Lifted Alignments - Explanations, Results, and Reviews - Post Yours!

robcarync

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Location
Raleigh, NC
If you are like me, you have your super cool lifted Xterra, and as a result, have spent more money than you'd like to admit getting alignments done. This post is just a brief explanation of the specs, and documentation of my alignment results and any commentary I have on how it drives. My goal is to help people reduce the number of times they fool around with a lifted alignment, and make people more informed when they are at the alignment shop. Having real examples of results will help interpret your print out at the shop. Post your alignment results up, and offer a review of how it drove and any tire wear issues!

The very first thing: don't bother getting an alignment if you don't put the money up front to get the proper kits and parts to keep your alignment reliable. This means not only UCAs, but also idler arm braces, center links, idler arm bushings, UCA bushings, etc. Especially with larger tires, a non-reinforced steering system won't be able to hold your tires in place reliably. The numbers will look great off the alignment rack, but they will quickly drift after you drive out of the parking lot. In my experience, the stock style center link was the major issue to a reliable alignment. Don't forget to observe the 1/2" gap at the stock bump stop for a better alignment.

Moving on, let's review the commonly accepted alignment specs for a lifted Xterra, and compare them to the stock alignment specs.

Lifted Alignment:

1) Camber: 0 degrees or as close as possible
2) Caster: Maximum caster on passenger side while maintaining zero camber. Adjust driver side caster to be slightly less while maintaining zero camber.
3) Toe In: 0.33 degrees or 0.16 inches of total toe in.

Stock Alignment:

1) Camber: 0.1 degree to 1.1 degree
2) Caster: 1.67 degrees to 2.67 degrees
3) Toe In: 0.33 degrees total toe in or 0.16 inches total toe in

The toe in specification is the exact same as the stock spec, and is independently adjusted by the tie rods. No issues at all here. Any shop should get this 100% perfectly.

To note the differences in camber and caster, understand how they are adjusted. Each UCA mount has a slot with an eccentric/offset bolt and washers. These are adjusted to move the mounting pivots forward or back. Camber and caster are inter-related...they are not independent adjustments. Camber is adjusted by moving each pivot point in and out together. Caster is created by the offset of the UCA pivots from the front to back bolt.

If you are comparing the stock specs to the lifted specs, the main difference is we like to specify zero degrees of camber for a lifted truck with bigger tires. This may be ideal for having maximum contact patch on the ground and even tire wear on wide tires, but going below the camber specification also reduces the amount of caster you can achieve due to the limitations of the bolt positions. This is why we specify maximum caster: we are prioritizing zero camber, and going with as much caster as we can...knowing it will be lower than the actual specification. Caster will impact tracking and stability...but you can reduce it some with minimal impact. It is a balancing act, and not everyone understands the mechanics of the suspension well enough to follow our instructions.

If you want to align your truck to the factory specification, you can get all numbers close to nominal, but you are allowing for the positive camber to get the increased caster. Also, note that the stock specification doesn't specify a difference from left to right. The suggested caster split from left to right will induce a slight pull to the left, which compensates for road crown to keep the truck straight on a road.

Now for my previous alignments. These were all done with 3" lift UCAs from 4x4parts.com and a 1/2" gap between the stock bump stop, but with differing steering components along the way.


First Alignment:

______________ L__ _____R
Camber _______-.3 ____0.2
Caster ________1.1_____ 1.3
Toe In ____ _______.33

Here you can see they didn't really do a great job of the camber. Left side was negative camber while right side was positive. They did get the right side caster higher than the left, and the total toe in is pretty straight forward. It drove OK, but the low caster numbers made it feel VERY tight in turns (parking lots, U-turns, etc). The reduced caster makes the tires turn pretty sharp...the best way to describe it is that it feels like it doesn't really roll through a tight turn, but like you think your tire may just flop over in a turn and break something because it seems almost perpendicular to the road. I did not notice anything as a result of the caster split from left to right. It tracked pretty straight. I just got used to doing 3 point turns in parking spaces and not turning the wheel to full lock.


Second Alignment:

___________L _____R
Camber__ __0.3____ 0.1
Caster _____2.1____ 2.0
Toe In ________0.3

Here is an alignment where everything is "in the green" per the factory spec. The camber is higher than zero, but my caster got up to 2+ degrees. At least the camber is on the low side of specification, though. No real caster split. The positive camber wasn't extremely noticeable visually or by tire wear. This tracked straight, had a very smooth turning motion, and was probably the best driving alignment I had ever had. I didn't have this long enough to evaluate tire wear, but I have to imagine that if it is within the factory spec, it can't be that bad in the long run.

Third Alignment:

____________L______ R
Camber_____ -0.1 _____.1
Caster______ 1.2_____ 1.3
Toe In: ________0.31

This is the "best" alignment I got per the lifted alignment specification. The camber was very close to zero (they kept flickering between 0, and +/- 0.1). As expected, to lock in that zero camber, the caster was sacrificed. No real caster split left to right, but I never found it too necessary from previous alignments (and per FSM). Toe in is normal. This drives OK. The camber visually is dead set at zero. It still has the low caster tight turn feel, and it gets a little darty on the highway. I could definitely tell a difference between 1.2 degrees caster and 2.1.

Fourth Alignment
_________L______R
Camber: -0.1_____0.0
Caster: __3.3_____3.1
Toe:_____0.16____0.17

I did this alignment by fabricating my own camber gauge and adjusting the control arm locations myself (see page 3 of this thread) to the maximum caster position. I started with the maximum amount of caster (rear UCA mount max inwards, front UCA mount max outwards), and measured the camber and made slight adjustments to get to zero. I went to Firestone to get a toe-in alignment only. My camber gauge did great.

