The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop alignment

On my 41 1/2 ton , I have radial tires , all the spring shakle bushings are new , and new king pins. It still has a litle looseness to it , I resently heard that if you run radials on those old staight axles , you had to increase, the " caster or camber" ,I cant remember witch is witch, tilt the king pin back a litle more , to make it work right with the radials. If anybody knows about this , please confirm or denie the corectness of this info for me. Thanks

Don , you should have castor wedges under your front axle , in fact they should have been there all along .
I have radials on an otherwise standard front end and it steers fine , toe in is set at 0.
You cannot alter the camber with out bending the front axle , NOT a normal adjustment on these old trucks .
Is the steering box adjusted correctly ?

I have those wedges between my springs and axle , and steering box is tight, I thought mayby I might need two wedges, on each side .It doesent steer bad , it kind of has bump steer, my alignment guy said it might help to put smaller tires on it. Just hopping there was something else to try.

What size tyres do you have Don , and do you have effective shock absorbers ?

The truck has original shocks , soon to bee reeplaced with tube shocks . I have P-225,-70 on the front .

OK , personal opinion here Don . I think the 225 is a lot of tyre for the front of one of these trucks . You will need plenty of pressure to keep the tyre flex to a minimum.
Gas shocks will really help keep it tied down and pointed in the right direction.
My .02c worth .

Dusty, thanks , those tires sure look good though , I will keep working on it. First shocks, then smaller tires. Go from there.

Dusty, thanks , those tires sure look good though , I will keep working on it. First shocks, then smaller tires. Go from there.

I would get the new shocks on (and tires, if practical) before going to the alignment shop.