New ORD lift

[campfire]

I chased alignment issues with my blazer for a long time. No shop really knew how to do it correctly and after spending $100s of dollars I was probably better off trying to figure it out myself. If your alignment needs more than just adjusting the tie rod and steering, I hope they knows know how to correctly shim spindles and aren't using ball joint shims.

Changing leaf springs on a solid axle truck doesn't change the toe or the camber. They will be exactly as good as they were before the swap, and equally adjustable. If you bend the axle housing climbing rocks, most shops won't have any idea how to correct that. But if you just need the toe set it will be the same as any stock truck (TREs).

 

[campfire]

@TXJP, I just put the same 3" EZ-rides on the front of my Suburban. But rather than enjoying them I then celebrated by yanking the drivetrain.

I'm curious to see how you like the ride after a few miles.

 

[pomai]

That looks great!

IMO..... I wouldn't align it unless you did something to change the toe setting or have death wobble. Realistically, if the shop says the camber or caster is out of spec they probably wont know how to fix it or (worse) say it can't be fixed. In my experience, most run of the mill tire shops have no idea how to do more than adjust the toe setting on a straight axle 4wd.

Again, the truck looks GREAT!

How do you fix the caster/camber?

 

[obijuank5]

There are spindle shims that adjust camber and caster is done with pinion shims or offset balljoints.

 

[Richcz28]

Changing leaf springs on a solid axle truck doesn't change the toe or the camber. They will be exactly as good as they were before the swap, and equally adjustable.

I'm not sure that is true. Lift springs rotate the axle somewhat and while the original physical alignment of the axle itself doesn't change, the alignments do change relative to the road.

Additionally, lift springs and us chevy people often shift the axle along the arch of the spring which changes alignment do to the change in angle of the axle.

 

[campfire]

I'm not sure that is true. Lift springs rotate the axle somewhat and while the original physical alignment of the axle itself doesn't change, the alignments do change relative to the road.

Additionally, lift springs and us chevy people often shift the axle along the arch of the spring which changes alignment do to the change in angle of the axle.

Drag link and caster angles have changed, but camber and toe aren't affected by pinion angle.

When you stuff one tire and droop the other, that does momentarily throw off the camber, but that isn't anything that an alignment can correct.

 

[Richcz28]

Drag link and caster angles have changed, but camber and toe aren't affected by pinion angle.

When you stuff one tire and droop the other, that does momentarily throw off the camber, but that isn't anything that an alignment can correct.

They definitely are affected. As the pinion angle changes the toe changes because the axle is now riding down the road at a new angle. Imagine you rotate the axle 180 degrees. Obviously, we wouldn't, but for imaginations sake, you can visualize how this would change toe significantly.

Many lift kits with the addition of an easy inch can easily change pinion angle by as much as 12 degrees. This does have an affect on toe and camber.

 

[nvrenuf]

I have to agree with @campfire , the toe setting is the tires parallel relationship to one another and since they are physically / directly connected it cannot change based on pinion angle.

That said, the toe setting is slightly inward so if the caster is off it can change where that “narrow” point of the parallel is but the toe measurement is still the same AND it’s all the result of incorrect caster.

Camber is also unaffected by the springs as this is specific to the centerline of the knuckle pivot points.

 

[campfire]

They definitely are affected. As the pinion angle changes the toe changes because the axle is now riding down the road at a new angle. Imagine you rotate the axle 180 degrees. Obviously, we wouldn't, but for imaginations sake, you can visualize how this would change toe significantly.

Many lift kits with the addition of an easy inch can easily change pinion angle by as much as 12 degrees. This does have an affect on toe and camber.

I still think you're thinking of caster. Caster does change, but rotating the pinion any amount (even 180 degrees) does not change how parallel the wheels are. Not in the camber axis, and not in the toe axis. These are hard relationships set by axle geometry, not spring geometry.

I'll grant @nvrenuf's point that toe is usually set slightly inward, and rotating the axle will push some of that offset into the camber axis relative to the road surface. But that really is splitting hairs. If the front wheels start with 1/16" of toe in, moving the pinion 12 degrees will only move 13% of that difference into the camber axis (12/90 = 13%). 13% of 1/16" means the bottom of the tire will move out by 8 thousandths of an inch. No real person is going to fret over that. You have much more play than that in your wheel bearings.

 

[Richcz28]

You are correct, and I know that it is the Caster that changes, but my point was this change can lead to other geometry being not quite right.

In some rigs, probably not the ops, Caster can not be completely corrected for. In this case we are left with Toe and especially Camber setups that are not optimum. They might be mathematically small differences, but maybe you are correct and the difference is negligible.

I have also heard that front 10 bolts were manufactured in two different Cambers which further compounds hunting for the perfect alignment.

 

[kgblazerfive]

Putting a lift on the rear will often change the thrust angle, if not done right. Which will change just about everything in the front.

 

[Blue85]

Caster can change from lift springs because the angle of the spring where the axle sits is probably different. It's obvious when you think of a shackle flip or adding longer shackles, but changing the height of the spring does the same to a lesser extent. The spring can be designed towards a certain caster angle, if desired, but generally they worry more about pinion angle.

I'm saying that in general, swapping front leaf springs will not produce a significant change in toe or camber, but it can change a little. If the angle of the spring pad is exactly the same before and after a lift, then alignment isn't affected at all (although the drag link will need adjustment). However, once you do change the caster angle with new springs it does have a very slight affect on toe and camber. You may have 0 toe and 0 camber before the lift, but that doesn't mean everything is perfectly straight from axle housing through ball joints, knuckles and spindles. It just means the end result of all the imperfections has cancelled out. For example, a spindle bent "backward" a bit is easily compensated for in the toe adjustment. Once you rotate the axle a little, that imperfection becomes part toe and part camber.