[thafreerider]

Ok so my father in law and I installed a 2.5 " Calmini suspension lift and camber bolts last week on my 08 frontier 4x4 and we also put new tires on it- 285/75/R16. I took it to get it aligned and when it was all done they told me that it was all good to go but when i looked at it, the camber was all off, and plus, my steering wheel is turned to the right when i'm going straight.
I took the truck back in and they say it's all correct but I think it still looks jacked. Anybody have any suggestions?

 

[eglaisi]

Did they give you a printout of the alignment specs? And if possible, could you take a picture of the camber? It may look out of spec but sometimes it's deceiving. Steering wheel out of center is not cool though, how could they not notice that?

 

[thafreerider]

it looks worse in real life but i'm gonna call calmini and see if they can give me the specs for it and i'm gonna take it to another shop. It drives fine but i know it's gonna wear that tire out fast. and the steering wheel really irritates me, when i took the truck back in they didn't even address the issue and then played dumb when i was like wtf

 

[Sangster]

i have 3" spacers up front with adjustable camber bolts and even with max camber adjustment it's not enough. My tires are wearing out on the outsides also. eventually i'll titan swap the front with PRG UCA's to solve my alignment woes as well as my coil bucket contact.

 

[nissankidd]

If the steering wheel is off center that means they did not set the toe correctly. if they cant help you i would kindly ask for a refund and have it aligned elsewhere

 

[thafreerider]

Ya I think I will

 

[bimmernut318]

When I had the 3" spacers I couldnt get even close on the camber, I mean it was bad!!! look at brutals thread on alignment, it will give you a good idea of what the camber bolts do and how to set them for max camber. you can look at what the alignment shop did to see where they have them set.

http://www.clubfrontier.org/forums/f26/how-alignment-w-o-special-tools-28535/

 

[BRUTAL]

the steering wheel off is BS, thats not toe, thats not locking the steering wheel down straight when youre setting toe. That leaves the steering wheel off center. But the toe can be fine. My recommendations in the Alignment thread are for NOT max camber adjustment, but for more postive caster, less positive camber and that moves the lower ball joint forward to get more clearance for larger tires in front without rubbing. I have over 30k on my BFG AT's and they still wear perfect in front even though my tires are \ /. The toe is the most important wear setting and camber really has to be about 2* +/- before it causes wear issues, and caster is not a wear issue. The fact that the steering wheel is off center meens "do it again to straighten the wheel, or refund my money" and look at the alignment thread to see where the eccentrics should be, or at least pretty close

 

[Sangster]

the steering wheel off is BS, thats not toe, thats not locking the steering wheel down straight when youre setting toe. That leaves the steering wheel off center. But the toe can be fine. My recommendations in the Alignment thread are for NOT max camber adjustment, but for more postive caster, less positive camber and that moves the lower ball joint forward to get more clearance for larger tires in front without rubbing. I have over 30k on my BFG AT's and they still wear perfect in front even though my tires are \ /. The toe is the most important wear setting and camber really has to be about 2* +/- before it causes wear issues, and caster is not a wear issue. The fact that the steering wheel is off center meens "do it again to straighten the wheel, or refund my money" and look at the alignment thread to see where the eccentrics should be, or at least pretty close

I did exactly as your alignment thread says and then took it to the alignment shop and had them make toe adjustments only. I have no rubbing at all and the truck tracks perfectly straight, steering wheel straight, everything is perfect except for wear on the outside of the tires.

You obviously know far more about alignments that I. Can you give me a suggestion? I've heard maybe adjust toe a bit "out" so that it compensates for the camber wear on the outside? Does that make sense to you? I need some assistance from someone who knows better than I!

 

[madmantrapper]

missaligning the toe may cause the tires to wear evenly but will still cause excessive wear, more so then the camber being out.

 

[bimmernut318]

missaligning the toe may cause the tires to wear evenly but will still cause excessive wear, more so then the camber being out.

...and if you have to go too far with the toe to compensate handling is going to be affected, and not in a good way

 

[thafreerider]

the steering wheel off is BS, thats not toe, thats not locking the steering wheel down straight when youre setting toe. That leaves the steering wheel off center. But the toe can be fine. My recommendations in the Alignment thread are for NOT max camber adjustment, but for more postive caster, less positive camber and that moves the lower ball joint forward to get more clearance for larger tires in front without rubbing. I have over 30k on my BFG AT's and they still wear perfect in front even though my tires are \ /. The toe is the most important wear setting and camber really has to be about 2* +/- before it causes wear issues, and caster is not a wear issue. The fact that the steering wheel is off center meens "do it again to straighten the wheel, or refund my money" and look at the alignment thread to see where the eccentrics should be, or at least pretty close

thanks man that helps a lot. I'll take it to a better shop and then once it's fixed right i'll go get my money back at that other place.

 

[madmantrapper]

Good luck with that!

 

[JPAT30]

Here is my two cents; I leveled out the front of my 08 and did not install new camber bolts. I did have it aligned and although my tires look a little like Brutals, I too do not have wear issues and the truck still tracks straight and true. Now when I installed my LE steering wheel, I took it back and had the same shop "center" the new steering wheel. I suggest you find a new shop.

 

[BRUTAL]

I did exactly as your alignment thread says and then took it to the alignment shop and had them make toe adjustments only. I have no rubbing at all and the truck tracks perfectly straight, steering wheel straight, everything is perfect except for wear on the outside of the tires.

You obviously know far more about alignments that I. Can you give me a suggestion? I've heard maybe adjust toe a bit "out" so that it compensates for the camber wear on the outside? Does that make sense to you? I need some assistance from someone who knows better than I!

yes you can adjust the toe out alittle to control outer tire wear( I do)and I recommend you always save the before and after prinout in the glove box to compare your tire wear, and your next alignment before settings. If right about what it was and the tire wear is good, then your fine. If not adjust accodingly, but this meens if you knocked out the alignment your not gonna know if the wear was from being knocked out, or from needing to change alignment settings. Then you can keep track of what your truck likes, alignment specs are not the end all. Theyre a good place to start, most dont really worry about doing the best since it takes time and money. Yes I have an unfair advantage cause I do alignments and will work till I get what works right. I have 27k on my BFG AT's with 50% tread remaining (the rears are thinner due to obvious performance reasons) I rotated and balanced except for 1 rear tire I left on the rear cause the road force showed it really out of roundness spec(73, spec is 28) so the further from the steering wheels the less Ill feel it.