took my truck in for an alignment...

[Capt Jay]

Also remember that when you have an alignment done on an altered truck there are no factory specs. The shop may be lazy and trying shortcuts but most just don't understand altered vehicles. 4x4 shops are usually better versed in doing the alignments.

 

[kunar]

i took it back to another tireman store. i called first on the phone and told them i needed an alignment. they said fine, no prob, bring it in. i get there and tell him that another store fawked it up and all of a sudden there alignment rack was broken and they couldnt do it. he looked at my printout from the day before (the same one ive shared with you guys) and he said 'it looks fine to me' so long story short, i left pissed off with 1/2 hour i coulda been working wasted on these monkeys. so i called another tireman branch (the 3rd one now) and stopped there after work. he looked at it and said 'no, thats not right at all' they said they would fix it, no problem at all, but by now it was almost 6 and the tech was scheduled to be off at 5. he was only still there because he had a car to finish. they are supposed to get me in first thing tomorrow. both guys at the 3rd store talked to me about everything for probably 15 mins, both happy to help. i was shocked and amazed. we will see what tomorrow brings...

continue with your previous conversations

 

[MAKG]

Observing? Interesting.

It would be a whole lot more interesting if the damn telescope had a coated mirror and three working gyroscopes (one intermittently reads tumbling at 50 deg/sec -- which it clearly isn't or the telescope would break; it's only rated at 2 deg/sec).

We're using an uncoated primary with native 4% reflectance. That means everything takes 25 times longer than it should. Oh well, the point is to test its pointing software.

It's going to be a clusterf***. The software is fine; it's the hardware and conditions. The 50 deg/sec reading causes it to fail-safe.

 

[Twizzler09]

What in the living hell are you talking about, MAKG? 0.o

 

[Dishtowel]

i took it back to another tireman store. i called first on the phone and told them i needed an alignment. they said fine, no prob, bring it in. i get there and tell him that another store fawked it up and all of a sudden there alignment rack was broken and they couldnt do it. he looked at my printout from the day before (the same one ive shared with you guys) and he said 'it looks fine to me' so long story short, i left pissed off with 1/2 hour i coulda been working wasted on these monkeys. so i called another tireman branch (the 3rd one now) and stopped there after work. he looked at it and said 'no, thats not right at all' they said they would fix it, no problem at all, but by now it was almost 6 and the tech was scheduled to be off at 5. he was only still there because he had a car to finish. they are supposed to get me in first thing tomorrow. both guys at the 3rd store talked to me about everything for probably 15 mins, both happy to help. i was shocked and amazed. we will see what tomorrow brings...

continue with your previous conversations

Call up head office and politely tell them about your experience. IMO those first two stores need to reminded that they are in the customer service industry AS WELL as the automotive industry.

 

[ZSK]

If it's pulling to one side that's deffinatley a handling issue. Many shops will set a vehicle to pull slightly to the right on purpose. I've had better luck doing my own alignment on the TTB/TIB setups it just seems too many places don't understand it.

 

[kunar]

Call up head office and politely tell them about your experience. IMO those first two stores need to reminded that they are in the customer service industry AS WELL as the automotive industry.

i definitely will. they will hear complaints of the first 2 stores and praises of the 3rd (assuming all goes well tomorrow)

not only does it pull, it wanders a little, im sure because of the caster being goofy. i doubt they will be able to get it fully 'in spec' but they have got to be able to do better than that. for those that dont know, ive got a standard high rider front end with 3" coils (4" skyjackers, one full coil cut off the top... put me at exactly 3" of lift from stock)

 

[krugford]

What in the living hell are you talking about, MAKG? 0.o

I believe he's getting frustrated with a telescope.... a large one perhaps?


As for Kunar, a call to the head office is definitely in order. I would say they either didn't want to deal with you (second store) or they just didn't want the hassle of doing it right (first store). Good luck with the third store.

 

[Capt Jay]

It would be a whole lot more interesting if the damn telescope had a coated mirror and three working gyroscopes (one intermittently reads tumbling at 50 deg/sec -- which it clearly isn't or the telescope would break; it's only rated at 2 deg/sec).

We're using an uncoated primary with native 4% reflectance. That means everything takes 25 times longer than it should. Oh well, the point is to test its pointing software.

It's going to be a clusterf***. The software is fine; it's the hardware and conditions. The 50 deg/sec reading causes it to fail-safe.

