Jag,

I can not remember but I think I had something like 55,000 Km (34,000 mi). At the time I had 285/75 R16 BFG MTs.

JMC

 

Hmmm interesting but good info. I have about 15,000 miles on mine.

You never know. My sisters 01 Chevy Blazer needed new ball joints at only 17,000!

 

Well got the alignment done and I am not a happy camper. Picked it up last night and it was actually WORSE than when I dropped it off.

Taking it to yet (another) place tomorrow morning that was recommended to me by someone. Called them today and told them the long rap sheet of alignments with this truck.

Will post results of that tomorrow sometime!

Jag

 

Maybe your a-arm bolts came loose?

 

Yes, these trucks can have the camber adjusted and yes it is better than leaving them unadjusted after we've tweaked them by lifting, lowering, tires...whatever.

BUT, getting someone competent to do it seems to be a HUGE problem. For me, Shop#1 had NO appointments available, #2 "maybe" appointment late in the day #3 did not have a working machine. #4 no wait, price was OK and seemed to have the "right stuff" for the job.

When done it looked to spec and they "even" showed me the adjustment sheet. YET you can't torque here, then there, then go back again and expect things to be the same 30 mins later after MORE wrenching. The sheet they gave me was printed out 30 minutes before the truck was done! By the time it was finished (I watched), I know it was not the same as the sheet showed. Came out looking correct, but pulling right.

Few weeks later I tweaked the collars myself (one nut was even loose) and got it VERY close, but do not want to waste that money again. My ride quality is not nice, the tires are cupping, so it will have to be done again. Pain in the rear though. Part of me wishes I'd left it alone!

 

maybe we should make a list of those places around the country that can do it right.

 

Greencrew,

Sounds like a pretty good plan!

Well I went to yet another place on Saturday. Had a long talk with all of the guys in the shop, they told me that they would get it right.

They had to order a kit (from the Ford dealer a few miles up the street) to add the cam bolts and washers to adjust the caster and camber. They tried to save me a bit of money and only installed it on the left side of the truck. Hopefully this should be it. My luck I will need the right side done in the future.

Anyhoo, went to pick the truck up and guess what? It still pulled to the left. I had to go to the Best Buy up the road anyway so I continued to drive there picked up my stuff and drove right back. You should have seen the looks on there faces when I walked back in! Meanwhile I specifically asked them all "Did you test drive it?" They said yes cos they were afraid of me going off on them.

As it turned out, the guy that I wanted to have work on my truck was the "Manager" this past Saturday. I made him drive my truck with me in it and sho nuff, he said it was pulling to the left. He apologized and took it back into the shop. (He put the truck back up on the rack and re-aligned it himself). He told me to take it back out, and test drive it. He told me if its good don't come back but if its not, it could be a tire issue.

Keep in mind that they DID swap the two front tires criss-cross. I basically think that the dealer f&*(^%d up the alignment in the first place a few monts ago. Three of the four tires are wearing correctly accept for the front passenger one. We measured them with at tire gauge and the other three all had 14/32's of tread on them. The right front was 13/32, 11/32, and 10/32. So basically I have one shot tire now. THANKS FORD!!!!!

OK, back to my story. I test drove the truck and wow what a difference! My truck was pretty much straight as well as having the steering wheel centered. I drove around for quite awhile and finally went back to the shop again. The guys were pretty scared thinking I was gonna raise hell. They were like "Is there a problem?" "I was like yeah where is Howard?" (Who is the Manager this past Saturday)... You should have seen his face when he asked me "Whats the matter"? I was like I just wanted to come back here to tell you....

THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!

I did mention to him that still think that there is a slight pull to the right now. However he and I both agreed that it could be the unevenly worn LEFT front tire now (since they swapped them via criss-cross).


Anyhow I may see how it is for the next week or two, and if I have to go back I will. Howard is definitely the man as he was recommended to me by a member from FTW! I would go back to him again for certain with any other front end issues as he really seems to know his stuff. (By the way, he apoligized to me telling me that he had a "junior tech" working on my truck).

So it appears that these trucks CAN be aligned properly. It just sucks that there are so many morons out there who can't perform a proper alignment. They will tell you its in "spec" if the alignment machine shows all settings in "green" and not "red" for both toe in and out and caster and camber.

Phewww... I could go on even more but I cant right now. If anyone here lives in the Bucks County area of PA go to NTB in Willow Grove (on Maryland Drive off of RT 611) and ask for Howard. He is the man!!!!!

Jag

 

Glad to see that you got it done right. Good for you. Stick with that guy and don't go anywhere else. If he changes places find out where he went and go there.

JMC

 

JMC,

I definitely plan on doing that for sure. Thanks for your help and by the way, the ball joints are fine!

Jag

 

On the camber adjusters, are there variations in kits? Meaning up to 2deg or more than 2deg?

Greg

 

Glad to hear you got it right. I'm going to measure across my tire. It seems to pull easily to the right or left. Since I could not pick a side I thougt it was ok, but it could be toed out a bit.

 

Let us know how you make out greencrew.

Good luck man!

Jag

 

Jaguar, both front tires are 11/32 all the way across, so I guess I'm getting a little bit **** on this. That's because my 99 SCab was straight and true, and I would like to get this 01 SCrew to that point, but I have heard that the SCrew is affected more by the wind and I have defineately found that to be the case. Just driving down the road I can tell you which direction the wind is blowing.

I wonder if Ford has improved on this in the 04 SCrew?

 

greencrew,

The only difference between the SuperCab and the Supercrew is the body.
The frame, suspension and all are the same. Soooo, if your SuperCab was perfect, then the Screw should be also.
IMHO, go back and get them to fix it. If they cant, find another place.

Yesterday I changed my upper ball joints. These are not replacable alone you have to replace the upper A arm with it. Removal and Install were simple but trying to line up the cam bolts to where they were was a major PITA ! I can understand why some cheap shops will tell you it is In Spec and walk away from it. The place I went to was a family owned buisness. As a side note it was interesting listining to the father and son teasing each other. They took over 1½ hours to do the job. When it was done they road tested my truck. I was satisfied with the work done.

JMC

 

JMC,

it's the larger SCrew body that is affected by the wind. I suppose some day I'll have to go back to the dealer that aligned the SCab and spend the $80 to find out.