Castor camber on 87 v10

[waterpirate]

So after putting on some new tires I took her to the shop to get alignment checked. They put it on the rack and the results were all is good, castor camber is out with no adjustment? How do you correct castor camber? New king pins? Truck drives well, no wandering or pulling, has cut the front tires since I got the truck in 94. Solutions?
Eric

 

[RecklessWOT]

My truck is the same. There never was an adjustment from the factory, I guess GM assumed everyone would keep their truck out of the ditch for it's entire life. They sell aftermarket bolts you can put in there which rotate to adjust camber. I never bothered though because it's not far enough out to cause any problems and I was worried those adjuster bolts may be a little weaker as they're a little slimmer by design (they have to be narrower to fit through the same hole to to provide room for adjustment)

 

[nvrenuf]

Caster or camber, they are 2 separate things and adjusted differently.

Camber is basically the tires center line leaning in or out from the center of the vehicle.

Caster is the tires center line leaning front to rear.

 

[Craig 85]

Here's a couple of ways to make the adjustment. I used both on different Squares. The second is the easier route. With the rings, the hub assembly has to come off.

https://www.fme-cat.com/overlays/pa...=K974-5&partType=Alignment Caster/Camber Shim

https://www.fme-cat.com/overlays/pa...K931&partType=Alignment Caster/Camber Bushing

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[roundhouse]

Definitely find a different shop if they said it couldn’t be changed or fixed

There’s a shop not too far from me that can align the lowered fords by bending the twin I beams

So if the shop you went to didn’t even know of the rings , a modification that works on nearly every vehicle ever made , find a new shop

 

[waterpirate]

Thanx for the replies, that's why I asked. My gut said they did not want to mess with it cause it was old. There is a really good spring shop near me that does spring lifts cheaper than you can do itwith a kit. I will call them and see what they have to say.
Eric

 

[Keith Seymore]

You can adjust the caster by installing tapered shims between the axle pad and leaf springs.

We used to really crank the caster up on V10s, like 10 degrees, to fix customer complaint vehicles.

If yours drives fine now I'd leave it alone.

K

 

[roundhouse]

You can adjust the caster by installing tapered shims between the axle pad and leaf springs.

We used to really crank the caster up on V10s, like 10 degrees, to fix customer complaint vehicles.

If yours drives fine now I'd leave it alone.

K

True
You can also install longer shackles on the rear of the spring to help the caster

 

[1987 GMC Jimmy]

Treading over covered ground here, but I’ve found that most alignment shops, at least here in Shitsville, Mississippi, either don’t know how to align a live front axle or are reluctant to. I found one about thirty minutes away that I’m going to use Monday. The factory camber spec is 1.5* positive. I believe it’s 8* caster. Did those dummies at least tell you your specs? My worry is that something could have been sagging (e.g. ball joint), and they would have said yeah, looks good regardless. Take it somewhere else.

Oh, and I’m using the sleeves like in the second picture that Craig posted. They’re 1.25* +/- camber, which the only reason I didn’t go for the 1.5 is that I got these for a steal, but I may lose some of that camber reduction if my caster’s off. I don’t remember my caster spec. Oh well. I’m hoping all goes well on my end. Same for you.

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[waterpirate]

Let me know how you get on. The same.
Eric

 

[75gmck25]

When I bought new ball joints they came with screw-in camber bushings that looked like the 2nd picture. The ones provided with the ball joints appeared to be flat, but its my understanding that there are other versions that will change the camber. The sleeves are easy to install if you have the right camber sleeve wrench, and I ended up buying one on Amazon.

Bruce