Wheel alignment specifications

[«-J¡LtêD-»®]

After busting my steering stabilizer off a few weeks ago my front end hasn't felt the same at all steering shimmy and a few cases of DW. I've a 3" dbor starter and 33s and it drove surprisingly great with no issues until this damm stabilizer got hit. I've replaced the stabilizer with second hand rancho (thanks eddyg) and fitted the synergy relocation bracket, checked all ball joints, track bar, drag link, tie rod, control arms, checked all bolts and not been able to fault anything. After driving with a trailer with a quad bike the steering got a lot worse so i could only assume it was down to caster or toe. Got back from having a balance, rotate and wheel alignment done and has made a difference in tracking straight but still shimmy in the front although I've had no DW yet.
I've read quite a few threads on what specs caster/camber/toe should be within but would like it clarified for those who don't have too much of a clue (like myself). I understand what camber/caster/toe is and + or - mm but not sure on total toe or the tolerances. Could someone please shed some light on the figures in my front end or have any other theory's (stock lca's but never had a problem before) Thanks in advance.

[FireTruck]

...looks to me like they straigtened your steering wheel (adjusted the drag link), gave you a little more toe in (adjusted the tie rod), and that's it.

Those databank specs don't look right to me... but I don't know for sure. Toe in/toe out is a contentious topic, but 3-4mm seems to be OK from most sources. Caster of 2.5 degress though is not great... should be up over 4, but they would have no way to adjust it unless you have adjustable front control arms or cam bolts.

Most likely would cause some wander, but not a 'shimmy'. Shimmy is more likely a tyre balance or out-of-round issue... or one of elevnty-billion other things...

Did they test drive it after the work??

S.

[«-J¡LtêD-»®]

Originally Posted by FireTruck

...looks to me like they straigtened your steering wheel (adjusted the drag link), gave you a little more toe in (adjusted the tie rod), and that's it.

Those databank specs don't look right to me... but I don't know for sure. Toe in/toe out is a contentious topic, but 3-4mm seems to be OK from most sources. Caster of 2.5 degress though is not great... should be up over 4, but they would have no way to adjust it unless you have adjustable front control arms or cam bolts.

Most likely would cause some wander, but not a 'shimmy'. Shimmy is more likely a tyre balance or out-of-round issue... or one of elevnty-billion other things...

Did they test drive it after the work??

S.

yes, all he said was it was tracking better which it is. steering still felt a bit vague and as soon as i touched a bump in the road the wheel wandered. as i said it drove well beforehand which was a surprise. guess all good things have to end sometime

[taskmaster]

Your toe in is pretty close to where is should be. This is about the only thing that can be adjusted on a stock front end. Caster is about half way to where it should be....4 to 5 deg. Can really only adjust this with cam bolts or adjustable control arms.

[«-J¡LtêD-»®]

Originally Posted by taskmaster

Your toe in is pretty close to where is should be. This is about the only thing that can be adjusted on a stock front end. Caster is about half way to where it should be....4 to 5 deg. Can really only adjust this with cam bolts or adjustable control arms.

i heard cam bolts can be dodgy and like to move?

[Green Goblin]

Sorry to hijack your thread I have a similar issue with castor being low I have aev drop brackets for front this might help.
I have my oem control arms in the top hole which is for 2.5" lift and will probably go to the midle hole if this increases caster I dont no if it will help

[FireTruck]

Cam bolts aren't perfect, but neither are real tits... but both have worked pretty well for me over the years.

If you want perfect, you have to go with some kind of bolt-ons... pretty much the same as tits. Adjustable control arms are #1, and some people swear by those AEV brackets - not my cup-o-tea, but seem to work to fix your caster (will hang lower than the rails, and I never touch anything that hangs that low).

Otherwise the old push up wunder bra works ok (cam bolts)... just do them up nice and tight.

(BTW, my choice is the adjustable CA's... don't tell the mrs!)

S.