Lift question from the new girl

[HARDTRAILZ]

I just went there and said I need an alignment. I did not tell them shit. Although with 33s and flipped control arms, the tech figured it out and came and talked to me, but they did it no problem.

[flap00]

Thanks, man. I just managed to get it done. I went to the closest one first, and they wouldn't do it, then went one town over and they were totally cool about it. Only thing was, he said he couldn't get the caster quite within specs, because he said "the tie rod end aren't long enough now that it's lifted. (MarkMC 3" susp.). He said that if he tried to fix that. it would throw the toe way out. Is there a common fix or tweak for this that you guys commonly do that I'm missing?

[The Roadie]

Typically they do the camber and caster first, because those involve loosening the lower control arm bolts. Once those are in spec, THEN the toe-in and steering wheel centering is the last thing done. I've never heard of anybody running out of thread length on the outer tie rod end.

It *can* be an iterative process, since all three adjustments interact and it may have been taking a lot longer than he anticipated. But that's no excuse for an ethical shop to short-cut the process and give up. We can't tell for sure if he was lying about the thread length, but personally, I've never once heard about this and I read a LOT of posts (like almost 100% of them).

That said, can you post the after-adjustment measurement sheet or the numbers? Caster is the least important of all the items, because its biggest usefulness is to self-center the tires after a turn. It won't cause excess tire wear like the other two things.

[flap00]

Ah, well maybe he was just being impatient then...who knows. He actually said the thread length would need to be about 2" to 3" longer for it to work. I was a little surprised at that comment. All I could do was to tell him to use his best judgement. The manager told me that the guy has been doing alignments for over 20 years....That could be a good thing, OR a bad thing...haha.
At any rate, here's the measurement sheet. Thanks for taking a look...appreciate it.

[The Roadie]

He actually said the thread length would need to be about 2" to 3" longer for it to work.

Inconceivable.

[flap00]

Exactly. So, how do these numbers look? Should I be going back soon, or do you think the tire wear and handling will be ok for a while?

[v7guy]

the alignment looks fine to me, I'd like to see the caster a little closer together, but I seriously doubt you'll see any durability/driveability issues or of it

[flap00]

Cool...thanks, man. that's what they told me, but wanted that second opinion. Seems to drive fine...better than before the lift and tires actually.

[Opeth]

I had to play with different firestones too, found one with a jeep fanatic as their master tech. My camber numbers are near perfect but on the negative side. The tech pushed my LCA'S all the way out and backed the tie rods out about 1/2-3/4" on either side. Still over an inch inside of threads for the tie rods to grab onto. Several thousand miles on my truck being lifted and no issues.

You've gotta tell these shops exactly what needs to be done in order to achieve the right specs.

[flap00]

Hey all. I just got back from a new alignment at Firestone (2 1/2 years after the other in this thread above). I did new upper ball joints, lower control arms, & sway bar end links yesterday, so had to bring it back in to re-align. Would you guys please tell me how these numbers look? Thanks!

[Berettaspeed]

I like my camber to be almost the same. and left caster numbers lower to fight road crown. But over all looks decent.

You may get drifting to the right depending on the road. but overall good.

[flap00]

Thanks for the comment, man. I think I may have to go back there soon no matter what (Ihave the lifetime alignment with them...Firestone.). My steering wheel is slightly turned to right when going perfectly straight, and I hear a little clunk occasionally too.