font end alignment

[Muddycowboy]

im going to try to do a self alignment on my 02 ranger 4x4. does anyone know what the different degrees of washers are availible and what color code they are right now there is pink code washers in it. my tires sit like / \ right now it think that means i need more positive camber or caster not real sure.

 

[Joshs93four-oh]

I didnt know that there were certain code washers. I'm pretty sure that you just replace the outer cams with ones that look like the inner ones. The outer ones are square. I cant remember the northstar number, but the kit has 4 cams in it that will do both sides. They are easier to replace with the vehicle on the ground because all the weight is taken off of the upper control arm, it wont be in a bind. Jacking it up on the lower control arms would be best to replace them. Is your camber really excessively negative? Did you crank the torsion bars up? Reason I ask is that these run negative camber unlike the older i-beam setups. Another possibility is if you replaced the tie rods and it has alot of toe-in it can give the illusion of negative camber.
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WASHINGTON MEDICAL MARIJUANA DISPENSARY

 

[Joshs93four-oh]

I believe the northstar number is 44-767. This will be 4 replacement outer cams for the upper arm bolts. They will give you about an additional .8-1 degree of camber adjustability.
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F1 642

 

[Muddycowboy]

i cranked th tbars and the camber is very negetive. ive aligned a s-10 before is it simular to that

 

[Muddycowboy]

i just crunched some number im thinking up to 1.5 degrees out

 

[gnardoom]

I would just take it in, the amount of time you spend on it you could have spent at work and paid for it to get done pro, and the truck would drive nice

 

[Joshs93four-oh]

Your truck can have as much as 1 degree negative camber and still be within specifications. Given the fact that you have adjusted the torsion bars you should really consider taking the truck in to have it aligned. Some people think that you can eyeball it-you may be able to get it close but it will not be correct without a proper alignment. If you are dead set on doing it youself and have the current specs, I can tell you what cam to turn how far etc. to get it close once you install them. Dont wait too long, the negative camber and toe that it has from cranking the torsion bars will quickly roast the insides of the front tires!
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SHORLAND ARMOURED CAR

 

[Muddycowboy]

well im not real sure how far it is out. i took it to the shop once already and they told me the wheel baering was bad so i had to take it home and replace it. but they said that because the tbars were cranked they wouldnt be able to get the alignment perfect anyway just close so i figured that i could do just as good with the right washers and an angle level.

 

[Sasquatch_Ryda]

With having cranked the t bars your toe will be out aswell. The upper adjustes adjust both camber and caster so its pretty hard to 'eyeball it'

 

[Joshs93four-oh]

yep. There will be no way that you could judge the caster. However, when you turn the front cam the camber and caster move the same way. When you adjust the rear cam, they move opposite ways. If you cranked the t-bars the same distance side to side then the cross-caster at least should be pretty close. As far as how the cams affect the camber and caster-
BEFORE
L/F
camber -1.5
caster +4.25

YOU TURN THE L/F FRONT CAM TO GAIN CAMBER(push the arm outwards) and you now have:

L/F
camber -1
caster +5
(both the camber and caster increased)
since 5 degrees caster is too much and -1 is still not enough camber you then adjust the rear cam the same distance that you just moved the front one to gain even more camber and reduce the caster back to where it was(remember, the rear cam makes the camber and caster go diffrent ways). So after moving the rear cam to increase camber and decrease caster you have:
L/F
camber -0.5
caster +4.25
so what you have done is increase camber while keeping the caster the same.
You really need to consider taking this truck to have it aligned. But if the camber is like -3 degrees as it sits now there are no cams big enough to get the alignment to where it should be. So yes, the shop you were at was correct but no shop can say this for sure without ACTUALLY TAKING PRELIMINARY MEASUREMENTS by putting the vehicle on the rack.
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Lincoln navigator history

 

[Muddycowboy]

well heres the thing i already had the truck there and they said just because the t-bars are cranked they can not make the alignment perfect no matter what which i know is bull becuase its not the first truck ive lifted like this, this isnt much different from racecars which i have been involved with for over 10yrs now. and if there is one thing i have learned from racing is that if a vehicle is not pure stock shops hate touching them. ive had shops turn down work becuase ive asked for specific alignment specs. other than perfect or what the computer calls for. its hard to find a shop that knows how to align front ends w/o a computer or machine. im going to look up a guy that does it the old fashion way tomorrow a guy i race with suggested him to me.

 

[Joshs93four-oh]

Sounds like you're going to get it squared away. I is indeed hard to find alignment technicians that truly understand the mechanics of what they are doing, and not just playing computer games with alignment machines just getting it into the "green".
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Mercedes-Benz M115 Engine