4speedfunk
Well-Known Member
- Messages
- 4,250
- Location
- Tardville
Now that I've put a few hundred miles on the SAS, I thought it was time to work on the front-end alignment. It took all of my self-control to do this, instead of driving over to Cliffs Insane Terrain but, I felt I should get the alignment dead-nuts before doing any long-distance driving.
Since I got finished with the SAS+...I've noticed that the front tires seemed slightly "leaned-out" at the top. After doing some sluthing, I found out that Dana 44 camber can be adjusted using several methods. I chose to use some offset ball joint bushings. These are little eccentric sleeves that get installed on the top ball joint hole of the inner-C's. My alignment guy said to use 1/2-degree sleeves (these are available at NAPA in six different increments)...so I got em and stuck em in. You gotta have a spanner socket to spin the sleeves in & out. The new offset sleeve was a two-piece design, and the installation was fairly straight forward. Depending on how you rotate them in the hole...you can vary the castor and camber up to 1/2-degree. Since I'm using my adjustable control arms for castor...I'm using these sleeves for camber only, and installed them accordingly.
The outcome is that the front tires now sit square, instead of riding on the outer edge. This will make for lower tire temps, less wear, and less darting from side-to-side. Half a degree seems to have done the trick. After breaking out the string...I re-aligned the toe, and re-centered the steering wheel. The truck seems to steer much better, and has less wandering (especially when there is a crown in the road).
BTW...my fabbed tie-rod bar and crossover drag-link bar have incredibly sensitive adjustments. Since they are both double-threaded...it makes adjustments a snap! It is very easy to get toe-in and steering wheel position perfect. Not close...but absolutely PERFECT. I can't say I've ever worked on an oem steering system that can be this finely tuned.
Hey solid axle guys (MaxPF)...what's your recommendation for castor setting with 37" tires?
Since I got finished with the SAS+...I've noticed that the front tires seemed slightly "leaned-out" at the top. After doing some sluthing, I found out that Dana 44 camber can be adjusted using several methods. I chose to use some offset ball joint bushings. These are little eccentric sleeves that get installed on the top ball joint hole of the inner-C's. My alignment guy said to use 1/2-degree sleeves (these are available at NAPA in six different increments)...so I got em and stuck em in. You gotta have a spanner socket to spin the sleeves in & out. The new offset sleeve was a two-piece design, and the installation was fairly straight forward. Depending on how you rotate them in the hole...you can vary the castor and camber up to 1/2-degree. Since I'm using my adjustable control arms for castor...I'm using these sleeves for camber only, and installed them accordingly.
The outcome is that the front tires now sit square, instead of riding on the outer edge. This will make for lower tire temps, less wear, and less darting from side-to-side. Half a degree seems to have done the trick. After breaking out the string...I re-aligned the toe, and re-centered the steering wheel. The truck seems to steer much better, and has less wandering (especially when there is a crown in the road).
BTW...my fabbed tie-rod bar and crossover drag-link bar have incredibly sensitive adjustments. Since they are both double-threaded...it makes adjustments a snap! It is very easy to get toe-in and steering wheel position perfect. Not close...but absolutely PERFECT. I can't say I've ever worked on an oem steering system that can be this finely tuned.
Hey solid axle guys (MaxPF)...what's your recommendation for castor setting with 37" tires?
