Warning with alignment cams installed on 2011+ trucks!!

I have been told by 2 separate industry/dealers that the 2011+ trucks should not have alignment cams installed in the upper ball joints to get the castor back when installing leveling/2.5" kits. I have not confirmed this but just wanted to get this out there before it was too late. It had to do with the axle seals being metal instead of the previous years that were rubber. When the alignment cams are installed it rolls the knuckle to the rear and the axle is no longer centered inside the axle tube. Its not off by much but it is off center. Previous years had no ill effects since the rubber could flex to allow this. Supposedly the newer trucks with the metal seals will either brake the seal or cause damage to the axle/housing.

A customer called me with this concern and I talked it over with a local dealer. I will be building him a set of replacement radius arm frame mounts with the appropriate mounting location for 2.5" lifts. This will prevent the need for installing alignment cams.

Just wanted to throw it out there for anyone considering doing alignment cams.

What's the price of these brackets you'll be building?

thanks for the heads up.

$399 for the pair with mounting hardware. Will mount into stock hot rivet holes after the old brackets are removed from the frame.

Well crap. I don't want to have to change those dang things back.


It's all about wheel speed and torque.

It could be all bs, I'm just saying its something worth everyone looking into.

dealer put mine on, wonder if they ever even messed with it

Ill look tomorrow

Dzchey21 said:

dealer put mine on, wonder if they ever even messed with it

Ill look tomorrow

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Dealer did mine too. Let me know what you find out. Pics also if possible thanks.


Sent while dismantling your neighbors meth lab.

Could that possibly cause a vibration in the front when in 4wd and not when its in 2wd? I just had mine into the dealer for it pulling to the left bad when i braked before and after the leveling kit. Les schwab did an alignment on it but the dealer said it was way out so they aligned it. Im pretty sure they put those alignment cams in. Now that ive put it in 4wd i notice a vibration.. i never had it in 4wd prior to the leveling kit and i never felt a vibration in my 08 set up the same way

We put metal seals in my bros 07 with a 3.5" lift and it has alignment cams. Still going and reassembly went smooth, no binding in the seals at all. They are metal but they have play to them. They haven't gone out yet so idk...

Now that I think about it my dad has has alignment cams on his 2011. Been there for 75k miles and the seals and hub are still ok

It might have to do with how aggressive of a cam is installed. My local dealer that i spoke to had seen 4 odd axle failures all with trucks with alignment cams. Im sure there are 10x that many with them installed running around our town so there has to be more to it.

mine was done by the dealer to,

where do i need to look to see if i have them or not?

The cam surrounds the upper ball joint. Some of the aftermarket ones are zinc or similarly coated .

NotStock said:

It might have to do with how aggressive of a cam is installed. My local dealer that i spoke to had seen 4 odd axle failures all with trucks with alignment cams. Im sure there are 10x that many with them installed running around our town so there has to be more to it.

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Probably the difference between guys that use 4wd a lot vs. those that rarely use it?

Interesting, the shop that did my leveling kit didnt install them. I asked and they stated the alignment came out perfect without them.

Those seals are going to supersede all the previous rubber seals...even in the older trucks. I dont think you can even buy the rubbers anymore from the dealer.

BFinMO said:

Interesting, the shop that did my leveling kit didnt install them. I asked and they stated the alignment came out perfect without them.

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Did they give you a print out?

I didnt request one, so no. In general I do trust them as I have never had an issue with any work done over the past many years. Either way it tracks straight, and no abnormal bump steer.

looked yesterday evening and my truck does have the allignment cams.

my truck is on icons 4.5" coilover lift, i have icons 4 link kit but im in the process of swapping that to OUOs ALAs. Sould i take the alligntment cams out as well?