Advice needed from Alignment Gurus

[JOEZ33]

Hey all, on my 98 2 wheel explorer I've got a few questions about aligning. It's got the stock 255/70-16 size tires. For about 10 years it's had a problem pulling to the right, no matter what tires we install, plus it's been aligned probably 15 times over 10 years. I honestly think the guys just slap in on the lift and check the toe and kick it out of the shop. One time this nice old guy tried four times in one week and it still pulled to the right.

Let's just fast forward to the present time and I'll start from new. I'm aligning it with my cousin this time. I have a camber kit on the left front because somehow the stock camber plates were missing from the upper control arm bolts.... I found this out after I heard it clunking around loose... I probably lost them myself while replacing the bushings a few months ago at 3am.

My cousin did a quick check of the setup for me the other day and it's all green according to the machine, however there's such a wide margin of limits we want to adjust it to the "preferred" settings. The left side had a lot of camber, and more caster than the right. However it was all green so most shops would probably just send me home and collect their money.

The bottom line is this: what specs are the best for a 2 wheel drive explorer in a perfect world? I'm not into performance, I just want mileage and the truck is driven on the highway for our vacation trips.

I'm installing a new set of General Grabber HTS next week and don't want to ruin them like the last set of Toyo's.

 

[my98nnj]

Make both sides camber and caster the same. That should stop any pulling.
Check the rear alignment (thrust angle) to be sure it's tracking straight.
Even though it's a solid axle, do a 4 wheel thrust angle alignment.
You might be suprised at how much of a differance it makes.
Plus it will uncover any tracking problems you might have in the rear.

 

[dynamite196]

Has the vehicle been in any sort of collision? It's possible the frame is tweaked causing the pull.

 

[yingling]

I believe the specs are:

Caster--- positive 4.2 degrees
Camber-- negative .5 degrees
Toe----- positive .3 degrees per side

Check for: ride height, vehicle lean, loose suspension, tight steering or suspension, dragging caliper, cross switch front tires, tire pressure, camber should be close to each other side to side, caster should also but, the vehicle will pull to the side that has the least caster. Your alignment tech should be able to tailor these settings. Good luck.

 

[JOEZ33]

I just did a quick measurement in the driveway of the camber. The driver's side has 1/2" more negative camber than the passenger side. It's unbelievable that's still acceptable. That tire just wore down to the chords on the inner half which is why I'm aligning it. That explains the pull to the right, more positive camber on the right... I'll set everything neutral or at least the same on both sides, plus a zero to negative toe. I'm thinking that zero camber or slightly negative camber is the best for daily driving.

 

[JOEZ33]

Temporary update: I did one of my famous driveway alignments knowing that this week I'll be replacing the tires and using an actual alignment machine to finish it properly. However, stepping back, closing one eye, licking my thumb and eyeballing it up real good seems to do the trick...j/k. Well anyways I adjusted out the drivers side camber as far as it goes, so it's almost the same as the passenger side according to a straight edge/level and tape measure. Took it for a drive to see what damage I caused, and it drives 1000 percent better than ever before. I screwed up the toe because my steering wheel is crooked, but it drives straight as an arrow. Even better, it stays in whatever direction I point the steering wheel before letting go. Probably wedsday I'll get it on the rack for the real adjustments.

As for actual alignment preferred specs, .3 positive on each side sounds like too much. Are you sure it's not .03? Is that inches or degrees?

-JOE

 

[texyank]

Couldn't you get a real close camber adjustment by placing jackstands under the lower control arms (so that the suspension still had weight on it) and then put a level vertically on the side walls of the tire? Assuming, of course, that your horizontal surface was level.

Just curious.

 

[JOEZ33]

I did that with the level on the side walls while the truck was parked on the ground. I used a calibrated digital protractor that we use to adjust flight controls on aircraft. It's definitely not an accurate way to do it, but does help me compare left vs right differences.