ok just about got this years upgrade to my truck done.. i try to do a upgrade every year.. to sneek up on a finished product.. lol rebuilt front suspension, plus added sway bar and rebuilt complete brake system. now i just need to align the frontend to finish it up.. any tips? will i need to take it to a shop when i am done to have it professionally realligned? or is simply adjusting the toe in good enough? I really dont see how you could make any other adjustments any way.
Did the sway bar make you feel it was worthwhile? I have wanted one but need a lot of people to say the money was well spent and they cant live without it. If you can find a old man running a old alingment shop without alhimers, go for it. L.O.L. ours died.
Alignment The caster shims are really important , they go in between the front axle and the leaf spring , from behind . Missing shims is very bad as it creates shimmy and wander , your truck will suddenly lurch off to one side as the tires begin to follow a crack in the pavement . If there's any wobble in the king pins or wheel bearings , forget about alignment and just set the toe-in to 1/8" . True alignment of beam axles is done on a special frame rack by cold bending the axle , not a beginner's job . You'll need two matching front tires equally inflated too . Sway bars were originally fitted to Suburbans and are well worth the $ . there's two different types , one is an exact copy , the other appears to be (maybe) a bit heavier duty .
rebuilt the front suspension.. so new tight king pins, new roller bearings, new tie rod ends, new front springs, bushings, shakle kits, new shockd, new sway bar. ajusted stearing box per spec. yes the shims that came out are back in. so I guess I will do a toe in and see how it tracks? just wonder the best way to do the toe-in.. i have read several different methods.
Toe - In Raise the front wheels off the ground and use a bit of chalk or lumber crayon etc. to make a stripe in the dead center of the tread by spinning the wheel I've used spray paint of aerosol graphite then dragged a point in it as I turned the wheel ~ the idea is to get a stripe mark at the true centerline of each wheel regardless of wobbly wheels , poor tread castings etc. measure between the two front wheels @ 9:00 , rotate the tires 180° and measure again @ 3:00 , you want the rear measurement to be ever so slightly wider , like 1/8" or less . In reading this it may not be clear until you're out there next to the truck doing it....
