Front end alignment faq or diy?

[Alex Hayley]

I searched quickly but could not find a diy for aligning the front end. Is there a thread or faq that describes how to align the front end of a C-10?

[packrat42]

I would like to know about this too.

[cparman]

I own an auto repair shop, and have done a ' couple ' of alignments. IMO this is something that you need to have done by SOMEONE that WANTS to align your 40+ yr old truck/blazer,burb. The young fellas that I employ, will look at me and think " he aint too bright " well the next alignment I do will not be my first.

We try to align most all of the collectible cars we see in this manner:
tire wear 1st
driveability 2nd

If you have a stock height truck, and all of the front end parts are tight, you should be able to get it right
here are my specs

0 degrees camber
1/8" toe in
what ever caster you can get with hopes of a bit more positive caster in the right than the left ( this will compensate for the crown built into the roads we drive ). the trucks we love did not have much positive caster built into them. The aftermarket folks PORTERBUILT for example will talk about having added more caster into his products, which I think are top notch. This will add to the high speed stability, when driving 50+ MPH.

In my dreams I look for 2 degrees positive

Most of the time we get close to what I describe.

Find an old owner operator kind of shop in your town, and talk to the owner. Tell him what you want, and I would bet he will be glad that he had the opportunity to talk to a CAR GUY.

I love these old cars and trucks! Made by the greatest country in the world!!

[Alex Hayley]

Thanks for the information. I will have my truck aligned. I do have to drive it a little ways to get exhaust put on it and would like to do a rudimentary alignment prior to driving it. Do I simply need to check toe in or should I also check camber? Btw, I have added a 2 inch front drop. How would I check camber myself?

[Ackattack]

Originally Posted by Alex Hayley

Thanks for the information. I will have my truck aligned. I do have to drive it a little ways to get exhaust put on it and would like to do a rudimentary alignment prior to driving it. Do I simply need to check toe in or should I also check camber? Btw, I have added a 2 inch front drop. How would I check camber myself?

I recently had my truck aligned after a complete tear down and rebuild. I set the toe "close" to what I thought was straight, and loaded it up on a trailer. When I got to the alignment shop, just driving around the parking lot, you could hear the tires scrubbing.

Plus if you drive it and have it just "eyeballed" it could be pretty dangerous.

[Wrenchbender Ret]

You can set the toe in & camber yourself but the caster you need an alignment gauge. Jack up the front wheels & scribe a line near the center of the tires with an ice pick held securly & turn the wheels 360. Set the truck down on a level floor & roll it a little to brake the surface tention. With the wheels straight ahead Have a helper hold the end of the tape on the line of one wheel at the front & measure over to the other wheel. Then do the same at the back of the wheels keeping the tape parallel with the floor. The front should be 1/8 in. less then the back. You can measure the camber with a level on the vertical of the tires. They should be near straight up & down. If they are out at the top it is pos. camber. If they are in at the top it is neg. camber. I like a small amount of neg. camber.

[Alex Hayley]

Hey thanks. That is exactly what I wanted to know. For both measurements (toe in and camber), do I want the full weight of the truck on the wheels? Also does the slight negative camber also apply to a front drop of 2 inches?

[raverider]

Originally Posted by cparman

I own an auto repair shop, and have done a ' couple ' of alignments. IMO this is something that you need to have done by SOMEONE that WANTS to align your 40+ yr old truck/blazer,burb. The young fellas that I employ, will look at me and think " he aint too bright " well the next alignment I do will not be my first.

We try to align most all of the collectible cars we see in this manner:
tire wear 1st
driveability 2nd

If you have a stock height truck, and all of the front end parts are tight, you should be able to get it right
here are my specs

0 degrees camber
1/8" toe in
what ever caster you can get with hopes of a bit more positive caster in the right than the left ( this will compensate for the crown built into the roads we drive ). the trucks we love did not have much positive caster built into them. The aftermarket folks PORTERBUILT for example will talk about having added more caster into his products, which I think are top notch. This will add to the high speed stability, when driving 50+ MPH.

In my dreams I look for 2 degrees positive

Most of the time we get close to what I describe.

Find an old owner operator kind of shop in your town, and talk to the owner. Tell him what you want, and I would bet he will be glad that he had the opportunity to talk to a CAR GUY.

I love these old cars and trucks! Made by the greatest country in the world!!

he is exactly right, gm did not put steering stabalizers on the majority of their vehicles because all that was needed was a couple degrees caster. i would say to get it right on bring it in, otherwise you will be wearing out your fresh skins, or putting a lot of tension on your new front end parts that you just put a lot of time and effort into replacing

[Wrenchbender Ret]

Originally Posted by Alex Hayley

Hey thanks. That is exactly what I wanted to know. For both measurements (toe in and camber), do I want the full weight of the truck on the wheels? Also does the slight negative camber also apply to a front drop of 2 inches?

Always have the weight on just like when going down the road. I'm not familiar with lowering. I run mine at stock heights. If you use drop spindles it will be the same. If you have shorter springs it will change dramatically.

[cparman]

My 69 C-10 had drop spindles, and a set of older springs??? I never checked the ride height to compare it to stock minus the drop spindles. what I did notice was that i was able to make me happy ( close to my specs ) and when I finished I had a bunch of shims in the control arm bolts. Meaning that when you drop our trucks, as long as you do not go too far, you should be able to get 0 to-.5 degrees camber, and some caster. Our trucks are old, and were once used as truck. There might be an issue with the caster. All I can offer is to get as much caster as you can, but making sure that the nuts on the control arms are not to the end of the threads on the studs.
" don't outsmart your common sense "

thanks raverider