Took the '07 to another shop yesterday. I showed them I have the 2.5" spacers installed and asked them to check the camber due to inner tire wear. They did and said it was good. Atleast they didnt charge me anything to check it. With the truck on the alignment rack, I showed them that the front tires lean in at the top and the inner tire wear. It's obvious. The readings are LH -.8 RH -.5 I asked if they would adjust to 0 or to vertical level and he said he wouldnt because it was in spec. I told him I would pay him to straighten them up. He still said no, because to straighten them would put them out of spec and they would be liable. This is getting ridiculous. What is a man to do?

 

I have heard that there is a new camber setting for leveled trucks. Anyone else hear that?

 

and who came up with this setting? anyways NO...specs are specs they cannot be changed just for aftermarket equipment. If camber in spec it should not be changed to make the tires straight up and down....negative camber is what gives you cornering ability. if your tires are wearing on the inside and the alighnment is good it can only mean one thing, and that is you are not rotating your tires as often as you should.

 

0* camber is within the specs for our trucks, though.

 

Tires have been rotated every 5K. Coming up on rotation #4. I paid for Lifetime Rotate & Balance, why not use it. I keep the pressure at 40 psi, religously. As Gator said 0* is in spec, that's all I was asking them to do.

As for the different camber settings, This came out of an article in a sport truck magazine:

"If you raise your trucks too much as with many leveling kits, the top of the tire will be farther out than the bottom (looking from the front of the truck) and you will need to adjust the lower a-arm bolts to push the bottom of the tire outward so it is closer to verticle. Keep in mind this adjustment is usually blamed for bad tire wear."

Mine are in at the top. Just wondering if anyone else had seen or heard of this. Didn't mean to ruffle any feathers.

 

Sounds like the tech over adjusted, mine were in at the bottom after installing mine.

 

What you need to know is that camber AND caster are both adjusted VIA the lower controll arms. If the tech tries to go for 0* camber chances are he will not be able to get caster in spec. Which is why there is an acceptable range for both.

 

I know manufacturers have specs on alignments, but when most vehicles are modified, they do require to have the specs altered also depending on the use. If the lift will allow for the original specs to be used, we will do that, if not we will shoot for a good street use spec of 0 camber and 3 or more on caster both wheels with .16 toe in. This works well. I prefer 0 camber if attainable or at the very most .5 degrees plus or minus. Caster should be as close to the same as possible, but setting one a degree or two off to make the vehicle drift to the outside of the road is best. I am not talking about making it pull hard, just making the vehicle drift off the road if you were to fall asleep at the wheel. Any vehicle that drifts or pulls to the oncoming traffic needs immediate attention. Some like to have the camber a little positive to make up for the crown in the road, like in many states who do not have good roads. Depending on the tire size and width, it is sometimes needed to toe a vehicle in a little more to compensate for the friction of larger tires based on an average speed of 55. I am surprised of all the shops who will turn a proper alignment down. It would seem they are unsure of what they are doing and maybe afraid they will have an unwanted outcome they can't fix. Sorry to say, we do not do complete alignments for $29.95. Its by the hour with a shop rate of $40 per hour. The difference is this, when its done, its done correctly. I have yet ever seen anyone do a true alignment. That is the one that is done with caster, camber, scrub angle and toe in less than a hour. First we fully inspect, calibrate, record, set and test drive. You get what you pay for, we only use lasers, so there is no error with equipment making allowable error acceptable.

 

I know that when I lowered the front of my '07 FX4 2 inches, it kicked the camber off so the tires leaned in .... as well as toed out and so I aligned it. I had to pull lower control arms almost all the way in in their slots, but finally got camber into spec and caster ended up a tad over 6 degrees both sides ..... but I drive mostly rural and highways so extra caster is OK .... and then lastly .... I went to work on toe while getting wheel straight. But if I had gone much lower, would have had to grind slots some I think. I used OEM bolts, made small custom fit "locks" that abutt the nuts to "lock" in place (like those "camber bolt kits" do, just no adjustable without removal) once I was done. I'm sure that tires wear a little on edges when I turn sharp due to my caster settings .... but still has OEM tires near 48K miles.