try to find a shop that has a computerized rack.
there is one down the highway from me in northern Monmouth county that get is rite first time every time.
they only charge $75 too.

 

About DIY alignments, my F-250 (Dana 50) has been down for 4 days now for DIY alignment, ball joints, front axle shaft U-joints, wheel bearing lube and brakes. I haven't been working on it continuously but I've spent a LOT of time on it. Some of the delay has been due to parts stores selling me the wrong parts but part of the delay is that it's not such an easy task.

I got a set of very useful Specialty Products Company 24130 bushings that are adjustable for both caster and camber. They come with a chart showing how to set them for various caster and camber adjustments. They are intended for professionals and they assume you know what you're doing. Whoever invented them is a lot smarter than I am and I spent some time just sitting down, reading the sparse instructions and scratching my head.

I do my own work partly because I've been doing it since I was 16 and I just can't break the habit. The other reasons are that I'm a certified cheapskate and last but not least I am fed up with the poor work done by commercial shops.

I think my point is that getting the alignment correct is not a simple project, is taking a LOT longer than I thought and your time may be a lot better spent with your family or other activities.

About the caster range, for my '96 the allowable spec is 2 to 6 degrees, however, there is also a spec for the split between the two. In other words, it is not OK for one side to be 2 and the other side 3, even though both sides are within the allowable range. Some guys recommend setting the drivers side caster a little bit more positive than the passenger side in order to help compensate for crowned roads.

I replaced the leaf spring bushings and axle pivot bushings with urethane bushings first and that alone fixed 90% of the camber issues. I also installed some Firestone air bags and they really compensate for sagging springs. I can adjust the camber back to factory spec just by adjusting the air pressure in the bags. They seem to hold air pressure pretty good over time. I know someone isn't going to be able to resist correctly telling me that it would've been cheaper and simpler to go to a Dana 60, but that train has left the station. I've invested too much time and money into this Dana 50 to ever give up on it. And, knock on wood, the urethane bushings seem to have solved most all of the camber problems.

Bob

 

$75 for a Dana 50 alignment? Your caster and camber had to have been OK when you brought it in. All they could've done for $75 was check the caster and camber and adjust the toe-in. The bushings to adjust the caster and/or camber cost about $30 each, are fairly labor intensive to change depending on how stuck they are, and you need two of them if both sides need adjustment.

Bob

 

Places that advertise alignments, charge just for that, alignments. Parts and labor to change those parts are extra. So, yeah, a $75.00 alignment could cost you several hundred dollars if you need a front end rebuilt.

 

exactly the $75 is for the alignment only. but since the front end is basically new on anything i take there i do not have to pay for add on parts.
i do not take vehicles that need parts for alignment. they are repaired before they go, because why pay for it to be done twice?

 

I think we may be confusing the axle pivot bushings with the caster/camber bushings. If the caster or camber needs to be adjusted, the caster/camber bushings need to be changed to bushings that will provide the correct alignment. To avoid confusion, maybe sleeve is a better term than bushing. These are not add on parts and changing them is not a repair, it's part of the alignment process.

 

I know adjusting caster and camber on 2 wheel drive trucks is easy as you said. On a Super Duty 4x4, you need special ball joints to do that. No shop will include that type of repair in their $75.00 advertised front alignment price. Even tougher on my 97 F-Superduty that I used to own. It was a solid I-beam with kingpins.

 

That's pretty much what my point in my earlier post was. All you get for $75 is a toe-in adjustment on a 4WD, whether it be a Dana 50 or Dana 60.