..........just replaced my ball joints but now my allignment is pretty bad, any recomendations on how to get it to track relatively straight till I can get her home and have an allignment done??? Thanks for your time......... TIM

 

One thing that may work out for you in the long run is to look around for a Firestone dealer and take them up on their "lifetime alignment" offer. It's about $150, but you'll never pay for another alignment again on the truck. You can use it at ANY Firestone store in the US, so you can do it again when you get home.

To be fair, some folks have had issues with Firestone, but it's been more of an issue with the local dealer than with the franchise. Personally, I think it's in the "top 5" of the best things I've ever spent money on for the truck.

 

After putting the lift on my old truck, I learned (by burning up a set of BFG A/T in about 5000 miles) that you really need to find an independent, "mom and pop" alignment shop - at least for the first one. In my experience, the techs at Firestone, Sears, NTB, etc are merely "alignment machine operators". You really need to find someone who knows all the ins and outs of how alignment works and the effect large adjustments make on other measurements.

All that being said, you can do some things to make it good enough to get to the alignment shop.
- TOE: use a tape measure to measure between the front and back of the wheels. The front should be closer together than the back (spec 0.0 - 0.1 in)
- CAMBER: put a level on the tire - measure for plumb. (spec 0 - 1.5 degrees)
- CASTER: not sure how to measure. This is like the angle of the forks on a bicycle (spec 1.1 to 2.6 degrees)