I just put new tires on my 95 4x4, and this is about one year after sears did my alignment with new cam kits. The new tires from big-o pulled badly to the right, so big-o checked my alignment. They could only get my cross camber to -0.4 degrees where it should be on the positive end of the spectrum. it still pulls to the right, and they said my cam maxed out on adjustment.

Will replacing the cam solve the problem? Is this normal to have to replace the cam each time I need an alignment? Is there some other problem causing this?

here is the sheet they provided:

Actual before specified range
cross camber -.4 -.4 -.5 - +.5
cross caster -.8 -.8 -.9 - -.1
total toe .01 .86 -.19 - +.31

(sorry, hard to read)

thanks for any advise you can provide.
I have a lot to learn, and not much to contribute yet, so thanks again for any help!!

 

Replacing the cams won't do anything because they are only designed for a certain amount of adjustment. In my opinion that cross camber isn't far enough out of spec to cause a bad pull. Did it only start pulling after the new tires were installed?? I would try swapping the front tires left to right. Sometimes you get tires that have some conicity to them, meaning they are slighlty cone shaped and make the vehicle pull. This isn't as much of a problem with trucks as it is with smaller front wheel drive cars but it's worth a try.

-Jon

 

Yeah, they swapped them from side to side and even tried a new tire.
Could it be that they just needed to center my stearing wheel when everything else is straight? Sears had to try three times before they finally got it to run straight, but when they centered my wheel, it drove straight.
thanks!!

 

Is it pulling or is the wheel just offcenter?? If it will go down the road straight without you holding on to the wheel (even if the wheel is offcenter) then they just need to adjust the toe to center the wheel, which they should have done during the alignment. If you have to actually put some effort into holding the wheel to keep the truck going straight then there is something causing a pull.

Does the sheet they gave you list the left and right camber measurements??

-Jon

 

Hi W.

What caught my attention here was cam adjustment and your truck pulling.

Im not up todate as you guys are, so what i say may be n/a?

This is something i learned from a old time front end tech.

Same as yours, problem was only corrected when the guy used what i recall as an "eccentric washer"? This may/maynot be cam you refer to? I feel "washer" may be slang for correct part name? I recall it was round like a washer, but had more notches for adjusting, compared to OEM. Again, this maybe n/a?

I mentioned this because 2 alignments never worked until that part i mentioned was installed. In my case tires were ok, tracked straight after that part was put in and adjusted. As i recall he only needed it on one side. What i found out from that as in most cases...not all techs. are created equal.

Good luck....OT

 

Hi W.

What caught my attention here was cam adjustment and your truck pulling.

Im not up todate as you guys are, so what i say may be n/a?

This is something i learned from a old time front end tech.

Same as yours, problem was only corrected when the guy used what i recall as an "eccentric washer"? This may/maynot be cam you refer to? I feel "washer" may be slang for correct part name? I recall it was round like a washer, but had more notches for adjusting, compared to FMC/OEM. Again, this maybe n/a?

I mentioned this because 2 alignments never worked until that part i mentioned was installed. In my case tires were ok, tracked straight after that part was put in and adjusted. As i recall he only needed it on one side. What i found out from that as in most cases...not all techs. are created equal.

Good luck....OT

 

Geez, does this only happen to me. I send reply..its says server busy..so i send again...which makes for a double. This really is N/A

Anyhow, good luck on the fix. OT

 

here are the left and right camber measurments after the alignmemt:

left .1
right .5

caster:
left 3.2
right 4.0

toe:
left -.01
right .02

I am going to take it to a real mechanic today, I will let you know what comes of it. Thanks for the replies

 

Here is the latest for those who are interested:

My mechanic said that my brake calipers were sticking slightly. About $500 and maybe some new roters, and it will hopefully not pull anymore.

 

$500? calipers arent that hard to replace if you know how to bleed them.