Wandering the road, saga continues (1 Viewer)

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May 28, 2004
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37
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249
Location
Richmond, VA
Ok, from my original thread (https://forum.ih8mud.com/showthread.php?t=50888&page=1&pp=30), my 97 was wandering the road. From that thread, I was told to do the front axle before I did anything drastic (plates from Slee). So I did the following:

Front axle rebuild
New rotors front and rear (were below spec)
Caliper rebuild front and rear (brakes were not the best)
New pads front and rear (100 series in front)
New tie rod and ends
New relay link and ends
(new rods because I couldn't get the old ones apart from the ends!!!)

I then took it to get it aligned to make sure everything was ok. Here are my readings, before and after the change (in degrees):

Front Caster
Left (before, after): 1.45, 1.27
Right (before, after): 1.59, 0.85

Front Camber
Left (before, after): 0.28, 0.27
Right (before, after): 0.14, 0.12

Front Toe:
Left (before, after): 0.10, 0.09
Right (before, after): 0.07, 0.14

Rear Camber:
Left (before, after): 0.10, 0.14
Right (before, after): 0.13, -0.31

Rear Toe:
Left (before, after): 0.31, 0.28
Right (before, after): 0.21, -0.24


My caster got WORSE and the right rear seems to be really out of whack. What is going on????

And back to my original issue, what do I do about the low caster in the front and the wandering that is happening? Is it time to give the plates a try? And how about getting them to be close to the same?!?!?!

TIA!
 
Yes. The only difference in the before and after numbers is what is listed above.

And same shop did the alignment.
 
Weird! I feel for you bro. I am still not 100% satisfied with the tracking of my rig and i have rebuilt the front axle and put on caster plates. I was thinking rod ends may be it, but doesn't look like it helped you. I also don't understand why on such a well built truck, the caster for these things seems to be all over the board???????
 
sleeoffroad said:
Your caster changed when you did the axle service? I do not see how that could happen.

You didn't do anything to modify rear caster yet it changed? Come on, there is no way those numbers are accurate. I'd get it checked elsewhere to be sure.
 
I worked on the left side and it looks better than the right. ;p How does it seem to drive? I ask because I'm questioning the alignment readings. I don't think what was done can make the reading get worse.

More so I can't see how new rotors, pads, and caliper rebuilds can cause changes in the rear. So I question the alignment numbers.
 
Rick, i had similar issues and i know my bearing preload was correct. I used a digital fish scale and had Jim's DVD handy to make sure i was doing everything correctly. Not trying to hijack this thread, just very interested since i have the caster plates on and still have a bit of a wander. Not nearly as much as before, just feels like it should track better. I wonder if any of it could be attributed to tire pull with my Truxus MTRs?
 
Concrete- what problems have you run into with the plates? I know you had some issues with things rubbing and such? Anythinng you would call "big"? I'm still trying to decide if I want to go this route? Even if you take the odd numbers out of the picture, my caster is still below spec. If I put stock bushings back in and used the plates, I *should* end up at about 3.5 if my math is correct. Seems like that is the right place to be, just not sure if it is worth the headaches.
 
concretejungle said:
Rick, i had similar issues and i know my bearing preload was correct. I used a digital fish scale and had Jim's DVD handy to make sure i was doing everything correctly. Not trying to hijack this thread, just very interested since i have the caster plates on and still have a bit of a wander. Not nearly as much as before, just feels like it should track better. I wonder if any of it could be attributed to tire pull with my Truxus MTRs?


regardless of how expensive a scale you use setting preload with one is bull****. You'll get bad results. Too many variables such as the grease used and the ambient temp at the time among others.
 
So what is the right way to set the preload then??
 
StressPuppy said:
So what is the right way to set the preload then??


not sure there is an absolute right way. I was thought to do it by feel, which most experienced mechanics do it this way. But that is damn hard to put into text.

I've been suggesting torqueing the inner nut to 10 ftlbs, rotate the hub back and forth and then repeat until there is little difference in the torque of the nut before and after the rotating of the hub.

I've been doing it this way for over 100k on the 80 (and at times at a greater torque setting as experimental) and some 60k on my old FJ60.

before doing it this way on the 60 I had bearing loosening all the time.


I'm still running the original bearings in the rear of the 80 and often do high speed 8 and 9 hour runs with it on the highway.

I'm sure that if you try this setup method no harm will come to your truck.
 
StressPuppy said:
Concrete- what problems have you run into with the plates? I know you had some issues with things rubbing and such? Anythinng you would call "big"? I'm still trying to decide if I want to go this route? Even if you take the odd numbers out of the picture, my caster is still below spec. If I put stock bushings back in and used the plates, I *should* end up at about 3.5 if my math is correct. Seems like that is the right place to be, just not sure if it is worth the headaches.


Other than there is way more front drive vibe i think because of the greater angle on the front drive shaft, and this contact as shown in the pic.
steering cancer 001 (Small).jpg
 
Since I put the Slee rods on and they are thicker than the stock ones, I would guess I would have the same problem or worse.

Is there a remedy to this? I would assume that when Slee created the plates, this was something that was considered.
 
I think for now the remedy is a couple of minutes with a grinder.
 
landtank said:
regardless of how expensive a scale you use setting preload with one is bull****. You'll get bad results. Too many variables such as the grease used and the ambient temp at the time among others.

landtank said:
I've been suggesting torqueing the inner nut to 10 ftlbs, rotate the hub back and forth and then repeat until there is little difference in the torque of the nut before and after the rotating of the hub.

I may be way off line here... but what does your hub bearing preload have to do with a fishscale. I have only ever seen a fishscale used to set the kingpin bearing preload on the knuckles??

~Chris
 
Stress,

On the other thread, someone asked you about wheels and you didn't answer. What wheels are you running, and also I'm curious what size tires you have besides "305"s. On the Nitto site I only see these in 20" 50 and 55 series??

DougM
 
Nitto Terra Grapplers
 
ElJefe said:
I may be way off line here... but what does your hub bearing preload have to do with a fishscale. I have only ever seen a fishscale used to set the kingpin bearing preload on the knuckles??

~Chris


The 80- series manual instructs you to set the preload on the wheel bearings using a fish scale.

This has been a problem especially in cool enviroments and when using a synthetic grease as it is noticeably thicker and more resistant to moving.

I remember one guy had reached his target preload and the inner nut was barely fingure tight, and obviously wrong.
 
landtank said:
The 80- series manual instructs you to set the preload on the wheel bearings using a fish scale. This has been a problem especially in cool enviroments and when using a synthetic grease as it is noticeably thicker and more resistant to moving.I remember one guy had reached his target preload and the inner nut was barely fingure tight, and obviously wrong.

I do agree with your perspectives about cold climate and thicker grease. But in the absence of explaining that elusive "touch" to someone, the scale is a more or less the common denominator.
 

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