Just finished upgrade to discs and...

[kcjones]

I just completed an upgrade to discs, lowered 4.5/6, and a few other things (i'll post pics in projects later), but I came up with a few questions that I'm hoping someone can help answer:

1) The alignment shop claimed they couldn't align my truck because it was lowered and had aftermarket components (drop spindles, tubular a-arms, etc). I got them to adjust the toe, but I'm worried about the camber. The arms I have are a bit longer than stock to correct the infamous negative camber issue with dropped front ends, and the alignment machine showed each side at like 6.5 degrees positive camber. I left the factory alignment shims in when I installed the a-arms. The question is, what should my camber be set to? The factory manual shows a chart that changes the correct setting based on ride height, but I'm sure it doesn't allow for drop springs. It shows I should be at like -5 degrees. What's best for correct tire wear? And can I measure it with a simple angle finder so I can fix this at home?

2) After my upgrade to power discs (had manual drums all around before), my brake pedal doesn't "release" anymore. When I depress the pedal, it stays down and I have to bring it back up manually with my foot each time. Any ideas?

Thanks guys!

[EyeH8the24]

i cant answer the alignment question,but i put power brakes on my 70 and they done the same thing,bought a new booster and it works fine now

[kcjones]

I sure hope it's not the booster, mine's brand new! Guess I'll look into it, though, thanks for the response. Any other ideas on the alignment or brake pedal, guys?

[steelhorse]

Normally you would want your camber to be around 0 + or - 1/2 a degree.A little neg camber is better for handling.Caster at 6 degrees isnt bad at all but camber at 6 degrees would be an obvious problem.Are the control arms adjustable?

[kcjones]

Not adjustable, but I still have the fairly large factory camber/caster shims installed. I'm hoping if I simply pull them out I'll be closer to 0 camber. My biggest concern is tire wear...is 0 best for that? Seems like it would be, but I don't want to be wrong and replace tires in 5,000 miles.

[Longhorn Man]

A bad booster could do this on the pedal, but the pivot point on the backside of the booster (the one that was such a PITA to get to) can be binding. If you used a nut and bolt, then even more likely.

You can set the camber with a carpenter's square... but I'd say find another shop to line your stuff up. They are just being wusses about it.

[kcjones]

Wusses is right. Did I mention that since my brake pedal was binding, they couldn't figure out that you can simply pull it back up to release the brakes....they ripped apart my shifter, e-brake setup, and driver's side vent door (?) trying to get the pig to move onto the alignment rack. I think they're scared of the caster adjustment, because the arms I bought add a few degrees of caster (on purpose), and they weren't going to be able to get it all the way back to factory spec.

On the brake pedal, I think I may have the rod adjusted too long...it isn't quite straight to the booster. I'll try to adjust it.

Thanks for the answers, guys!

[cparman]

I put drop spindles on my 69, and had no problem aligning my truck. I bought a 72 Blazer 2WD, and it had been lowered a TON, and I aligned it. The world according to me is that the CAMBER IS 0 DEGREES, AND THE CASTER IS WHAT YOU GET.
Camber and toe will wear a tire much quicker than any caster angle. In my shop, I preach 0 camber, and factory toe setting. My experience is that will give you best tire wear. NOW if you can get some positive caster you wil have a better handling truck than if you have negative caster. Find someone in your home town that is an independent auto repair shop that really gives a S**t as to what happens when they align your stuff. I do not know how many time I have seen a horrific estimate from one of the mass merchandisers , and we go to the trouble to PROPERLY align our customers car. YES you will pay a bit more at a place like mine, but you will get to talk to an auto tech. The owner, and the guys I employ.
CAMBER 0 DEGREES
CASTER ? 1-2 DEGREES
TOE SETTING FACTORY

[kcjones]

That helps, I'm going to set it as close to 0 degrees as I can with my angle finder, then look around for a good shop that might be able to help. As always - you get what you pay for!

[streetstar]

KC -- where did you buy all your components? i am upgrading mine in the very near future as well.

