Explorer Alignment issue - Camber/Caster | Ford Explorer Forums - Serious Explorations

  • Register Today It's free!

Explorer Alignment issue - Camber/Caster

MuscleJunkie

Elite Explorer
Joined
April 14, 2007
Messages
1,028
Reaction score
352
Year, Model & Trim Level
'00 Ford Explorer LTD AWD
Had new Radius Arm bushings and tires installed. Had Firestone do the alignment on the truck under the lifetime alignment.

I watch the whole thing and the best they could do is as pictured below
 






They should be able to put a different camber bushing in on the driver side to get rid of most of the negative camber. If the existing bushing is maxed out, you could probably stand to go up another .50° - .75°
 






Depending on what kind of driving you do, a bit of negative camber isn't a bad thing, and will compensate for the outer shoulder wear during cornering. I'd rather have a degree of negative camber than half a degree of positive camber.

However, for a proper alignment, you do want both tires toed IN, not out. Otherwise it will not track correctly...i.e. won't go straight on it's own.

The biggest problem right now isn't the alignment settings themselves, it's that they are't close enough from side to side. One side has 0.68 degrees of negative camber, while the other has 0.24. The toe is the most worrying, with one side having positive toe and the other negative. Wow. At those settings it will wander to one side of the road.


My suggestion is to go back, and get the alignment done with you in the drivers seat. Be sure the truck is loaded as is usually is with gear or whatever you keep in it. Have about a half to 3/4 tank of gas, too. This is how they should do it anyway since the weight changes the alignment slightly, and really it's just an attempt to average it out so it's aligned ok under most conditions.

If they can't get it any better, ask about having them use new camber bushings.

The toe should be very easy to get correct, as it's only adjustment is with the tie rod sleeves.
 






Back
Top