Leveling Kit and re-alignment
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Leveling Kit and re-alignment
There have been a lot of posts on the subject of leveling kits and such, but I'm wondering about aligning the truck after adding the new equipment. The leveling kit I'm talking about basically just includes longer front coil springs. I'm thinking of the 2" one from Skyjacker. It is for a '95 F150 XL 4x2 6cyl. I'm worried that after I put in the new springs and shocks that the truck will not be able to be aligned back to specs (caster, camber, etc don't know what these mean--but I assume they deal with angle of alignment toe-in and out and stuff) because those 2" throw everything too far out of range to be brought back into range. Is this true? Would there be any alignment problems? Thanks for any help.
-Zach
-Zach
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Joined: Jan 2003
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From: SE Texas
Yes, you may have a very tough time getting the alignment corrected. I talked to a tech person (Margie) at Rocky Mountain Suspension (www.rockymountainsusp.com) who explained this very well. I decided not to get the leveling coils after that. Give them a call.
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From: Back where I started...
The longer coils will cause all three of your angles to be incorrect. They'll cause the steering axis to tip forward (negative caster). As the suspension drops away, the axle beams will pivot, causing the tops of your tires to tip out (positive camber). This will also cause the tie rods to toe in. Toe is easily adjusted, and you can buy new bushings that install in the upper ball joint to adjust your camber & caster. It might cost a little to do, but you can bring your alignment angles back to reasonable, especially with only that little 2" lift. They'll never be "right on" again, but they can be close enough that you'll never really notice too much difference, depending on how fussy you are.
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