Steering refresh, at what point do I take it in for an alignment? (2 Viewers)

[caladin]

replaced the tie rods, linkages and dampener, and counted threads to get a rough alignment.

Going to

1. Add caster wedge (Just waiting the rest of my ubolts from CruiserTeq, they only shipped me 2 instead of 8, one front, one rear.)
2. Replace spring bushings,
3. Rebuild Knuckle. (Probably a bit later)

It's obvious I will need an alignment, I'm going to do a close enough one with angle iron clamped to the disk brakes before driving it.
I'd like to get a computer on that gives me all the measurements of everything so It's perfect and I have a good staring point if I still have issues....

At what point do I do it?

I can see an argument for after #1 for sure. but should I wait for #2 or #3? Does A knuckle rebuild affect alignment?

Thanks,

 

[cps432]

replaced the tie rods, linkages and dampener, and counted threads to get a rough alignment.

Going to

1. Add caster wedge (Just waiting the rest of my ubolts from CruiserTeq, they only shipped me 2 instead of 8, one front, one rear.)
2. Replace spring bushings,
3. Rebuild Knuckle. (Probably a bit later)

It's obvious I will need an alignment, I'm going to do a close enough one with angle iron clamped to the disk brakes before driving it.
I'd like to get a computer on that gives me all the measurements of everything so It's perfect and I have a good staring point if I still have issues....

At what point do I do it?

I can see an argument for after #1 for sure. but should I wait for #2 or #3? Does A knuckle rebuild affect alignment?

Thanks,

If you replace shims in the knuckles it can effect the steering for certain. Or if you miss the preload on the bearings.

An alignment is so inexpensive I would get it done now after having all those parts replaced. I would wait till I got the numbers back from them about caster to make a move on adding shims.

 

[OSS]

The only thing an alignment shop can do is check/adjust toe-in. That’s the only adjustable thing.
It’s pretty easy to do it yourself too.

 

[caladin]

Sorry forgot to say I was adding Caster because on bumpy or rutty roads it's all over the place and super hard to control. I'm assuming the lift is to blame.

I'll admit to being tempted to take the parts for the Caster along(just in case) and have them align it all in one go.

 

[cps432]

Sorry forgot to say I was adding Caster because on bumpy or rutty roads it's all over the place and super hard to control. I'm assuming the lift is to blame.

I'll admit to being tempted to take the parts for the Caster along(just in case) and have them align it all in one go.

The thing with the caster is you may not know what angle shims you need until you have measurements. There are ways to do all of this with strings and plumb bobs. YouTube diy alignment.

I have about a 2.5-3” lift and the alignment shop measured the caster at -2. 4 degree shims in the front worked perfect for me giving me +2 caster.

It was a great improvement in tracking on the highway. My gear box is toast so it only did so much, but even still it was noticeable.

 

[caladin]

Yeah, I was initially going to go for 2.5 but in my other thread everyone said to do 4 degrees, so I got 4-degree shims.

the steering on bad roads is actually pretty terrible, so 4 degrees is probably a better guess. The steering problems are certainly not subtle.

 

[cps432]

Yeah, I was initially going to go for 2.5 but in my other thread everyone said to do 4 degrees, so I got 4-degree shims.

the steering on bad roads is actually pretty terrible, so 4 degrees is probably a better guess. The steering problems are certainly not subtle.

If you have negative caster then the 4 degree shims will help as long as it puts you into the positive caster area. Typically more caster is better. Not sure at what point too much would be an issue, but it would probably manifest as a pinion angle problem.

If your truck is in a similar seance to mine then 4 degree is probably perfect. +2 caster with a solid gear box and TRE adjusted correctly should make for a great ride.