get it on the rack and call me back there...he tells me that he doesn't believe he can get it into alignment due to either the torsion bar crank (I only went up an inch) or the big offset on my tires (small backspacing). He didn't try though because he wanted to talk to me first. He doesn't think there's enough movement in the cam bolt to get everything into spec. He thinks that lowering the torsion bar might be the only option, but since it was getting late he wanted me to bring it back another day. Here's the specs that he printed out for me and my measurements:

Front left camber: spec: -1 to 1, mine: -1.4
Front left caster: spec: 1.8 to 3.8, mine: .8
Front left toe: spec: -.05 to .15, mine: .5

Front right camber: spec: -1 to 1, mine: -1.8
Front right caster: spec: 2.3 to 4.3, mine: 2
Front right toe: spec: -.05 to .15, mine: .48

Cross camber: spec: -.5 to .5. mine: .4 (okay)
Cross caster: spec: -1 to 0, mine: -1.2
Total toe: spec: -.1 to .3, mine .97

It would appear to me that camber and caster are only about a degree off (some only about a half degree from barely being in spec) and that toe is about a half degree off. Is this really a lot? I paid for half the alignment and made an appointment for Thursday to drop it off so they can work on it. The tech told me that he figured that he could probably get about a degree out of the cam bolts which seems to me would put everything happy but then again I don't really know much about this subject at all. Also, if this is so way out of spec could raising the torsion bar an inch really play a big role? Also does it make any sense that putting a wide rim on the truck could have anything to do with alignment, it seems to me that since the wheel bolts to the hub and the alignment adjusts the hub that the wheel choice really shouldn't come into play...am I wrong? Just wondering. Does anyone have their alignment number to compare with so I could see if I am really in a bad situation? Thanks a lot guys, the guy at the dealership is probably tired of hearing me talk about this website ("well everyone else on S10crewcab.com did it without problems so how can I be any different"). Later (and sorry for the long post) .

[F9K9]

Okay, HJ is much more knowledgable about all this than I.

I had an alignment done with an independent shop. I specified that they increase my Z hieght (TB crank) 1.5 inches. They aligned it but when my second CV boot started leaking grease "my old" dealership" started moaning about my Z height.

Here is GM's official specifications. The bottom line for each spec is the ideal setting. I hope this helps a little.

ZQ8/Z87 (V4A)

Caster - Left
3.7 to 5.7
4.7

Caster - Right
4.2 to 6.2
5.2

Cross Caster (L-R)
-1.0 to 0.0
-0.5

Camber
-1.0 to +1.00
0

Cross Camber (L-R)
-.50 to +.50
0

Steering Wheel Angle
-4.0 to +3.0
-.5

Toe (Total)
-0.10 to +0.3
0.1

[barch97]

I'm a little concerned about the wide range of "correct angles" from one shop to the next for the same truck but, here's mine from Sept 22, 2004 (right after I put on new wheels/tires and cranked T-bars 3 full turns)

Left Front
Camber = 1.0 to -1.0 / -0.8
Caster = 3.8 to 1.8 / 1.1
Toe = 0.05 to 0.15 / 0.27

Right Front
Camber = 1.0 to -1.0 / -0.5
Caster = 2.3 to 4.3 / 2.7
Toe = 0.15 to -0.05 / 0.10

Total Front
Total Toe = -0.10 to 0.30 / 0.38
Steer Ahead = -0.05 to 0.05 / 0.09

[HenryJ]

This is actually very timely as I just had mine aligned again last week.

The IFS is really hard to get "just right" any sag in the bars and your camber and toe change. Weight and it's placement can affect both of these as well.

Trust your alignment expert.

I had to back down the passenger side one full turn to bring the camber to a point that we could even get the caster close. We settled for the caster being slightly off. By dropping it we were able to get the camber within spec.

So it is not perfect. It actually is set up for secondary roads. They have a higher crown and tend to push you right. With this set-up it will track a little better with the crown.

Talking with my "alignment guru" he said that you should rotate the tires three to four times and then have an alignment. This would be every 15-20 thousand miles. Probably close to annually for some. Some high mileage tire warranties require this maintainance.

BTW, this was my third alignment in 45,000 mi.

[bubaloo1983]

hey corey i have the same problem although im running alift. my alignement cant even get any better and the quote i got was " way off on e the one side"


it must be how far you crank them or something? i dunno good luck getting it in spec

[jeggers]

alignment