Front end alignment

TKB4 · **Posted:** Sun Jul 14, 2019 12:04 pm

I Had a ball joint shear off so I went ahead and replaced both sides front A arms and upper and lower ball joints with all premium grade moog parts and tightened the upper A arms with the vehicle on the ground. This one is not lifted. I then took it to where I have a lifetime alignment contract . They said that the side that ball joint sheared on was only off on toe and adjusted it to within specs. They also said that the driver side cam bolts were not tight PTS (took me a while to determine that meant prior to service) (actually I read this in their written report later but they told me they were loose) They also said they attempted to adjust this but it didn't change the camber any. The camber was negative 1.2 degrees both before and after alignment on drivers side. I think supposed to be less than .8 or about .6.

I didn't know much about alignment except toe in and out and that camber makes tires wear on inside or outside edge of tire. I also knew dramatic lifts changed a arm angle enough that may not be able to adjust camber within specs unless use JBA s etc. I didn't even know where the adjustment bolts were for camber and castor but knew I had never noticed them. There are a lot of sites to look at about this but I had to sift through a lot of stuff. First, I did find out where the adjustments are made. I also found out that worn bearings (mine are ok) and sagging suspension could cause this which I am sure is present with original struts etc. I also saw where this could possibly be corrected by several means such as New struts, camber shims, camber adjusting ball joint or a small amount of clevis spacer like 3/8 inch.

I would rather not replace struts now because may add OME lift kit in next year or so. I could easily put camber shim on (and caliper shim) or probably the clevis spacer. I wonder though about the camber not being adjustable any closer than -1.2 degrees with original suspension even sagged if the shop gave it the full effort to get it in range. Even with 2.5 inch lift on 2 others they were still aligned to within specs without special a arms etc.

Do you think I need to do anything else? Take elsewhere? Put shim on if so ? 1 degree shim? etc. Different cam adjuster bolts? Any other suggestions?

Maybe should post in suspension section of gassers but try it here.

flash7210 · **Posted:** Sun Jul 14, 2019 5:21 pm

All caster and camber adjustments are done at the lower control arm.
Nothing to adjust at the upper arm.

Ideally, when removing/replacing the lower control arm you should mark the position of the cam bolts so they can be put back exactly the way they came out.

A lot of times, setting the alignment is about getting it close, not necessarily exact.
Make sure the steering wheel is centered and that it doesn’t pull to either side.

Many techs don’t understand wheel alignment let alone the fancy machines they use to set it.
Weekend racers with custom suspension setups can set their own alignment in their own driveway with primitive tools and do a much better job.

TKB4 · **Posted:** Sun Jul 14, 2019 7:53 pm

Thats about what I thought after my fairly extensive review. I took off my left front tire today to look at the adjustment bolts and there appeared to be still quite a bit of adjustment left at least on the front and I can see some slot on the back left so I definitely do not think they got it as good as they could in fact the front bolt looks like the washer is such that its adjusted to the opposite extreme from what it would be. Think I will go talk with them again armed with pics I took and see what they say. I can tell they at least put a wrench on the back adjusting nut . If that doesn't get something accomplished will try another solo shop that has a good reputation with off-roaders.

Front end alignment

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