Castor or toe adjustment?!

[notlimah]

So was crawling around under the truck and saw this...

 

Drivers side

 

 

Passenger side 

 

 

Dont know how they got this out of whack but how to I adjust them? And where should I adjust them too?

[SilverMoose]

I'm not sure if you want to mess with that.  One of the alignment adjustments is longitudinal in reference to the wheel vertical centerline (can't remember if it's camber or caster but think camber).  I would think one wheel just needed more adjustment than the other.  Those lines are probably increments for adjusting and not meant for each wheel to be on the same mark.

 

Of course I could be completely wrong and hope someone can confirm or correct.

 

L8tr

D

[Dieselfuture]

That's to adjust caster, some say they need to be maxed out for better ride and steering wheel returning to center etc, but I have to agree with Silver moose, even if you maxed them out should probably do it on alignment machine, just make more sense so things are even. But others claim to just max them out. 

Must be nice not to have them rusted in place...

Edited June 23, 2017 by Dieselfuture

[Haggar]

Not,

What makes you think they are out of whack?

 

Those adjustments rotate the axle relative to the upper links.  This will affect caster and camber the most.  (since our ball joints are fixed, rotating the axle is what gives us any chance of either of those, short of offset ball joints)

 

If the alignment shop set them and they are still tight, That is what worked out the best on their machine that day for how the truck was loaded.  Leave them alone then.   (using a machine, they could be slightly off from each other, due to all the manufacturing tolerances it is adjusting for.)

 

I think I have mine set so the lower arm is the longest, my truck seems to drive best there.  

 

Just look close at all the stuff and make sure it is not worn out or loose! ( I noticed one of my cam bolts came loose one day...  that is why they are both the same on my truck.) 

 

Hope that helps,

 

Hag

[dripley]

I did not think these adjustment would do anything to the camber. Hence the use of the adjustable ball joints. Not sure how they could change the camber.

[Haggar]

Dripley,

 

Your are right it "does not change camber"  the camber is set by the ball joints in the axle.  So the camber relative to the axle is unchangeable. (without offset ball joints) 

 

BUT It will change the camber (relative to the ground, not the axle itself) because you rolled the axle, with the pivot point being the upper (control arms) link connections. 

 

You can picture this in your mind better if you thought of a straight axle with camber in the wheels, and then turned the axle upside down.  by rolling the axle about itself by 180 degrees you would take your camber (lets say it was negative 2 degrees) and make it opposite (the camber would now be positive 2 degrees.  (lets ignore we just made caster go way out of wack by rolling the axle that far)

 

hope that helps you visualize it.

 

Hag

 

 

Edited June 23, 2017 by Haggar
added upper control arms.....I think of them as links...

[TFaoro]

We have no camber adjustments from the factory. Like others have said, offset ball joints are possible, but not from the factory.

 

The bolts shown are caster adjustments. Basically they set the angle the pinion angle. If they're tight and you don't have any goofy steering going on, I wouldn't mess with them.

 

@Haggar you're right, but from the factory they are set at pretty much zero for camber, so when you roll the bottom of the axle forward or backwards you'll get relatively no change in the camber.

[IBMobile]

24 minutes ago, dripley said:

I did not think these adjustment would do anything to the camber. Hence the use of the adjustable ball joints. Not sure how they could change the camber.

I agree.  Adjustable upper ball joints for a camber problem.  Those adjusters pictured above are for caster adjustment.  Toe adjustment is done with the tie rod.

 

[Haggar]

T and Ibm,

 

Agreed,  I never said it was much, but it will change.  I think on my truck I get a full degree or 1.25 degrees change in that range of movement on camber (total indicated, so each wheel is half that.)(thinking about it more it could be half that.... my memory is terrible) .  Caster changes much more. 

 

You cannot change the caster on our trucks without changing the camber. They are both tied together. (unless you install offset ball joints.)  But when you do change the castor, the camber will change.  There is nothing you can do about it. 

 

Hag  

Edited June 23, 2017 by Haggar
added i might be off on camber change totals

[notlimah]

Thanks for the explanation guys, I'll leave it be.