Alignment
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Cross-Country
Joined: Dec 2022
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Alignment
Hi all I have a 1997 f250 4x4 diesel and am wanting to buy a diy alignment tool and am wondering if tire swivel plates will be strong enough for it the ones I am looking at are 2000# rated per plate if anyone has tried them will they work ok other vehicles are lighter Tia
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Cross-Country
Joined: Dec 2022
Posts: 90
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could you do caster camber also
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Joined: Sep 2003
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From: SoCal
You can check toe with the angle irons and static camber using the hub level gauge, but you need the plates to check caster.
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More Turbo
Joined: Aug 2025
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TTB caster changes 10 degrees whenever the wind changes anyways. I wouldnt sweat that setting.
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Lead Driver
Joined: Sep 2003
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From: SoCal
I worked for Ford's EEC department back in 1979, and once I was in one of the garages prepping my car for a track test when I heard this really loud banging coming from a couple of stalls from mine. I looked over to see an E-van up on the lift, a mechanic had a torch in one hand and a sledge hammer in the other. He would heat something underneath for a little bit, then pound it with the hammer, sending sparks every where. I asked a nearby mechanic what that first guy was doing. The second guy said he was trying to adjust the front end alignment; that's how you do it on the twin I-beam suspension, heat and bend the beams. I asked if they shouldn't be using a rack or gauges? He said they come off the assembly line so far off that you can make huge improvements just by eyeballing it.
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To answer the original question: I think 2,000 per swivel plate would be pushing it. Best bet would be to go weigh it at a CAT scale. When you do, I'd bet it weighs 3,980 or 4,200 or something like that on the front. If it is 3,980, would you want to be that close to the limit of the swivel plates? Probably not. It would be much better to have swivel plates that are rated 3,000 pounds or more.
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