The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Driveline steering?

i have a 52 chevy 1ton truck. how do u do an alingment on these trucks. my friend says u have to bend the frame? is that right

It will help you to get a question answered if you write in complete, understandable sentences. Capital letters and punctuation might be a good idea, as well. Most of us old geezers who would be able to give you a good answer don't condone text-speak.

Yes there is a way to align the wheels, and it definitely does not involve bending the frame.
Jerry

ok Jerry, how is it done. Sorry about my english and spelling

I've heard of bending the front axle to change the camber. Maybe that's what your friend is talking about.

Dennis

Camber is changed by chaining the axle down to a heavy piece of metal like an I beam, and jacking up under the bottom of the spindle or under the axle with a big bottle jack or the area where the spring attaches to the axle. If there's a caster error that's consistent from side to side, tapered shims are added between the axle and the springs on both sides to rotate the top of the spindles forward or back. Individual caster errors require twisting only one end of the axle between the spring and the spindle, and that requires some very special bending jigs. Toe adjustment is easy, just scribe a mark around the center of the tire tread on both sides and measure front and back, then adjust the length of the tie rod to get the right toe-in. I grew up around a shop in the early 1950's where we did a lot of axle bending, mostly with BIG chains and 20-ton hydraulic jacks. Dad's partner in the business was a master at frame straightening and wheel alignment.
Jerry

Well, where do i go to get that kind of work done.

Wow, i just read the manual, i can't do this job

Try an alignment shop that specializes in big rigs- - - -18-wheeler tractors, etc. They will be familiar with axle-bending procedures, and if a shop has been in business a long time they might even still have the bending fixtures on hand. Everything but the individual caster correction can be done with basic jacks and chains as long as they have a heavy duty front end rack.
Jerry

Thank u Jerry, i really appreciate this info.

Try setting the toe-in adjustment after you adjust your steering box, tie-rods, and draglink. If it still acts funny, take to the alignment shop. It will need to be a truck type shop, the corner store for auto repair is not going to be able to bend an axle if needed. It's very doubtful yours will need bending, at most a caster shim or two and toe adjustment.

Just don't go in with a loose steering box, you will still fight it going down the road.

Camber can be done at home, took the bottle jack off the press. Built a small jig to hold jack over the spindle. Used a scrap I beam under the axle. Used a magnetic camber gauge to determinecamber. Mine was so far out you see just looking at the truck. 4* positive camber on both sides.

The 20 ton bottle jack moved the axle like it was made of butter.

Wow, good info, maybe if i get brave, i will try it

I have a piece of scrap I beam hanging around just for that purpose.

Ed

One precaution if anyone chooses to do some home-brew axle bending- - - -Make any camber correction ONLY between the spring mount area and the spindle - - - - -resist the urge to bend the middle of the axle!

Also, those jacks and chains are carrying a huge amount of force before any bending happens- - - -don't make any dangerous mistakes like using a too-small piece of chain or setting things up where something can slip out of position with tension on the assembly. Safety first!
Jerry

Agree ^^^^^^^^^^^

Position of the i beam and the support location is important. The adjustments are done the vehicle. That way the bend point is the axle section after the spring purch. Some say heating the axle is required.........the manual specifically says DO NOT HEAT THE AXLE.

There is a little art to bending the axle as there is spring back. Better to sneak up on the desired spec than over shooting the desired spec. Bending down is a lot easier than bending up. Having the frame level and using your eye or carpenters level can help in watching or judging the movement. I use a old school magnetic spindle camber gauge that is likely 50 years old.


Link to prior post with picture of my camber problem

https://www.stovebolt.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/ubb/showflat/Number/1156131/Searchpage/1/Main/169892/Words/Camber+/Search/true/Re:_1950_GMC_1/2_ton_with_camb.html#Post1156131


I friend here locally worked a truck straight axle manufacturer ( now closed). All "tuning" of the new axles were done cold is a huge press. These were large dump truck straight axles.

Front crossmembers on 55-57 Chevy car frames were notorious for sagging in the middle, which produced a negative camber situation which could not be corrected by shims. We would set up an I beam, jack and chain fixture and push the center of the crossmember back up into its original shape so an alignment could be done properly.
Jerry