Alignment Issues

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Kev12

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Hey Guys,

Over the past 2 weeks, I've been dealing with what I thought was steering/alignment issues on my Ram 2500. I was told camber was off by 2.6 degrees, I possibly have a bent frame etc. I took my truck to another shop and had a nice conversation with the owner before I left the truck(my brother in law does a lot of business with him through work and says he is really good). Went back to get truck and he said they had to do to some alignment but it wasn't off bad at all(not 2.6 degrees like I was told last week). If my truck is alignment, should I be pulling hard right(especially on 2 land roads)? Right tires are off the road in less than 2 seconds if my steering wheel is straight on a straight road. I get that there is a crown on the road but shouldn't truck just drift right after about 75-100 yards? and not just go dead right? In the left lane of interstate, its not as bad but eventually drifts a little right. Thanks
 

lpfm1990

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Every ram me or my dad have had does this. I'm use to it now, I notice it more on a road with more crown then other roads without a crown, contribute it to being a solid front axle, and wide ratio steer box


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Kev12

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Well at least I can sleep at night ha. Thanks for the info
 

kiloRAM

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My 2004 1500 pulled hard right, I just got used to it.

My 2017 2500 also pulls hard right, I'm used to it, but it still ****** me off since my truck is still relatively new. Tire wear does not seem to strange. But...
I'm going to have them look at it when I eventually take my truck in for the parking pin recall. We'll see what they say. Hopefully it is just alignment (although I have not hit any large bumps, curbs, debris, small animals, cows, other cars, trucks - although chevy's are sucked in through my air intake, etc. so should not have difficulty with alignment). Sorry, I'm ranting...
 

lpfm1990

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My 2004 1500 pulled hard right, I just got used to it.

My 2017 2500 also pulls hard right, I'm used to it, but it still ****** me off since my truck is still relatively new. Tire wear does not seem to strange. But...
I'm going to have them look at it when I eventually take my truck in for the parking pin recall. We'll see what they say. Hopefully it is just alignment (although I have not hit any large bumps, curbs, debris, small animals, cows, other cars, trucks - although chevy's are sucked in through my air intake, etc. so should not have difficulty with alignment). Sorry, I'm ranting...

Both mine started to pull at about 2k and same with my dads (he's had 3 4th gen hd's) I've searched the net. And from what I read. The more they had their trucks alined, the worse the pull got [emoji848]


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G. Mcpherson

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This is how mine is set. From Thuren Suspension Tech.
All solid axle trucks from 2008 to 2017 have solid tie rods factory, so the below info applies.

Getting an alignment? Arm yourself before you go!
Read the below info, and arm yourself with this info before you get an alignment. When you go into the shop be sure you mention these things.......
1) Tell them you need an alignment, and tell them that the specs are not stock. Make sure they are OK with that.
2) Tell them you will want to take a printout home with you, and you'd like them to point out the TOTAL toe and caster before the truck is taken off the rack.
3) The specs you need to ask them for is 0.00 to 0.05 TOTAL toe, and 3.8-4.2 degrees caster on Diesel trucks, and 4.2-4.8 degree's caster on Hemi trucks.

 

22hemi13

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Yep. Mine pulls right as well. Sooo let’s see. Pulls right when aligned, clunks when taking off, has a whine/whistle/dumb noise when accelerating, all of which is said to be “normal”. And still better than my fords :rotflmao:
 

MADDOG

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Mine pulls right on crowned or rutted roads (and I can't find too many around here that aren't :mad: ) and I've had the alignment checked by a very qualified tech on a current tech Hunter machine.

I managed to get on some newly paved (concrete) freeway last fall and it tracked true just like it's supposed to.

Some of my issue is the increased width and traction blocks of the 35's I run but mostly it's just the roads.
 

mtofell

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A bad tire can cause pulling as well. Swap fronts and backs on each side and see if it goes away. I've had it happen before. The guy at the tire shop referred to it as "radial pull" which I suppose is a good name. I had just had tires installed and they replaced it and all was fine.
 

G. Mcpherson

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There is a good thread on the Cummins Forum. 0 Toe. All Positive when using the Thuren Specs for Alignment.
 
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Kev12

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I bought new Nitto Grapplers, installed rough country steering brace and set my caster to .3 degrees greater on the passenger side. The pull is not as bad but still noticeable. Guess I will have to accept the road crown as the cause at this point.
 

PaulTGarrett

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My '98 used to pull right and had a bit of a wander on the interstate... I had my tire dealer do a full alignment on it then told him to set the caster at the maximum it could be set. 7 degrees I think it was. Tightened my steering up nicely, stopped the wander, almost negated the right hand pull... The only downside to doing this is it will work your power steering a bit harder, not enough to make any difference at all, and I just -barely- noticed any extra effort on the steering wheel.

Incorrect camber and toe will screw up your tires... Caster is just the function that causes the steering to return to neutral center...
 
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