What I more importantly found out is that I had a LOT of room left for adjusting caster all this time, but more than a half dozen technicians at different shops couldn't get it figured out. With these results, I could reduce caster while keeping camber zero to have Caster/Toe at factory spec with camber zero. I could also adjust to negative camber, and still have factory specified caster.

All in all...the major take away here is the camber vs. caster competition as they are not independent adjustments. This confuses many technicians and makes it difficult to get the "lifted" specs done correctly. The lifted alignment specs calls for zero camber and to sacrifice caster if necessary. The stock specs call for positive camber and a lot of caster. With a lifted truck, this becomes a balancing act between maximum stability and tracking vs. maximum contact patch and wear protection of $1000+ worth of tires. Take these comments and make yourself more informed next time you have to get an alignment.
 
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robcarync

Sliders
Location
Raleigh, NC
My latest alignment is the best...

Fourth Alignment
_________L______R
Camber: -0.1_____0.0
Caster: __3.3_____3.1
Toe:_____0.16____0.17

I did this alignment by fabricating my own camber gauge and adjusting the control arm locations myself (see page 3 of this thread) to the maximum caster position. I started with the maximum amount of caster (rear UCA mount max inwards, front UCA mount max outwards), and measured the camber and made slight adjustments to get to zero. I went to Firestone to get a toe-in alignment only. My camber gauge did great.

What I more importantly found out is that I had a LOT of room left for adjusting caster all this time, but more than a half dozen technicians at different shops couldn't get it figured out. With these results, I could reduce caster while keeping camber zero to have Caster/Toe at factory spec with camber zero. I could also adjust to negative camber, and still have factory specified caster.
 

robcarync

Sliders
Location
Raleigh, NC
So which was better ? Cause I'm having the pull yo the right issue still :( and I have the AC 3" lift

What were your numbers?

If you are pulling to the right, you probably have some cross caster or cross camber.

The "lifted specs" can be done, but a lot of shops honestly don't know how to do custom alignments...they only know how to follow the instructions on the computer.
 

robcarync

Sliders
Location
Raleigh, NC
***Updating thread with more DIY alignment info***

While searching for a DIY at home camber/caster gauge, I came across a powerpoint slide show from Hunter Engineering (IE: the company that makes the fancy laser alignment racks). It had some graphics that did a GREAT job of explaining the camber/caster relationships with respect to symmetrical control arms. It my estimation, it seems that most technicians don't understand these concepts enough to see where the numbers are currently at, and adjust them to target a custom specification.


To get the most caster possible, you want to adjust the rear UCA mount/cam bolt inboard as far as it will go, and the front UCA mount/cam bolt outboard as far as it will go.

Note the camber of the tire with this maximum caster angle. If it is positive, bring the front UCA mount/cam bolt in until you reduce caster and camber to the point where camber is zero. If it is negative, bring the rear UCA mount/cam bolt outward until you reduce caster and increase camber to zero.

You should be done after that. Toe in will change with camber/caster adjustments...but the toe adjustment doesn't change the camber or caster. So once you set the control arms, adjust the toe, and you are done.
 

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robcarync

Sliders
Location
Raleigh, NC
More graphics for educational purposed.
 

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robcarync

Sliders
Location
Raleigh, NC
With some basic fabrication skills, you can create your own alignment gauge.

Slip Plates: These are what you park your front tires on that reduce friction so the adjustments translates to tire movement and not ball joint and tie rod deflection (what happens if your front tires have too much traction on the ground). I have read that getting a few 1 square foot linoleum floor tiles works for the slip plates if you put some grease in between two of them like a sandwich. I have also just used cardboard on my smooth concrete garage floor, and that work decently, especially if you have some dust or dirt on the floor.


You can bungee the level to the tire and space it off the rim like you described, but there are also several ideas for a simple home made camber gauge which uses that same basic concept:


20091127_04.JPG



IMG_4480-Medium.jpg



DIYCamber.jpg



This one is cheap and would be easy to use on the auto locking 4WD hub:


5304d1329802616-camber-castor-gauges-what-do-you-use-guage.jpg



A lot of people substitute a metal bar and use a magnetic digital level/angle finder...and they use longer bolts to act as a "stand off" so you can hold it against the rim without worrying about the tire side wall bulge.


My next project will be something like a combination of this:


photo5.jpg



and


LA.jpg



I could weld up some steel tube in a "T" and use some bolts to act as a stand off to brace on the rim lip. If I make the bottom leg of the T longer, I can use that for toe in.


The hardest part is making the device precise enough to have reliable measurements...so maybe I am over analyzing this (probably).
 

bm2004x

Test Drive
Location
United States
Ok, so i am just making sure that i don't sound dumb when i approach the shop that aligned my truck;
Camber is close to 0deg. on both sides in my last alignments (3 weeks apart)
Caster is -1.1deg left and -0.8deg right.

*****What confuses me is the amount of negative i have and how much positive you say we should have regarding Caster? My truck is terrible on the highway with the replacement parts i just added and it sucks because the older worn parts handled better. Its exactly how you describe as "Darty".

I read all the spec you have explained but i want to make sure im speaking correct. I want POSITIVE Caster. I move the control arm inward in the rear and outward in the front. Im wondering if the tech thinks the Cam Bolt gets moved in the rear and not the upper A-arm. I mentioned that maybe they are maxed in the wrong direction and they shot me down saying the Camber would be way off.

Im looking my truck now and the "bolt head" on the Cam bolt for the driver side is inward putting the rear of the control arm out, right?
 
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