2WD C10 Modern/Performance Alignments

[502ms]

Great info. So, for a bagged truck, alignments are done at stock/ operational ride height, correct?
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[BMERDOC]

Yeah, I think you'd wanna do the alignment at the ride height its gonna be driven at most. I'd love to get a bagged truck on the rack to see what happens to the alignment as the truck is raised and lowered.

[502ms]

Originally Posted by BMERDOC

Yeah, I think you'd wanna do the alignment at the ride height its gonna be driven at most. I'd love to get a bagged truck on the rack to see what happens to the alignment as the truck is raised and lowered.

Thanks! Too bad you are so far away
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[jjzepplin]

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[RdoubleU]

First off : Major Thanks to BMERDOC for starting and supporting this thread

Wanted to share my experience and results from using this thread as a solid guideline for aligning my '68 C10

Here's a summary of this threads research (correct me if I'm outta line anywhere so I don't misinform someone else.)

[RdoubleU]

For my truck I was able to achieve the below specs

• Camber .3*+
• Caster 6*+
• Toe In .1*

Unfortunately I was unable to go negative Camber on the passenger side due to limitations of the stock crossmember on my truck. They were able to get the driver side negative. They fully removed all shims on the passenger side and milled the factory shim down to its least amount while still maintaining its integrity but could only achieve .3* on the passenger side. So I chose to have each side equal the .3*

For the impressive Caster numbers it was due to me investing in Porterbuilt's (Nate) Forward Arm series. And I am very very happy with this decision and the result it produced: http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=537266

The truck tracks straight has good road feel now and is also very confident in its driving characteristics

Thanks again for the info in this thread, hope it helps someone else out as well

[BMERDOC]

Well done! Nice chart! Very easy to read and understand. My toe specs were in minutes and not degrees so I'm concerned they may have confused degrees and minutes. I'm starting to prefer fractional toe specs for ease of memory. 1/8" toe in, 0 or 1/8" toe out. These are TOTAL toe specs (1/16" per side). 1/8" toe in and 0 for stock and most modified trucks and 1/8" toe out for Corner Carvers. I'm not sure how much undesireable wear comes from the 1/8" toe out so I'd stick with 1/8" toe in or 0 for most trucks.

Its a shame about that camber. It woulda been nice to get it negative but at least its still in stock specs which doesnt raise any concern. Are you running any kind of drop springs? IIRC, 3" drop springs dropped the camber into a nice zone with no shims needed (before evening side to side).

I see the Porterbuilt Forward Arm Series control arms worked out nicely for you. I have a list of stuff I'd like to order from Nate and his family myself!

Enjoy your improvements!! Post up some pics!!

[BMERDOC]

Ok Kids! I did a final alignment on my truck. I will continue with modifications but this is as good as it gets right now. Minimal shims, maximum angles. I started a different thread for that single alignment so that others could find it. Heres the linky...

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=582187

[Street Smart]

Great thread guys! Thanks for all the real world specs!

[BMERDOC]

Originally Posted by Street Smart

Great thread guys! Thanks for all the real world specs!

Glad you found the info useful! I'll be updating as soon as I get a double adjustable Panhard Bar and the Caster Mod done.

[LEEVON]

Unfortunately I was never able to get my alignment where I wanted it before I had my own shop (which is recent). My best tech and I were able to tinker on our own time and get it where we wanted.

The truck just got all new front suspension with 2.5" spindles and Moog 6454 HD springs cut exactly 1 coil. Rear suspension is 4" springs and 1.5" blocks, with a double-adjustable panhard bar. With this combo, the a-arms are slightly above level, the tie rods nearly level and the upper ball joints are at an acceptable angle.

Thrust Angle: .13 (no change required)
Camber: -.50 to -.53
Caster: 2.7 to 3.2
Toe: .08 toe

Sorry, forgot the printout. Rides perfect though!

[BMERDOC]

Leevon, Did you see my thread about "Match using Cross specs"? It looks like you have one of the latest Hunter machines and it should have that feature. You can find it in my sig as "Easiest Alignment Ever". Any shimmed vehicle can be aligned like this. Its so quick and easy. .13 for a thrust angle is great. I think mine is near .25. I'm sure I'll mess with it once I install my double adjustable bar on. The only I would be concerned about is getting the trailing arm bushings in a bind. There are so many mods that I want to do but I've been concentrating on aesthetics recently.

[BMERDOC]

For you guys paying attention I wanted to share a thread that 19GM71 posted. Its another great mod to get your steering and suspension done. I priced out this set up for my truck and I think it came out to about $85. Totally worth it!

