Anyone have any horror stories on these year truck front end alignments?

 

Not problems with the truck... only with a local Firestone shop not knowing how to do a front end alignment on the truck (rear drivers axle was bent so alignment should not have been possible. Also, steering wheel was 25 degrees off which should have also clued them in).

 

The only horror stories i've heard is shops charging people for the adjustable camber bolts to do an alignment when they really didn't need them.

 

mine is screwed im taking it back to another shop, they messed with my bolts to get it zeroed out now it loves to chop my brand new Firestones and pullin to the left

 

Rite up my alley! I had new tires installed yesterday.It came with a free alignment check.Tire tech dude could adjust the toe in but said camber could not be adjusted due to possibly snapping the camber bolts.Said I needed new ones but they could not get them until Monday.So,I called a local Ford dealer and they had them,$54.11 a side.I went and picked them up and returned to the tire store.The tech was gone so another one set up the alignment check.He said the camber could be adjusted with no problems! Now I have to take the bolts back and am pissed about having to get them when I didn't need them!

 

Bought my truck with a leveling kit and 35" BFG AT KO's on it with about 50% tread left.

In less than 60 days of owning it and 5k miles of driving, the fronts were completely bald on the outside. Almost down to the wires/cords in the tires. I guess the previous owner never had it aligned when the leveling kit went on.

Replaced all the tires w/ 35" ProComp Xtreme MT's and had 4 wheel parts do the install and alignment there in their shop here in Austin. They attempted to align it for almost 2 hours with little luck. Brought me out there and showed me how they could get it barely in spec w/ the factory cam bolts, but would feel more comfortable if I got the adjustable ones. They didn't pressure me, but recommended them. 60 bucks per side is not much when I'm spending over 1000 bucks on tires, so I opted to get the cam bolts.

The alignment was perfect for a week or two and then started pulling to the left pretty bad on the freeway. Took it back in and they said it was still in spec, but made a few small adjustments with me watching them and sent me on my way. That was a month ago and I've had no issues to speak of since.

I definitely plan on taking it back in at least each year to have it rechecked as I can't afford to have these tires go out on me too fast. That and making sure they are properly rotated and balanced as well.

 

I installed the 2" level kit and when I brought it in for an alignment, my toe was out but the camber/caster was still dead on. A guy from Autospring even said he's installed thousands of their kits and never once had to adjust the camber/caster.

 

Hey guys,
I'm in the middle of figuring this out myself. I own a 06 FX4 Supercab, and i'm lowering it some, yes i know, why are you lowering it. Just need the traction for winter, it's just a up and down the hiway truck. So I put on the Belltech #25001 drop shocks and the Belltech specs they gave were wrong, and it dropped way to low. So i'm adding another spacer to bring it back up a 1" or so. My camber is now on the negative side, and it looks like crap! I had an alignment done right after the shock install, and they told my the camber adjustment is a it's max. So tomorrow i'm reinstalling the drop shocks and adding another 1", it should help some of the negative camber, i hope. Do i need new eccentric bolts, to correct this, or am i being mislead buy the alignment shop? I also would like to get this fix without wearing my tires prematurely too. I'm at wits end here!
some of my photos below
https://www.f150online.com/forums/me...s-dam-low.html

 

what is the difference in toe and caster/camber

 

http://www.anewtoronto.com/wheel%20alignment.html

 

basically, the toe in is adjusted at the tie rods. caster and camber are adjusted at the bolts that hold the upper control arm to the frame.

 

Hey! Stay off my Canadian internets!

I've had my truck aligned twice.Once when I got my first set of new tires, and just recently when I put on the 2" leveling Bilstein 5100's. No problemo each time. The second time needed a small toe adjustment due to the 2" lift in the front.

 

i went to 3 different shops to get mine aligned, all tried to do it with a machine, everytime it came out bad. Finally found a old timer that did it all by hand/chalk/measuring tapes, charged me 25 bucks and havent had a problem since.

 

New body 04 and up have the camber/caster adjusted on the lower control arm, not the upper. They are so adjustable anymore that it shouldn't be a problem to align them properly. Problem is that the tech most likely doesn't make much money on an alignment, so he won't spend the time to get it right. My dealer charges $70 for an alignment on trucks. I get $24 to do it. That includes all the "set up" time on the machine, the adjustments, the rechecks, etc. I make sure the steering wheel is straight, it will not pull, or wear tires excessively. The machine has been paid for for years, but on an all labor job, they still get twice as much money to do it than me. If there is any more adjustments called for, or bolt kits, etc, that is extra.

 

I suppose the rest of the money has to go for things like overhead? Rent, utilities, insurance, inventory, continuous advertising, support staff salary, or covering the cost of rolling up the garage doors on slow days takes money too. Not to mention that the shop owner is entitled to make a profit. God forbid you should take $750K out of your own pocket and put it out there so that other people can have a job.