Camber Adjustment - Need to get it in the ball park.....

[97CargoCrawler]

After changing to the 4" lift spindles I have serious camber issues. Looking at the front of the van the wheels create a pyramid (negative camber). It looks like I have a bunch of shims I can remove to bring the upper control arm out further. Never done this before, and I'm not sure if I can just loosen those two big bolts and remove the shims, or if there is some pressure there from the coil spring. I'm not ready to go in for an alignment yet, but I need to get it closer to normal because it is destoying my new tires quickly. Been driving back and forth to the girlfriends house to finish up custom junk for my lift, and can't go in for an alignment 'till I get wheel spacers to even out the front and rear track width. (front is currently 3" wider than rear due to lift spindles) Help!

I guess if I throw a jack under the control arm and jack it up just enough to take the pressure off the upper control arm those washers can be removed?

[GEJ]

Toe-in is one thing,but caster/camber is on the rack only.Park it.Sorry to be blunt,but I do want to help ya.

[97CargoCrawler]

That's OK GEJ.

The way I fingers it, if they can train some meathead at the local autoshop to do it then I can probably do it myself. Gots me an edumaction sos I mights as well use it fer somptin'.

Besides, it's so jacked up right now // \\ I couldn't make it any worse. I just hope I don't need to get any of those eccentric bolts to get it perfect.

I'll let y'all know how it turns out. If anyone else does this spindle lift they're definitely gonna need to mess with it.

[SSAstro]

yes do it one shim at a time i did mine after i put the drop spindles in b/c of positive camber at the top and i have it almost perfect it doesn't pull anymore so i must of done something right you will need an impact with a universal joint and a 21 mm and the inside nut is a 7/8" and then use a pry bar to move the a-arm. it wasn't that hard for me b/c i actually know how to do an alignment on these on the machine as i did the last Four myself when i worked at the dealer so that might have helped

[GEJ]

yes do it one shim at a time i did mine after i put the drop spindles in b/c of positive camber at the top and i have it almost perfect it doesn't pull anymore so i must of done something right you will need an impact with a universal joint and a 21 mm and the inside nut is a 7/8" and then use a pry bar to move the a-arm. it wasn't that hard for me b/c i actually know how to do an alignment on these on the machine as i did the last Four myself when i worked at the dealer so that might have helped

Yepper-I am a old front end mechanic myself.To tell the truth,I am suprized Overlands spindles didn't come with all the instructions which included the need for a front end alignment.Given what this thread said,I am for sure not going the lift spindles route and going to use spacers.Just consider the adjustments on front ends are only a matter of degree's and how a slight bit off make such a huge difference.Remember those very small shims??.It does lend itself to taking it to a front end shop and having it done right.At the very least,it puts the shop at risk for ruining tires and not only you.Weighing the costs of tires over the cost of the alignment-well you see what I am saying.

[97CargoCrawler]

I'm no cheapo, it will get a professional alignment. Actually, I already went and they wouldn't touch it due to the track widths being different. That will soon be corrected with rear wheel spacers, my issue is that I need to drive it around town in the meantime to get other things done. No biggie, I've never been to a mechanic ever, so I'll probably be OK with this too. I was more looking for a simple response and assurance it can be done. Seems I got that now. Hey, it 'aint rocket science. Even if it were, I'd rock that $hit too!

And FYI, there's already about 1/2" worth of spacers in there. Probably 5 or 6 of them. It's not like we're talking thousandths of an inch shims.

[SSAstro]

hey track width should not be a problem go somewhere else then b/c look at all the 4 wheel drive gm trucks from S10's to the full size trucks they have different track widths on them if you don't believe me find a four wheel drive truck and look at it from the back. and as far as the tires i work at discount tire so i'm set on that end heck i have extra sets in my garage for everything i drive.

[SSAstro]

oh sorry if seemed like an ass on my last post i just can't stand it when a shop tells me it can't be done anything can be done if you put your mind to it

[SoCalli V8]

Look in the yellow pages for an alignment shop that specializes in 4 X 4 trucks, I`ve past a couple in Burbank, which is not too far from you.

