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I had my truck aligned after the lift, and the shop said my caster was “perfect.” whatever that means. I bet it means it was within spec.
My truck seems to drive the same as before, or maybe a little “light” at higher speeds I don’t know for sure, I haven’t driven on the freeway yet.
My gut is telling me just to add the shims, so I probably will.
I will more than likely swap to Carli components when they are available including their shims. Those guys really seem to know what they are doing and suggest them
There's only a couple companies making the shim's for everyone, Dayton, TRW, Fleetline in Canada, Most companies don't have foundries/Space dedicated to cast and machine a caster shim unless thats all they do and there isn't enough call for the overhead to compete. Dayton is the leader even NAPA's are boxed Dayton's.
I used moog because it was easy 1 day amazon prime. Local NAPA only had one in stock.
Ok. I have a set of bushings on the way. I am going to tackle this on Friday (attempt again)
anybody have suggestions/tips on how to remove the factory ones?
I have heard pry them out, tap the knuckle to disengage them, use an air hammer under the lip to pry them up, etc... I have even though about disengaging the lower ball joint as well so the whole knuckle drops down.
Really your alignment shop is going to have to do them. In order to adjust the moog, they have to be taken out, adjusted, then put back in, hook up the alignment machine, and look at the readings. rinse and repeat until you get the caster numbers. time consuming for sure.
Really your alignment shop is going to have to do them. In order to adjust the moog, they have to be taken out, adjusted, then put back in, hook up the alignment machine, and look at the readings. rinse and repeat until you get the caster numbers. time consuming for sure.
The way I see it is that each inch you go up, it changes the caster about 1 deg. This is why the 1 deg adjustment from the factory works on the 1" level and why carli supplies 2 deg bushings for their 2" level. I'm planning on starting with 2.5 deg for the for the 2.5" level and go from there. It should be close.
Really your alignment shop is going to have to do them. In order to adjust the moog, they have to be taken out, adjusted, then put back in, hook up the alignment machine, and look at the readings. rinse and repeat until you get the caster numbers. time consuming for sure.
not gonna do that. just doing carli shims. once and done
Originally Posted by 347Flatty
The way I see it is that each inch you go up, it changes the caster about 1 deg. This is why the 1 deg adjustment from the factory works on the 1" level and why carli supplies 2 deg bushings for their 2" level. I'm planning on starting with 2.5 deg for the for the 2.5" level and go from there. It should be close.
just got done installing the Carli 2* caster correction shims. These are actually Specialty Products Company (SPC) Part # 23228 shims.
The install was super easy. I just had to break the shims loose from the ball joint/knuckle taper. A couple dead blows with the single jack and they were loose.
Now off for a drive to see if there is a difference. Hopefully a little tighter steering and less bump steer
adding 2* positive caster back into the axle made a big difference.
the steering is more solid/positive just like stock.
i did not think there was much of a difference originally, but there definitely was.
bump steer may be a touch reduced, hard to tell, the roads here are horrible
so for anyone on the fence about doing caster shims when lifting or leveling, I suggest you do it
adding 2* positive caster back into the axle made a big difference.
the steering is more solid/positive just like stock.
i did not think there was much of a difference originally, but there definitely was.
bump steer may be a touch reduced, hard to tell, the roads here are horrible
so for anyone on the fence about doing caster shims when lifting or leveling, I suggest you do it
What were your alignment specs after you put the bushings back in? Which bushing did you use?
I second this. My numbers were 3.6 and 3.9 and it made a very noticeable difference. This should be considered critical for proper steering feel after a lift or level.
I don’t know for sure, I haven’t driven on the freeway yet.
