What the hell are camber alignment bolts and if I need them to align my front end then why did the truck come with out them installed. Goodyear wanted to charge me $150 bucks a tire to get it done. Are there any other choices or can I install them myself and then take it in.

 

Go to Napa or Ford.

 

Tell Goodyear to


Buy the Ford or Napa hardware (a search will turn up the part numbers), put them in yourself, then go to a different alignment shop.

Save the $$ for a 12-snack, or something.



Bob

 

I had that same feeling as well. My '99 was always out of alignment and finally the place I took it to and showed the specs said they couldn't do it unless the cam bolt kit was added... for big $$$. I took the truck back to the dealer and told them that my alignment was going in and out (i.e. the round bolt moving in the oval hole = clunk) and that I thought the camber kit would help them align it after tightening the bolt. So, I got the kit installed under warranty... don't try just asking for it as they will just laugh at you.

 

Camber bolts allow the alignment shop or anyone to align the front end easier--- They are not neccessary to align except in rare cases. So basically they are trying to make money off you because any good alignment shop will be able to align the front end without the camber bolts...
Its not too hard to install them yourself-- you just need a jack to hold up the a-arm while you remove the old shims / install the new camber bolts-- Then you could bring it to a shop once you get those installed if you really want to make it easier on the alignment guy.....

 

That's not necessarily true. If the camber is off spec or if the truck has been lowered, there is no ability to adjust the camber from the factory set up. You need to have the camber bolts installeed to be able to do the adjustment. The bolts will run around$30.00 to $40.00 and installation approximately another $40.00. When all is said and done, the alignment with bolts should be in the neighborhood of $110.00. If much more than that, find another shop. Les Schwab did my frontend for $109.95 including alignment.