The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Driveline 1950 3100 Front-end alignment

I just replace my tie-rod on my truck and changed the old drag link ends to modern tie-rod ends. Does anyone have any advice on the best way to do an alignment and what are the specs for the alignment on a 1950 3100 truck, I can't find it in my repair manual? Thanks in advance! Mike

This might not help you, Mike.

But, it might be worth breading (if you have not already read it).

The procedure is listed in the 54 Chevrolet Truck Shop Manual, section 3-10. Here is a link http://chevy.oldcarmanualproject.com/shop/1954truck/54ctsm0310.html

I also included the specs.

Finding a shop with the equipment, and a tech with the skills to bend one of those axles is getting to be a lost cause. Try a big truck front end shop-- - -they still do it on 18 wheeler axles. The end of the axle outboard of the spring is bent up or down to adjust camber, and if one side is out of spec on caster it's twisted forward or back. Camber is relatively easy to adjust- - - - -caster is easy to alter with tapered shims between the axle and spring, but changing the setting on only one side is nearly impossible without some dedicated tooling, a 20 ton bottle jack and BIG chains. I grew up around a shop in Nashville Tennessee in the 1950's where it was done frequently.
Jerry

Unless you've got damage to the axle, needing to be bent to adjust camber or caster between sides, probably the only thing you need to do is adjust toe-in, which is easy enough to do with a tape measure. Then take it to a shop and have them check things. My guess is you'll be pretty darn close to spec.

I recently finished replacing the king pins, bushings, tie rod ends, and drag link on mine. I also drained the steering gear, re-filled with new corn head grease and adjusted the worm and sector. To set the preliminary toe, I just measured from the rear of the tire and the front of the tire. To center the steering, I left the drag link disconnected, bolted a straight length of angle iron across each front wheel, measured from the rear end of the iron to the frame, measured from the front end of the iron to the frame and adjusted the toe and pivoted the wheels until the measurements were equal. I then centered the steering gear on the high spot and adjusted my new drag link to fit from the pitman arm to the steering arm. Last step was to remove the steering wheel and center it. Truck runs straight down the road with no surprises.

Let me add the caster adjustment is very important, Mike...too much and your truck will run straight as an arrow but will require arms like Bluto to turn the steering wheel in town. Or power steering...you can run about 6 degrees with power steering. Also (very important) if your front wheels / tires are a smaller diameter than your rear ones, your caster will indubitably be out of adjustment...it will be heading toward zero or maybe even negative caster. Zero or negative caster will make your truck steer easily but it will wander around like a drunk in a carnival fun house. As Jerry correctly mentioned you can't adjust one side independently of the other (to compensate for road crown).

In 60 years of being around these trucks I've never seen one need the axle bent for camber adjustment.

If you need a really easy way to know when your steering gear is centered (internally) just find a small inch/pound torque wrench (the kind with a needle and scale) and use a socket on the steering wheel nut. With the drag link disconnected, you can see exactly when you're in the center. When you rotate through the high spot the needle will show you.
Good luck.

Jon, that "doesn't need to be bent" idea is a pretty common misconception, brought on by the "That's good enough for government work" attitude of far too many of today's alignment shops. I was fortunate enough to grow up around people with a different idea of "acceptable". I lived in a comfortable home, ate good food, and wore pretty nice clothes because there were enough people in Nashville willing to pay my father for doing top quality work on their vehicles.
Jerry

All the OP did was change the tie rod and tie rod ends. So, all he has to do is adjust the toe in. Phil has provided the specs for that.

I'm going to try to measure the camber on mine, when looking at it head-on it looks like too much positive camber, specs call for .5 degree to 1.5 degrees. A bent front axle would be the only thing that would have changed the camber from stock specs. I'm not even going to worry about caster, it is what it is at this point and it's good enough for the girls I hang around with!

I have one of those, old fashioned Wheel O Matic bubble gauge type alignment tools - works great so far.

Here is the procedure: Alignment

Those pieces of diamond plate he uses to set toe are pretty ingenious. Much easier than just using a tape measure between the tires front and back (and front and back and front and back....... )