kiyobrown

Ok, so I installed my spacers with no problems. I have gone through all the threads on alignment, but I can't get my camber right. My passenger side was able to get to zero camber. but my driver side is a little positive, I just can't get it set to zero. I maxed out the rear cam, then started adjusting the front, trying to get it to zero, but no dice. I have no idea if my relaxing the torsion bars has anything to do with it. (I only needed 3/4 of an inch to level it out, so I relaxed the torsion bars out to bring it to level.) Any ideas?? Well, anything other then "take it to a shop" The front is almost maxed out as well and I just feel like this is as good as its gonna get.

Jay351

You shouldnt have a problem getting the alignment in. Measure the distance between your front ifs frame work. Perhaps its bent in and causing problems? Mine is a little tweaked, I got a nice beefy Soneran steel ifs brace to fix that though

OutlawMike

I took mine to a shop last week to get it aligned after my BJ spacer intall.

I have 3/8" cranked into the T-bars to level the truck with rear 2" OME springs.

The tech was very knowledgable and had seen this "leveling" kit before. He said that he usually has to use the entire range of adjustment to get the camber in and the caster may or may not go into spec.

This is what I ended up with:

Left front: Camber: 0.0 degrees, Caster: 1.8 degrees, Toe: .14 degrees

Right front: Camber: 0.2 degrees, Caster: 1.9 degrees, Toe: .13 degrees


He could not get the righ tfront to 0 degrees for camber, but it is within range. The Caster would not go to spec, but I do not notice any driving issues with it. It does not pull either way at any speed or under braking. No shimmy in the front end. It does not follow grooves on the freeway. All in all, drives like a champ after the alignment.

How far off are you with the camber?

Good luck.

iamsuperbleeder

Oh I think that it should come into spec...

if I managed to get this monstrocity aligned good, then a set of ball-joint spacers should be no problem...

kiyobrown

Its not that far off. Its noticeable to the naked eye, and if you look at the tread the inside inch or so is not touching, so it will start wearing unevenly on the drivers tire.
I used a level to check the camber since I figured 0 degrees would be able to see. I am just about smack dab in the middle on the passenger side. Its just a little to the negative side.
The drivers side, however, i can't get the bubble to get between the lines, its about 1/5 of the bubble outside.
I am gonna have to go check for anything tweaked, Which parts of the IFS frame am I supposed to measure??

And didn't you bend your idler arm bleeder? I just hope I can figure it out and nothing is bent. I would hate to have to park it until next payday to buy new parts.

I will check it today and see what I can find. Thanks fellas.

Matt16

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

kiyobrown

Oh trust me, thats what I have been following. I decided if I couldn't get it right, start over. I took out the spacer on the drivers side. I found some slag in there, cleaned it out, and re installed. It got closer but still just not right. As I tried setting the cams, I noticed the angles of the lower arms, and they weren't the same. So, I am starting over with torsion bars and all, sinced they settled on the drivers side after the initial adjustment. But now as I was getting everything set up, I found a nail in my rear tire, so I am off to the store to get a patch kit to fix it before I keep going. Thanks for the help guys, I have my fingers crossed once I reset the torsion bars......again.... and then mess with the steering.... again.... that hopefully it will be right. Keep you posted.

Fink

If that doesn't work you may just buckle down and take it to a mom and pop shop and see if they can help with it.

Good luck, sounds like you're going about it the right way.

Fink

abecedarian

measure the frame between the front LCA mounts and rear LCA mounts... I'll bet the frame is bent.

Fink

Happened to me!
Easy to fix though.

Fink

abecedarian

Guess I should explain though- driving and hitting bumps will bend the rear lower control arm mounts. Toyota was kinda dumb there not putting in a brace between the rear control arm mounts.
If the mounts are bent, it pulls the lower arm in and leaves you with tires leaning out at the top (positive camber) since the lower ball joint is pulled inwards (and towards the rear, effecting caster as well) too.

desertcamper67

There is a brace you can buy to beef this area up. It goes from the rear of the LCA rearward to a crossmember (I think).

Are you using any guages? A level will not work. Trust me. Too many factors for a simple level to work.
Also, caster doesn't wear tires so if it is a little out of spec don't worry as long as it doesn't pull. Negative caster is a no no. You want a little positive. I don't care how little but keep it positive. Also caster is what makes your tires lean when cornering. Not camber. Caster turns into camber when turning. That why mechanics have to turn the wheels on a dial guage or computer video guage left and right to measure caster.

Don't worry that camber is uneven. But if an inch and a half of the tire isn't touching the "level" ground you definately have to do more. Really bad camber on one side can also cause a pull. Just try to roll a styrofoam cup straight and see what happens. Thats what excessive camber can do to the steering.

kiyobrown

Well, I think I figured out the problem. In the course of setting everything the first time, torsion bars did settle and made it impossible to align. I started back at square one and ran through everything again. I got the camber close to 0 now, and it tracks straight. I am gonna measure the LCA's and check to see if the frame isn't bent. Not that I have the money to buy a frame brace now, but at least I can put it on the wish list. Any good recommendation's on where to get one if I do need one? Thanks for all the help guys, you definitely kept me on the right track.

abecedarian

Odd.... You want the t-bars and suspension to settle before you effect an alignment. But that's besides the point.

Some lift kit makers offer a rear LCA brace / truss as do some others like sonoran steel.

drew303

Where the torsion bars are set (ride height) directly effects setting the camber.

if cambers maxed, adjust the torsion bars up/down, off the top of my head i dont recall which direction effects pos/neg camber.

doesnt take much to figure out tho. I remember battling the alignment before bj spacers, with bent frame, with bj spacers with bent frame and bj spacers with straight frame (after my frame swap).

Really dont miss aligning IFS. No matter what it's always a PITA.

goodluck

abecedarian

raising the ride height will tend to push camber positive (tire leans out at the top) and lowering height will pull the camber towards negative.
BJ spacers will push those adjustments towards mostly positive camber.

ovrrdrive

Something else to keep in mind is that the bj spacers change the entire geometry of the front end. On my truck back when I had the bj spacers on top of the bracket lift it was very noticeable. I had to use the tie rod adjusters to get my camber in spec. I had a buddy with me and he kept telling me tie rods were only for toe but after fighting it for an hour and looking at where the TRE's hit the spindle it became obvious to me. I gave a few quick turns of the adjusters and the camber came right where I wanted it. The tie rods are supposed to be right in the middle of the control arms, and the spacers throw them off by 1.5".

Keep that in mind.

ullose272

also factory specs are .7 degrees of camber, which makes it harder to get the more desireable 0 degrees that people want with larger tires and offset wheels

highonpottery

iTrader: (1)

take it to Firestone and get their $150 lifetime alignment. can't go wrong with that since most alignments are just shy of $100 - and with the lifetime you can take it in every week if you wanted to, free of charge.

OutlawMike

Does that work for modified vehicles? If it does, that is a deal.