"Poor Man's" alignment?

[tracymckibben]

Truck needs an alignment, no question, BUT I don't want to spend the $60+ to have it done until I've finished replacing ball joints & tie rods, which probably isn't going to happen until mid-June.

In the meantime, I can visually see that the front wheels are not exactly parallel (with the steering centered, the driver's side looks fine, passenger side is visually angled out *ever so* slightly. Vertically, I can see no difference, both seem to be properly cambered. Using a tape measure, measuring from outside tread block to outside tread block, I get this:

(front of truck)

| ----------- 64 inches ------------ |
| |
| |
| ---------63 - 3/4 inches --------- |

I'm tempted to crank the passenger-side tie rod in a couple of turns to pull that right-front wheel in a bit. Truck has a pronounced "pull" to the right, and I think this is why.

I *KNOW* this isn't an exactly how it's done, but it only needs to get me by for 2 months. Any opinions? Waste of time?

 

[Maniak]

When I changed my tied rods I had to align it like that. Once I checked, it, then rechecked it a day later, and again one more day (just to make sure I got the same measurements each time) I then drove 100 miles to my alignment shop.

My steering wheel wasn't centered when I drove but since I had 0 toe I got no funny wear. My alignment guy just centered the steering wheel and that was about all he had to do.. I got it close enough for govmt work.

~Mark

 

[Albino 94LTD]

String method

Wrap some string around the rear tire, then up to the front tire, around the front of the truck to the other side and around te other rear wheel.

Then you can adjust the toe in/out.

 

[tracymckibben]

Ahhh, I get it... Thanks for the tip!

 

[Albino 94LTD]

It's a bit more involved than that.

Adjust so the string touches the front tire in 2 spots
Rock the steering wheel back and forth a few times
Repeat

Repeat

Repeat

String and adjust both sides at the same time and it may be a long time before you pay for an alignment

 

[fixxxer]

the two spots on each tire are; leading outside edge of front tire and trailing edge, midpoint of the tire, about level with the hubs, the string should be just resting on the back edge of the tire and then turn the tie-rod adjusters a quarter turn more (approx) to get toe in very close.

 

[MDewell]

Why not just use what the big boys use in NASCAR....a long 2x4 or some welded up angle iron...as long as you have something straight for a reference and it reaches both ends of the vehicle, I'd think you'd be fine..

 

[tracymckibben]

String and adjust both sides at the same time and it may be a long time before you pay for an alignment

That would just just be a terrible thing...

 

[tracymckibben]

Just a quick follow-up... I replaced the outer tie-rod ends yesterday. I had planned to spend the entire afternoon under the truck, but to my (pleasant) surprise, this turned out to be much easier than expected. Loosened up the adjuster sleeves, popped the tie-rods out of the steering knuckle, and after using my ball-joint tool to open up the adjuster sleeves a little bit, the old tie-rods "unscrewed" quite easily. Put the new ones on, cranked the passenger side one in a little further than the old one, and then wrapped string around the truck. I almost had the alignment "true" on the first try, only had to make one small adjustment.

I think I spent an hour and a half, from first wrench contact to test drive. Truck no longer pulls to the right, and will track perfectly straight if I take my hands off the wheel. $25 in parts from RockAuto, less than 2 hours of my time, can't beat that.

 

[manaen]

That's awesome, but I do have one questions the string will set your toe, did you check you camber and caster ?

Camber is easy, take a short level and get a reading off your rear tire then set the camber adjusters so your front wheel is set the same. If your camber is off you will wear your ties off on one side more than the other.

Luckely caster is not so critical to tire wear, but it will change the drivability of the truck. Too much caster will tend to want to really pull your wheel back the the center pretty hard.

 

[tracymckibben]

I was only concerned about toe for now, and only because I could visibly see that the right-front was toed out, and there was a horrendous pull to the right. Visually, everything else looks OK. This is just temporary until I can get a proper alignment done later this summer. I want to finish replacing various parts & pieces before I take it in.

 

[manaen]

Ahh, good deal

 

[tracymckibben]

New development (problem?)... Wife commented this morning that the front wheels on the Explorer looked "funny" as she was leaving the driveway. Sure enough, standing directly in front the truck, the front tires are leaning inwards (negative camber), almost like it's squatting. Everything FEELS fine, drives well, steering control is good, but I don't think they were leaning like this when I put the new tie rods on this past weekend. I don't understand how replacing the outer tie rods ends could have had ANYTHING to do with camber, but there is definate negative camber, and I think it's changed since Sunday. I'm convinced that a trip to the front-end shop, at this point, would just result in a list of replacement parts, but am I at that point now? :scratch:

 

[lonestar]

I have the same issue. Replaced balljoints, drove it for a week and now I have negative camber causing driving alignment issues. Bearings seemed loose, tightened spindle nut to next keyed position and everything looked great. Drove it in and out of drive and now it's back.... I did mark camber bushings prior to balljoint replacement.

Possibly bearings? Can't imagine that with them being tapered. Can't imagine tie-rod ends affecting camber either.

 

[tracymckibben]

It's going to the front-end shop on Friday so that they can either line it up, or give a to-do list of things to fix.

 

[tracymckibben]

Dropped the truck off at the front-end shop on Friday morning, they called me to tell me that they would have to install camber shims before they could do the alignment, total cost for shims and alignment was going to be $275. Told them to proceed. They called back about a half hour later, saying that they had "bounced" the suspension, and no longer needed to install the shims. I have no idea what this means, but they ended up charging me $135 total, and the truck drives great now. They said that I've already replaced all of the worn components, and everything else looks fine.

 

[410Fortune]

negative camber would be from your torsion bars sagging, meaning your front springs are worn out (on a Gen II explorer)

They can adjust the camber to bring it back into spec, but before you do that you may try twisting your torsio bars a bit to bring the truck back up to the correct ride height, then adjust camber if needed

 

[fixxxer]

It appears to be a 1st Gen, no torsion bar there

 

[410Fortune]

oops my bad, same thing though the stock coil is likely weak, you could consider swapping coils or just get an alignment, if they want to install new shims ask them to show you what correction is required and why, then get the parts yourself, install them, then take it back to get it aligned. Save $$$$$$

 

[tracymckibben]

I already got the alignment. Originally, they told me it needed the shims, then they called back to say that they "bounced" the suspension, and it no longer needed the shims. I was questioning what "bounced" means, I've not heard of that before. There is a visible difference in the way the truck sits now, and it drives 150% better than before.