affmondo22

have any alignment shops ever given anyone grief for having bj spacers? Or do they usually do it without asking questions?

Junkers88

*can open, worms everywhere*

Yeah a few of us have had issues with "techs" and the BJ spacers. I had my rig at the shop for 4 hours+ and finally drove back down to see what was going on and they told me that they couldn't align it with those "ghetto lift blocks" in there and even if they could they really needed to replace all the bearings, seals, etc etc etc.......


I went down the street to a local business (the first was a national chain) and it was done in less than an hour.

Mic09dcsm

Freaken dip, because people who don't know what they're really just randomly cut into a arms and put in aluminum spacers everyday.

Justinlhc

If one shop gives you a hassle, go to another.

Tubbyfatty

I agree on goin to a different shop.

When i first got my runner it needed an alignment, took it to this one shop they said i needed a new idler and pitman arm, so i took off the idler and looked at it, looked just fine.

The next day i took it to another shop and asked, both lower ball joints were shot. Replaced and she holds an alignment now.

Matt16

I aligned my truck in my driveway. Its pretty simple. I did a writeup if you search for it. I didn't know anything about alignments before I did it. How BJ spacers give shops trouble, I will never understand, unless as a result of the BJ spacers, the idler arm or rod ends wore out.

Justinlhc

I think I used your write-up to do my alignment last weekend. Worked out pretty good and to my amazement my M/T's got a bit quieter afterwards. I think I still need some minor adjustments, but it's pretty good for doing it in the garage for free.

Matt16

Glad it helped. If i can do it with a $3 ruler, $2 in string and a floor jack, without hurting my brain, why should an alignment tech have any trouble with a $40K machine. I've got a decent head on my shoulders, but no mechanical training, thinking how they struggle makes me bleed from the ears.

abecedarian

yeah, matt16, some people just don't get it. I bet they don't complain much when people lower their vehicles and the camber and toe are AFU cause they know they can switch to hourly rate quite easily. But lift a vehicle and their little heads implode.

It's not rocket science and if they really had the certs they should have, they'd understand alignment angles, be able to see what's going on and compensate... or at least be able to use the machine they have to help them figure out they need to adjust the LCA a bit and adjust the toe... or maybe fall back to the old way of string and bubble level / protractors.
Maybe if the t-bars were left alone they could figure it out, but probably not.

hodgepodge79

after dropping mine off at a frame/align shop, i got a call "who installed that kit?" he was refering to the rear lca brace and the bj spacers. he insisted that it was preventing them from setting a proper alignment.
it took them several hours, but they did an awesome job.

Jay351

The shop claimed they adjusted mine as far as it'l go, but I have a suspition that the lower adjustment is seized, and they just sucked

affmondo22

oh great. Sounds like I'm gonna be cruising from shop to shop. I might just do a driveway alignment. The spacers just throw off camber right?

Matt16

The throw camber totally off, they also change caster an insignificant amount. When you adjust camber, you throw off toe and inevitably caster. Basically, you need to totally re-align.

Once you start turning cam (alignment) bolts, this all become much much clearer.

here's a teaser:
[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEjSYpMjrBg[/YOUTUBE]

[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zmgTCKbOXI8[/YOUTUBE]

Matt16

Actually, better yet, here's the whole writeup:

https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f116...ite-up-163432/

toyota4x4907

Matt, those were awesome videos! I have never dug into the alignment before, but after watching those, when I get a new vehicle, I just might have to check it out It looks so easy

Curious, you made those videos, correct?

Matt16

I made them myself, yes. I was basking in the luxury of a dry garage- i usually work on a sloped driveway in a very rainy city.

affmondo22

you know.. i dont think i have cam bolts..
The trucks dont come stock with them, right?
And how can i tell if i have them?

mt_goat

As long as you haven't done a SAS you have them. Yes they come stock, but with some bracket lift kits you get new ones.

abecedarian

They look like this:

affmondo22

adjustable and everything? Man. I know with some cars you have to buy them aftermarket