[grancuda]

The way I set mine up is, +2.5 to3.5 degrees caster(manual steering), +3.5 degrees to as much as posible while keeping them even(power steering),most of the time I get between 5-7 degrees, -0.50 to -1 degree camber. Going with high caster makes you vehicle stable at speed but at low speed there is more steering effort. If you drive a lot of interstate driving I would go as much as -2 degrees of camber especially if you truck isn't lowered but typically -0.5 to -1 works fine. I have had trouble out of allignment shops such as hibdons. I liked it much better doing my own stuff when I was in that line of work.

[PHAT TONY]

Do you need to retain the brake pedal spring that pulls it back up with your brake set-up?

[dave2953]

The bolt that attaches the booster rod to the pedal is probably too tight. You only have to snug it up enough to get the cotter pin through (if you re-used it) This happened to me when I did my brake swap. If you loosen up that bolt you should be good to go.

[kcjones]

Originally Posted by grancuda

The way I set mine up is, +2.5 to3.5 degrees caster(manual steering), +3.5 degrees to as much as posible while keeping them even(power steering),most of the time I get between 5-7 degrees, -0.50 to -1 degree camber. Going with high caster makes you vehicle stable at speed but at low speed there is more steering effort. If you drive a lot of interstate driving I would go as much as -2 degrees of camber especially if you truck isn't lowered but typically -0.5 to -1 works fine. I have had trouble out of allignment shops such as hibdons. I liked it much better doing my own stuff when I was in that line of work.

Thanks for the answer, I'm going to try to knock this out at home with an angle finder (just the camber part) so I don't burn up tires, and look for a good shop that can correctly check everything. I truly appreciate the time you took to inform me.

Originally Posted by PHAT TONY

Do you need to retain the brake pedal spring that pulls it back up with your brake set-up?

I believe you do need to retain it, I have, but the below quote is probably the answer - I did tighten the bolt up too tight. I'm going to loosen it, grease it, and recheck. I'll let you know the result.

Originally Posted by dave2953

The bolt that attaches the booster rod to the pedal is probably too tight. You only have to snug it up enough to get the cotter pin through (if you re-used it) This happened to me when I did my brake swap. If you loosen up that bolt you should be good to go.

[kcjones]

Originally Posted by streetstar

KC -- where did you buy all your components? i am upgrading mine in the very near future as well.

I bought my stuff from the places I did because of a few weird reasons, if I could do it all over, I'd probably go ECE wherever I could (regardless of cost differences), and Performance Online for whatever else. CPP is kind of a pain, and I've had to massage a few parts to get them to fit.

Performance Online for the front end: complete brake kit (rotors/calipers/inner and out tie rod ends/booster/mc/prop valve/hardware/pads), a-arm kit (tubular arms, 2" drop springs, drop shocks).

ECE for front stab bar and lowered brackets

CPP for rear end 5" drop kit, 1" lowering blocks, shock relocator/custom panhard bar, cnotches.

[ChevLoRay]

My suspension/disc conversion is all ECE. Didn't use anything up front but the dropped spindles, due to the streets in my town having these nasty dips at the intersections that carry run-off from rains.

But, the alignment on my truck went back to factory spec.

I think that WHO you get to do your alignment is the critical factor in whether or not he can do the alignment, not whether or not it has been lowered or raised. I'm sure the 4WD boys have the same problems when they go for an alignment, if the mechanic isn't savvy and capable.

[big_al_71]

When my techs aligned my truck it took some extra shims and it came out perfect I cant remember the actual numbers but I will see if I have them in my trucks file at home..

[monte0185]

Back in the day I used to do alignments on just about everything imaginable since i lived near the motorsports park and I was one of the few people that could custom align to meet the specs you wanted or what you were wanting to do with your vehicle. As per above in several posts 0 +-.5 is usually sufficient and gets you the best tire wear along with factory tow adjustments. Caster I usually set according to how and wear your going to drive. Now here the roads slope to the right more in some places than others so if its a daily driver we used to add a little camber to the drivers side to compensate for it that way it didnt seem like it was always pulling to the right. You can adjust for this in caster as well but again it all comes down to finding a competent alignment guy who is willing to experament and adjust to what you want. Most of the time if you go to a mom and pop shop they are more than willing and usually friendlier about it. Good luck.