The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Driveline Front wheel alignment

Ok i blew it...i left the factory service manual at work...
I need someone to bail me out here...

Can anyone tell me how they want you to align the front wheels? Or even better, has anyone done this themselves?

The right front is straight forward. that makes sense. I'm confused about the driver side.

I don't know what year you are working on, but if the right wheel is straight forward the lreft one should be also less about 1/8 in.

I have a 52, 3100.

The caster and camber is built into the axle. The tread centerline measurement should be about 1/8" toed-in. The front measurement is about 1/8" less than the rear. If you need to increase the "caster" angle, a tapered shim can be installed between the axle and the spring, with the thick part of the shim to the front. Camber changes involve bending the end of the axle between the spring and the spindle.
Jerry

HotRod, you need another cup of coffee my friend:

Putting the shim in with the thick part toward the front would decrease the caster angle (rotate the kingpins into a more verticle plane) To add positive caster the shims are installed with the thick part on the rear side of the axle.

Im sorry guys.... My communication sucks....I need to adjust the toe. Do I do this via the tie rod. The one that connects the pitman arm to the steering arm.

Yes you adjust the tie rod, which is the one that connects the left and right steering arms (it runs parallel to the axle). Just loosen the pinch bolts on both sides and turn it with vise grips or water pump pliers, or in some cases, a good pipe wrench.

The one that connects the pitman arm to the steering arm is called a drag link or steering connecting rod.

Waldo, I centered my steering wheel and locked it in place... I can't move the left tire so I'm assuming I need to align the left tire via the drag link? I know the right tire can be adjusted via tie rod.

We're dealing with 2 issues here:

1. Adjusting the toe-in

2. Centering the steering wheel.

First, don't worry about the position of the steering wheel for now, unlock it, then adjust the toe-in so that the front of the tires are about 1/8" inside the back of the tires.

Then, take it for a drive and note the position of the steering wheel while you're going straight down the road, and "re-clock" it to center by removing it and turning it to the correct position and reattaching it.

Ok.... I'll try that... Thank you for your thoughts.

OOPS! Yep, you're right- - - -and I spent a lot of years teaching alignment. We usually did the bending thing on the axle to adjust caster,unless both wheels needed the exact same correction. Around Nashville we always put in 1/2 degree more positive caster on the right wheel to correct for drainage crown.
Jerry