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=620584

[Lattimer]

Bump for alignment stuff.......


Had my Chevy in twice so far to get the front end alignment, and it just wasn't good enough. Same shop just did my Tundra 3 times and still couldn't get that right. They used to be good........

Anyways, I got kinda peeved at the "that's as good as we can do" line, so I went and bought a QuickTrick alignment kit. Expensive bugger for what it is, but it works pretty decent.

Spent the last weekend working on the front end trying to get it where I want it. Truck is lowered 2"/2" with just springs, all new front end wear parts, otherwise stock. First time I have ever attempted any kind of alignment myself------but I am a mechanical engineer, and I have taught people for years how to laser align pumps and compressors. Took a bunch of trial and error and head scratching, but I finally got everything going the right way and managed to not destroy anything.

By the time I was done, I had to remove half of the rear self aligning washer on the right side, and had a single 1/16" shim on the front of the left side. Nothing else.

Now I have:

L Camber -.7 degrees
R Camber -.7 degrees
L Caster 1.8 degrees
R Caster 2.4 degrees
Total Toe 3/16" in.

Only downside to the Quicktrick is you can only do total toe, getting the wheel set straight is trial and error.

Today I got the chance to get the truck out and drive it to work and back. Ran it up to 90 mph, drove some side streets, took a few hard corners. Feels pretty good. Nice and stable, doesn't wander or pull at all. Steering is pretty "normal", not dead and not twitchy. Seems pretty good. Return to center still as lazy as it has always been, but I'm used to that.

I know now I can get a little more caster on the left if I want to, but the right is maxed out without doing the lower control arm mod. I'm on the fence at this point whether that is worth the effort or not. Not real sure how to quantify any improvement I would get.


Next I need to try to fix the alignment on my lifted Tundra. That should be a riot.

[BMERDOC]

Really good job! That stinks that the equipment will only do total toe. As far as the Caster Mod is concerned I feel its totally worth it and no I haven't done it to mine yet but I am confident that with 5° or more return to center will greatly improve and higher speed stability will be even greater.

[Lattimer]

Originally Posted by BMERDOC

Really good job! That stinks that the equipment will only do total toe. As far as the Caster Mod is concerned I feel its totally worth it and no I haven't done it to mine yet but I am confident that with 5° or more return to center will greatly improve and higher speed stability will be even greater.

I'm still debating between doing the LCA castor mod and just saying screw it and buying the tubular control arms. Probably do all of it at once when I do the disc brakes, which won't be for a at least a year or so.

[BigDaddyV]

Sub. Thanks I'll be using this info in the near future.

[Greywolf200]

Originally Posted by Lattimer

Bump for alignment stuff.......



Now I have:

L Camber -.7 degrees
R Camber -.7 degrees
L Caster 1.8 degrees
R Caster 2.4 degrees
Total Toe 3/16" in.

Since you can do it easily, I'd suggest changing to toe out. I made this change and the difference in turn in is amazing. Everything else remains the same. At 1/8" toe out, it is not twitchy and makes it far more responsive.

Hope this helps,

[Lattimer]

Originally Posted by Greywolf200

Since you can do it easily, I'd suggest changing to toe out. I made this change and the difference in turn in is amazing. Everything else remains the same. At 1/8" toe out, it is not twitchy and makes it far more responsive.

Hope this helps,

I had it 1/8" out and it felt weird.

[lit549]

If I posted my alignment sheet on my 85 swb c10, could anyoNE tell me if its a good setup??

[BMERDOC]

Sure! Post it up.

[pablo101]

Need to get some Shims so my work can do an alignment. They don't have shims for my 71 c10 (new subaru dealership)..What is the Bolt size 9/16 or 5/8 so I can get some. Thanks in advance

[BMERDOC]

You can get a shim kit for under $10 from Harbor Freight if you have one nearby. I use that kit and it works great. If you don't have one close you can order it online.

[pablo101]

Originally Posted by BMERDOC

You can get a shim kit for under $10 from Harbor Freight if you have one nearby. I use that kit and it works great. If you don't have one close you can order it online.

Ok great but from what I can find there are two bolt sizes 9/16 and 5/8.I dont know which I'll need

[BMERDOC]

Originally Posted by pablo101

Ok great but from what I can find there are two bolt sizes 9/16 and 5/8.I dont know which I'll need

The frame bolts that retain the upper control arms are actually 1/2". The part number for the HF shim kit is 67585 and works perfectly.
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