school me up on caster ect

Dzchey21 · Apr 9, 2013

my 2012 tends to find ruts in the road and pulls one way or the other. Never did it untill i put the wider wheels and tires on stock was fine.

Dealer did the alignment. Im better they didnt set the caster but who knows. Camber didnt get touched from what i can tell.

SO that being said do i need dual stabilizers, or do i need to get the caster in spec?

POWER-STRUCK · Apr 9, 2013

have you modded or replaced the track bar since the lift? i doubt it is caster if the wheel returns to center when you let loose of it

Dzchey21 · Apr 9, 2013

stock track bar, axle is crazy centered IMHO

Truck drives pretty good on a nice newer road where it hasnt had a chance to be rutted out.

NotStock · Apr 9, 2013

Wider tires will be more prone to following imperfections in the road. Higher castor will lessen this. In addition, improved/larger dampeners will help prevent the abrupt pulling of the steering components and lessen shock load when hitting imperfections. 3.5-4.5° castor is where i would shoot for and reevaluate from there.

Dzchey21 · Apr 9, 2013

NotStock said:
Wider tires will be more prone to following imperfections in the road. Higher castor will lessen this. In addition, improved/larger dampeners will help prevent the abrupt pulling of the steering components and lessen shock load when hitting imperfections. 3.5-4.5° castor is where i would shoot for and reevaluate from there.

If you didnt reply i was going to call you tomorrow

Thanks for your help i will get it on a machine and try to set it for that and probably get dual stabilizers on it.

Is it just me or does the stock stabilizer cause a little bit of bump steer since it changes angle as the suspension cycles? Hasnt really been an issue so far but by pure design it sure seams like it could cause issues

Tree Trimmer · Apr 10, 2013

make sure it's a laser alignment machine.

my dealer does it on the floor, with level things, like they did back in the day.

i then took it to a shop with a laser alignment machine, and the toe was out 1*, caster was off 1.5*, and camber was off .5* from spec.

and specs give a pretty wide "in spec" range.

i told the dealer to bite me when he said he wanted to check it the next time it was in.

Dzchey21 · Apr 10, 2013

Yeah it will be on hallers laser machine pretty sure its one of the best if not the best machine in town. I'll let you guys know what I find

Tree Trimmer · Apr 10, 2013

does it feel like it quick steers, or has a lazy wheel, i.e. steer slower??

Towerguy · Apr 11, 2013

NotStock said:
3.5-4.5° castor is where i would shoot for and reevaluate from there.

I've seen a lot of people suggest 4° is about ideal for these trucks but I've only found alignment cams up to around 2°. Is it possible to get that much caster using cams or do you need adjustable radius arms? I've also heard that using cams to ramp up the caster angle is bad for balljoints. Is there any truth to that? I'm about to have the frontend done on my truck and if using cams won't shorten the life of my balljoints I'm gonna tell them to crank up the caster.

NotStock · Apr 11, 2013

There is only so much offset that you can achieve from just cams. The higher the number you go, the more you are offsetting the upper ball joint from the lower and puting them out of alignment. Some argue that this doesnt cause any damage, I believe it does. Will it cause an instant failure, heck no. But it will wear them faster than without. On a stock height truck you could get 4*ish out of it with cams. On a leveled truck you wont be able to get that high with just cams.

Dzchey21 · Apr 11, 2013

Maybe I should just order your 3 link and be done with it

Big Stroker 6.4 · Apr 11, 2013

Just a heads up, Ive found a really nice fully adjustable cam for our trucks. Its from Stempf Automotive, part# SD-X05 called Max-A-Just. Works awesome for dialing in Camber\Caster. Basically a cam within a cam, allowing for more adjustment then the common alignment cams.

NotStock · Apr 11, 2013

I would not recommend adjustable cams. They can walk around over time and throw out your alignment.

Big Stroker 6.4 · Apr 11, 2013

Interesting, they are a wedge fit, how could they "walk"? Running them in a few trucks for awhile, never had any problems.

NotStock · Apr 11, 2013

Vibration/flexing. I didnt have those exact ones but a similar type and they moved on me. The guy that does 95% of our alignments said they were junk and to take them off and get whatever spec you needed. Its faster for them to use an adjustable one but the same can be accomplished with a set cam without any possibility of them moving.

Big Stroker 6.4 · Apr 11, 2013

Stempf quality is top notch, not junk. Its all I stock anymore. I could see improper torque or install, or even worn out bosses within the spindle causing movement with these but properly installed they work perfect. Like I said, I installed these on a few trucks including my own with no issues at all. They give you more adjustment then regular degree'd cams, allowing for more caster. Which is key for me, I want my caster around 4.5 degrees.

Aaron S · Apr 11, 2013

Before messing with my caster last week, I had it checked and it was at 6.25 degrees. The steering was very heavy/ took more effort than I liked, while in parking lots or on the highway. (I have a ram assist setup) I took out around three degrees by adjusting the ala's and measured with a digital level on the top of the right bump stop pad. I think I went a little too far. I like it a lot better now, but its right on the edge of being too twitchey. The steering is deffinitly a lot lighter in all conditions now though.

As far as the truck being pulled around on the road by the tires, it seems about the same. My 35/12.5 duratracs did not do this at all. My current 35/12.5 toyo oc two's do, and it is somewhat annoying. I also relates to how grooved/ worn in the road is.