Since the old pickups were pinned in the rear and shackled in front, the axle tends to roll forward as the springs sag, the caster angle is reduced. Older trucks were designed for very little weight to be transferred to the steering axle. Without power steering, heavy axles are difficult to turn and 50 years ago there was always a fear of a steering axle tire blowing out.
Up until 20 years ago, there were a lot of experienced alignment shops around and it was more cost effective to oursource alignments. The experienced shops closed and tire shops got computerized alignment equipment run by kids with all kinds of certifications but no common sense. And our tire wear became a real problem.
It was then that I decided to buy old fashioned Wheel a Matic equipment.
http://www.wheel-a-matic.com/page11.htmlWe do the alignments with the tractors empty. Doing our own alignments and using nothing but premium Michelen tires and a few Goodyear singles we have drastically improved our tire wear.
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