Sun Aug 27, 2023 1:21 pm by cornbinder89
King Pin angle and castor are set and not adjustable in the normal sense. Taper shims between the axle and spring pack are used, but should require adjustment unless major damage or changes are made to the front suspension.
That leaves Toe. I must admit I am not good at using a tram bar to adjust toe. Normally I just take to a shop with an alignment rack and let them do it.
The basic way toe is set with a tram, you jack and support the axle, using the points on the tram bar scratch a mark in the center of both tires without disturbing the bar, the points on the bar are adjusted to center of the track of the vehicle in question. This is done on the part of the tire in front of the axle Then the tires are rotated and the tram is checked from the rear of the axle at the marks made on the tire. If the marks are closer together on the backside, then the wheels are toe'd out (bad), if the marks are wider in the rear it is toed in, You want just a little toe in, often 1/16"
Toe out or too little toe in and the truck will wander going down the road, too much toe in and the tire wear will be bad.
In reality, when I am doing front end work, I try and get it close then take to an alignment shop, so far I have never got one back that they said was in alignment when it went in!
An alignment rack can do the job much better than tram bar can and can point out other problems like caster angle that you can't do without special equipment.