What in the living hell are you talking about, MAKG? 0.o

He's using an automatic pointing telescope. You input coordinates and it automatically adjusts to that precise location. Computer controlled, no manual manipulation. The problem is one of the gyros is not functioning properly. The uncoated primary is referring to the main mirror.

" I speak jive"

I could be wrong.

"Golly"

For your gyros is there one vertical, one horizontal and one with the gimbals set at 45 degrees?

 

[bobbywalter]

hell i never drove one that didnt wander in the spring melt here in mi...

 

[94STXRanger]

So on a lifted truck would factory caster, camber specs still be what you should shoot for when aligning it? Isnt that the point of the spring spacers/washers, getting the hubs level with the pivot bolt holes or close to?

 

[poconojoe]

I went to one of those chain stores that do alignments, exhaust, tires, etc. The guy told me it would be $350 to get my camber adjusted, When he mentioned lower control arms, I kenew he was full of you know what! My truck (97 Ranger 4x4). doesn't have lower control arms! I researched the web and was enlightened on these camber bushings. I went to Napa and purchased a pair for $24 and did them myself. It was a VERY easy job. I did know how much they were off by trusting that jerk's read-out. Napa had various sizes, so you need to know how far off your's is before you buy them.
My 2 cents!

 

[4x4junkie]

So on a lifted truck would factory caster, camber specs still be what you should shoot for when aligning it? Isnt that the point of the spring spacers/washers, getting the hubs level with the pivot bolt holes or close to?

Correct, larger tires (or a lift) don't affect the specs the frontend is supposed to be aligned to.

Napa had various sizes, so you need to know how far off your's is before you buy them.
My 2 cents!

I don't bother with the fixed sizes, I just get the 2-piece fully-adjustable ones, then you can dial them to any size you need without having to know beforehand how far it's off (and you won't have to change the bushings each time for future adjustments either).

 

[kunar]

I don't bother with the fixed sizes, I just get the 2-piece fully-adjustable ones, then you can dial them to any size you need without having to know beforehand how far it's off (and you won't have to change the bushings each time for future adjustments either).

thats exactly what i have in there. i took it back this morning and they worked on it. he told me he couldnt find any specs for what they should be other than cross caster and cross camber so i told him what you said, junkie.he said he would do the best he could but since camber and caster are directly related he couldnt guarantee anything. im sure he doesnt understand you can pull the bushing out and spin it along with turning the inner piece. they are made so you should be able to get caster and camber exactly where you want it. anyways, by this point i was just glad he was doing something. he came back about 20 mins later and told me he couldnt get the bushing to turn. i explained to him step by step how to take the nut off the ball joint and break the taper seat without destroying stuff. he came back 20 mins later and called me out into the shop where he showed me that he could get the caster to almost 3* by setting the camber to almost 2* i told him that it was too much camber. finally i just told him to give me as much caster as possible without going over .7* camber. i know it may be a little much but its what he had to do. heres what he ended up with: camber .7*/.6* cross camber 0.0* caster 1.3*/1.7* cross caster -0.4* he said it will track straight down the road and wont wear tires funny.

 

[4x4junkie]

thats exactly what i have in there. i took it back this morning and they worked on it. he told me he couldnt find any specs for what they should be other than cross caster and cross camber so i told him what you said, junkie.he said he would do the best he could but since camber and caster are directly related he couldnt guarantee anything. im sure he doesnt understand you can pull the bushing out and spin it along with turning the inner piece. they are made so you should be able to get caster and camber exactly where you want it. anyways, by this point i was just glad he was doing something. he came back about 20 mins later and told me he couldnt get the bushing to turn. i explained to him step by step how to take the nut off the ball joint and break the taper seat without destroying stuff. he came back 20 mins later and called me out into the shop where he showed me that he could get the caster to almost 3* by setting the camber to almost 2* i told him that it was too much camber. finally i just told him to give me as much caster as possible without going over .7* camber. i know it may be a little much but its what he had to do. heres what he ended up with: camber .7*/.6* cross camber 0.0* caster 1.3*/1.7* cross caster -0.4* he said it will track straight down the road and wont wear tires funny.

Ugh...

Yep, another one that doesn't know how the thing works. At least it sounds like he tried to give it an honest effort anyway (although not having the specs available for a best-selling truck is a bit odd).

I dunno, it might be better to just figure it out yourself and do it on your own.

(you have the installation sheet for them?)