Front Wheel Alignment

Satisfactory vehicle operation may occur over a wide range of front wheel alignment settings. If the settings vary beyond certain tolerances, adjustments are advisable. The "Specifications" at the back of this section are a guideline for vehicle diagnosis or for repairs.

Important: Set the front wheel alignment to specifications while the vehicle is in its normally loaded condition. Vehicles which are consistently operated with heavy loads should have toe-in adjusted with the vehicle under heavy load. This procedure should result in longer tire life.

MEASURE FRONT ALIGNMENT ANGLES
- Install alignment equipment according to the manufacturer's instructions.
- Measure alignment angles and record the readings. If adjustments are required, make them in the following order: caster, camber, and toe-In.

CASTER AND CAMBER ADJUSTMENT

Important: Before adjusting caster and camber angles, the "Z" height setting on all four wheel drive and all wheel drive trucks must be inspected before setting the alignment to specification. Refer to "Trim Height Specification."

Caster and camber adjustments are made by inserting shims between the upper control arm shaft and the frame bracket. Shims may be added, removed or transferred to change the readings.

To adjust caster and camber, loosen the upper control arm shaft-to-frame nuts, add or remove shims as required and torque the nuts. Toe-in must be checked after changing caster or camber.

CASTER




- Transfer shims from front to rear or rear to front.
- The transfer of one shim from the rear-bolt to the front bolt will decrease positive caster.

CAMBER




- Remove or add shims at both the front and rear of the shaft equally.
- Adding an equal number of shims at both the front and rear of the cross shaft will decrease positive camber. A normal shim pack will leave at least two threads of the bolt exposed beyond the nut. The difference between front and rear shim packs must not exceed 10.0 mm (0.40 inch). If these requirements cannot be met, check for damaged control arms and related parts.
- Tighten the nut on the thinner-shim pack first. This improves shaft-to-frame clamping force and torque retention.

TOE-IN ADJUSTMENT




- Tie rod adjuster parts often become rusted in service. If the torque required to remove the nut from the bolt after breakaway exceeds 9.0 Nm (80 inch lbs.), discard the nuts and bolts. Apply penetrating oil between the clamp and tube and rotate the clamps until they move freely. Install new bolts and nuts with the correct part number. Toe-in can be increased or decreased by changing the length of the tie rods. A threaded sleeve is provided for this purpose.

- When the tie rods are mounted ahead of the steering knuckle they must be:
- Decreased in length to increase toe-in.
- Increased in length to decrease toe-in.

1. Loosen the clamp bolts at each end of the steering tie rod adjustable sleeves.
2. Set the steering wheel in. straight ahead position.
3. Turn the tie rod adjusting sleeves to obtain proper toe-in specification.
4. Check the number of threads inside the adjuster sleeve. They must be equal to within three threads.