Alignments n stuff

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It's super easy to align a cruiser. I can explain it step by step to you if you want. It's only has two adjusters.

One does toe in. The other centres the steering wheel.

If you have a pull one way or the other just the tie rod ends/relay rod ends.

IMOP there is no need to hire someone to adjust it.
 
I gather from the post on bc4x4, this guy does more than your usual tire alignment. He checks and redoes components that are out of factory specs, such as spring hanger locations, control arm mounts etc etc.
The jeep referred to in the original post ( a relatively new one) had its front axle out of square by 1/4" (which was apparently inside of the factory spec - must be a jeep thing, we wouldn't understand). So he remounted everything and squared it up.
 
must be a jeep thing :)

I've played with my rods...... :D with good results. It's easy. Even on a rusty ole BJ60. Although I did have to use some heat from a propane torch and lots of pen oil.

Once you do it the first time you will wonder why you lived with a crooked steering wheel for soo long.

A pull to one side or the other can be other things than the steering rods. Bad tie rod ends, worn pinion bearings, misaligned springs etc.

So if this guy is good at spotting out of wack trucks then sure it might be worth going and seeing him.
 
brownbear said:
So if this guy is good at spotting out of wack trucks then sure it might be worth going and seeing him.
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Yes, he is very good at that. And really went over my suspension ans steering.

His only slip up was when he did my alignment he thought he was going to turn my tie rod with a small pipe wrench. :o I had to use two 3' pipe wrenchs to get the ends off and the new ones on. Mangus thought I had cross threaded them and had a very close look to make sure they weren't cross threaded. I hope I don't have to do tie rod ends in a long time. What was suppose to be a 30-40 min job turned out to be a two hour job. A well anchoured pipe vise would have made it a lot easier.
 
wonder why they were soo tight? I used a lot of heat to turn mine. Did you do that? I find it expands the metal enough to break it loose.
 
canucksafari said:
We didn't use heat. However, I had soaked them with lots of WD40 the day before and again in the morning. The inside threads were fine and it wasn't rust locked. It was just as hard to put the new OEM ends in as taking the old ones out. The bar ends are like a spring clamp.
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try heat next time. Also get the clamps well out of there

I also find tapping with a hammer in the clamp area helps "release" the threads.

But heat takes a out the friction quite a bit. Heat from a propane torch is low enough you will not do any damage from changing the hardness or such from the metal. Even a heatgun will give the right amount of heat too. But takes longer than a propane torch.
 
canucksafari said:
I'll give heat a try next time - hopefully next time will be a long time away. :D
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After I did my springs I had to adjust the relay rod to centre the steering quite bit as the springs settled. Kinda of a pain. But easy enough...
 
brownbear said:
It's super easy to align a cruiser. I can explain it step by step to you if you want. It's only has two adjusters.

One does toe in. The other centres the steering wheel.

If you have a pull one way or the other just the tie rod ends/relay rod ends.

IMOP there is no need to hire someone to adjust it.
Click to expand...


Diggin up a bit of an old one..

So - I've replaced the tie rods, centre arm (casing and guts). drag link seems okay... What have you found is the best way to determine if you're aligned - do you just do the functional road test? Right now, my steering seems tight, but there is a spot in the middle where it can't decide (like it's trying to turn both ways at once). What are the symptoms of toe in being too much / too little?

Thanks,
Evan
 
I know Brownbear did an exceptional write up somewhere, I'm sure he'll post it when he reads this thread. Like BB I have done my own alignments for years, with a tape measure and a piece of chalk.
GG
 
voostra,

Toe in you measure from point on the rear of the tire to the other tire on the other side and from the front.

It should be if I remember 1/8 of inch or 1/4. 1/4 if you are running bigger tires.

If you have a lift the most like cause of the slight wander is the caster angle. The caster angle is fixed with angled shims.

I have not played with caster angles though.

The relay rod is what you adjust to centre the steering wheel. Its the input rod from the pitman arm.


Basically IMOP a cruiser will not track like a new IFS vehicle. As the leafs compress and follow the road the relationship in the rods to the frame will change and you will wander. So a little wander is definitely normal.

As long as the rod ends are tight and in good shape and the steering wheel is centred. Your pretty much aligned.

If you find the wander unbearable you can look into caster shims then. Search in the 60 section and you can read about the degrees.
 
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