death wobble?
#17
You shouldn't
If you spend a little time investigating or have went thru alignments yourself,- that's never helped, then you might have a little credibility. I put up with it for almost two years, -thought it was my Bilstien shocks at first, -for along time. Bilstein sent me new front shocks that I just installed , -finally. Had the truck re- aligned by hand and squared, it wasn't square, - the toe was out enough to be part of the problem.
Since Patrick's in doubt, here's a little of how it went,
I could see that it didn't look right AGAIN after the last alignment. Almost 2 weeks ago I strung it, from the front tow hook, around the front tire to the back tire and around, then tied to the leaf spring on both sides. The tow was out a half inch on one side and a quarter inch on the other. That's out of spec if you know anything about alignment. Granted this isn't the way to align either, but it got me in the ballpark.
I locked the steering wheel down straight and adjusted the tie rods keeping them perpendicular on BOTH sides while doing so until I had the same amount of string pressure opposite side of the tire that the string wrapped around.
The Camber was out as well, I had a positive camber condition. Looking from the front of the vehicle, camber is the inward or outward tilt of the top of wheels. When the tops of the wheels are tilted in, this is negative camber; if they are tilted out, positive. In a turn, they say a slight amount of negative camber helps maximize contact of the tire with the road. Too much negative camber compromises straight-line stability, increases bump steer and torque steer. Camber influences tire contact with the road. To much or even a little positive can be worse, that's where I was at. That was the easiest to set, I used a 12" aluminum speed square w/ a 3' aluminum yard stick clamped to it lol.
It worked since you have to do this with the tires on and full vehicle weight on the tires. 12" outside the tire is about as good as reference you can get on concrete.
A knowledgeable guy who worked at an automotive parts supplier offered to tweak it in. All he had to do is add a little more negative camber, I guess it's not suppose to be perfectly straight up and down.
If you spend a little time investigating or have went thru alignments yourself,- that's never helped, then you might have a little credibility. I put up with it for almost two years, -thought it was my Bilstien shocks at first, -for along time. Bilstein sent me new front shocks that I just installed , -finally. Had the truck re- aligned by hand and squared, it wasn't square, - the toe was out enough to be part of the problem.
Since Patrick's in doubt, here's a little of how it went,
I could see that it didn't look right AGAIN after the last alignment. Almost 2 weeks ago I strung it, from the front tow hook, around the front tire to the back tire and around, then tied to the leaf spring on both sides. The tow was out a half inch on one side and a quarter inch on the other. That's out of spec if you know anything about alignment. Granted this isn't the way to align either, but it got me in the ballpark.
I locked the steering wheel down straight and adjusted the tie rods keeping them perpendicular on BOTH sides while doing so until I had the same amount of string pressure opposite side of the tire that the string wrapped around.
The Camber was out as well, I had a positive camber condition. Looking from the front of the vehicle, camber is the inward or outward tilt of the top of wheels. When the tops of the wheels are tilted in, this is negative camber; if they are tilted out, positive. In a turn, they say a slight amount of negative camber helps maximize contact of the tire with the road. Too much negative camber compromises straight-line stability, increases bump steer and torque steer. Camber influences tire contact with the road. To much or even a little positive can be worse, that's where I was at. That was the easiest to set, I used a 12" aluminum speed square w/ a 3' aluminum yard stick clamped to it lol.
It worked since you have to do this with the tires on and full vehicle weight on the tires. 12" outside the tire is about as good as reference you can get on concrete.
A knowledgeable guy who worked at an automotive parts supplier offered to tweak it in. All he had to do is add a little more negative camber, I guess it's not suppose to be perfectly straight up and down.
Last edited by jbrew; 10-11-2009 at 06:37 PM.
#18
Trucks are a cinch with them having a solid rear axle with no adjustments
#19
Im a tech at Land Rover of Frisco. I do one or two alignments daily, on vehicles with complicated factory air suspensions. Trust me computer alignments are the way to go. I do all four corners Toe, Camber, and Caster in the front.
Trucks are a cinch with them having a solid rear axle with no adjustments
Trucks are a cinch with them having a solid rear axle with no adjustments
Yes , there can be a problem with the rear axle, it has to be tru, you know that... Right?
Have you ever had to pop the U-bolts loose on one yet ? I believe there's a TSB on that.
#20