WD21 alignment

[sewebster]

So, a couple weeks ago I finally got around to tackling my alignment. The driver's side shims had clearly not been touched by the shop, thumbs down to the kal tire on marine in Vancouver. Anyway, I pulled all the shims out (measured and recorded how they were arranged!) and then looked again at the FSM chart. I think what we had figured out earlier (MY1PATH calculations) were off somehow. I'm pretty sure I found the mistake, but I forget the details now, I think it was that the FSM uses degrees and minutes to specify angles, not decimal degrees, so in the book if it says 1deg30' that means 1 degree and 30 minutes, which is the same as 1.5 degrees (60 minutes per degree).

 

Anyway, based on the shims I had (didn't buy more in advance and it was nightime, this was dumb) I rearranged the shims to get more on the front bolt and less on the rear. The truck seems to drive a lot better now, much less or no pulling. The only problem is that the FSM specifies a maximum total shim thickness per bolt, max difference in shim thickness between bolts, maximum number of "fork" style shims etc. Currently I think I am just barely out of the range on some of these. So ideally I'll replace the fork shims with round washers of the correct thickness (also they won't be able to fall out). I don't think I can achieve the perfect castor/camber angles with my current lift (1") and stay within the specs, but it seems to drive well now right at the spec limit, so I'm happy.

 

Just thought I'd post this follow up since this thread was left hanging, thanks to all those who helped out with advice.