[97CargoCrawler]

SSAstro,

No YOU didn't seem like an @ss, you actually provided some helpful info instead of saying "park it." Who the hell goes through all the trouble of replacing most of the front and rear suspension but then can't loosen two bolts and remove some shims? Sure aint me! This seems like a place where folks take things into their own hands like I always do, and why "park it" seems like such a dumb@ss comment. I know I could get it perfect if I wanted to, but that is not the issue. The issue is I can barely drive it the way it is and was just curious if anyone had HELPFUL tips. I already had to eyeball and adjust the toe in because it too was like this // \\. I'm mostly concerned with being able to get it to a shop who can do the whole alignment, and get myself there in one piece. Or I suppose I could just "park it," and grow plants in it.

I will be messing with it after work tomorrow. My goal is to eventually post a full build thread on the spindle lift for others to follow, and what good would that be if when you were done you had to have the van towed for an alignment? What kind of dip$hit would you look like then? Nah, you gotta drive that sucker into the lot yourself, no matter how jacked up it looks. At least it shows you got balls and the thought of "park it" would have never crossed your mind!

[SSAstro]

i've been told so many times by shops that they can't do something and it makes me wonder what they get payed to do then and all the schooling that some of these guys have went through theres a shop down the street from where i work that went to get mine aligned at and the owner goes sorry but we can't align shimmed vehicles. ok well then what do you have that alignment rack for was my question since alot of GM, and Ford and maybe some mopar at least the older stuf have shims its common sense stuff like this that just bothers me. And the best part is the time and money we spend on these vans and people act like they can't be worked now. sorry to hog the thread and rant. Oh and trust me the money i spent to lower my van then 6 mos. later take all that back out to bag it i refuse to park it.

[GEJ]

i've been told so many times by shops that they can't do something and it makes me wonder what they get payed to do then and all the schooling that some of these guys have went through theres a shop down the street from where i work that went to get mine aligned at and the owner goes sorry but we can't align shimmed vehicles. ok well then what do you have that alignment rack for was my question since alot of GM, and Ford and maybe some mopar at least the older stuf have shims its common sense stuff like this that just bothers me. And the best part is the time and money we spend on these vans and people act like they can't be worked now. sorry to hog the thread and rant. Oh and trust me the money i spent to lower my van then 6 mos. later take all that back out to bag it i refuse to park it.

Shimmed or not,one of the keys is to have a shop buy into the project you are doing.My backround goes back to sliding bar Fords and twin beam Ford vans that you had to bend to get them to align.

Drag cars with custom 4-link rearends and strut front ends are sometimes the worse to get worked on in a shop.We(my partner and myself) got to know one shop real well.They trust our builds and have found over the yrs,we trust their work.The 9.90 cars go straight and don't have high end shakes.

"Park it" means-don't mess around with the shims and result in ruining a perfitly good set of tires,or end up having a shimmy so bad that you end up crashing all that hard work,or have a poor frontend mechanic shaking his head because things are sooo,screwed up,he can't believe it,or I'LL get it done when I get a chance because I have it close enough,(humm-how would you know that?-LOL) etc.

Shimmed front ends for the harden pro,are not that hard to work on.Just takes the right tools(THE
EQUIPMENT),and a little know how.

[97CargoCrawler]

GEJ.....

I don't know man, I just don't really understand where you're going with all that. The alignment guy will already be shaking his head as soon as he see me comin'. "What kind of kook raises a mini-van?" He'll wish the hell I kept driving right on past his shop! Anyway, my point from the begining was it's already really bad and could only be improved by messing with it. And I'm destroying my old tires, but they are only 6 months old. Wouldn't dare put my new 31" BFG mudders on there till the alignment is perfect.

I got my wheel spacers for the rear today. Not only will that even out my track width but they are also 14mm lugs, which matches my new rotors! No more metric front standard rear worries.

I might try to make it for the alignment tomorrow. Hopefully I can find someone close.

[GEJ]

Hope you find a shop to work with.Good shops do it all.

[SSAstro]

heres the point i'm getting at is when i walk into to get an alignment i get the well its lowered so theres no way it could ever be aligned b/c we go off the stock setup but i'll do it if we can charge you 200.00 bucks see where i'm comin from when i know theres a shop i can go to that will do it for 50.00 lowered lifted slammed whatever and they specialize in Semis but they will do anything without question