Alignment issues

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Apr 19, 2010 | 10:34 AM

JB_85F150

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Alignment issues

Okay, I have had my truck (1985 F150 302) aligned a couple of times over the past year, and No one seems to be getting it right. A while back, I replaced my shocks, when doing so I noticed that one of my front coil springs was collapsed so I ordered new shocks and coil springs for my truck.

Well of course this calls for a new alignment. Well as mentioned before, no one has gotten it correct yet. I dont know if these people know what they are doing, or what. If you sit infront of my truck and look at the front wheels, it like they are making a "V" shape (in other words, the outside of the tire is wearing first) so I know my camber is not correct. I think these guys doing the alignment just dont want to take the necessary steps to correct this, via camber bolts, bushings, or whatever else it would take.

Does anyone know what to do, do I need some sort of camber kit for my truck?? I plan on taking the truck to another garage that has been recommended to be from a friend that restores old trucks. But am I missing something? Anyone else have these issues or know how to correct them?

thanks in advance,
Josh

Apr 19, 2010 | 10:46 AM

Rogue_Wulff

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From: Lost

The 85 uses a camber adjustable front end. There several different camber adjustment bushings available, and a good alignment shop will know which ones to use to correct your camber issue.

Apr 19, 2010 | 10:48 AM

JB_85F150

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Thanks Rogue Wulff,

do you know where I could print off some information about this so I can have it for reference for the next alignment guy for this case?

thanks again,
Josh

Apr 19, 2010 | 10:55 AM

Rogue_Wulff

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From: Lost

Well, I don't know to find printed material covering this, but any "alignment tech" that cannot tell the difference between the pre-83 King pin setup, and 83-96 upper/lower ball joint setup, isn't qualified to do an alignment.......

I have the same issue, but my 80 has king pins. To correct the camber, I-beams have to be bent. Finding a shop that has A) the equipment and B) someone that *actually* knows how to use it, is not an easy task.

Perhaps rockauto, autozone, or another auto parts website will have pictures of the camber bushings, and how they are used.

Apr 19, 2010 | 12:01 PM

bashby

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From: Charles Town, W bygod Va

Did you get a printout of the alignment when you had it done? If they need to mess with camber bushings expect to pay an extra $100-$150

Apr 19, 2010 | 12:13 PM

JB_85F150

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Quote:

Originally Posted by bashby

Did you get a printout of the alignment when you had it done? If they need to mess with camber bushings expect to pay an extra $100-$150

I figured it would cost more, but since I'm restoring this truck, I want everything to work and function properly. I'm willing to pay the extra money to get the job done correctly.

as someone mentioned before, I'm guessing the other two places I have taken the truck to either dont know what they're doing or just doing what they can for moment for a quick dollar.

I'll check out this other place my friend is telling me about and hopefully he can do what I'm wanting to get done.

thanks for the input guys, I'll check out the bushings so I'll at least have a comman knowledge for them and talk to this guy about them.

thanks again,
Josh

Apr 21, 2010 | 12:57 AM

Sport45

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From: Too close to Houston

When they have it apart to change camber bushings I recommend you go ahead and have ball joints installed too. It's only one more step in the tear-down and ball joints are cheap compared to the labor to get to them.