How’s my wheel alignment look

[Sgambots91]

Installed Bilstien 5100 up front at 2.8 along with Mevotech UCA’s. Drove for a little over a week before taking it in to dealer for alignment. Definitely noticed the alignment was way off while driving.

After alignment dealer said everything is good except the caster is off a bit because the control arms. They said I won’t have premature tire wear from this because everything else is within spec.

Just want to share my before and after specs here to make sure I am good. I do notice I have to correct the steering more often than I did when it was stock but I’m guessing that’s due to the caster. I’m not really worried about that. My main concern is tire wear as I just put on some nitto ridge grapplers recently.

 

[kurek]

Check that you didn't put the control arms on the wrong side.


https://www.ramforum.com/threads/alignment-caster-issues-after-bilstein-5100-install.149785/

 

[Sgambots91]

Check that you didn't put the control arms on the wrong side.


https://www.ramforum.com/threads/alignment-caster-issues-after-bilstein-5100-install.149785/

I don’t think they are backwards as they have a hole for the wire harness.

 

[Sgambots91]

Driver Side


Passenger Side

 

[kurek]

I know on my Ram when I had the Bilsteins at 2.8" and stock upper control arms they were able to get it into alignment but just barely, the cams on the lower control arm adjustment bolts were all the way at their furthest extent on both sides so there was no room for any further adjustment if something changed (suspension settling, frame tweak from a pothole, whatever) - after installing lift-specific UCA's the new alignment had the cams right in the middle of their range and drives very nicely, like stock.

 

[kurek]

Driver Side
View attachment 215199

Passenger Side
View attachment 215200

Hmm... you might want to look at this post https://www.ramforum.com/threads/al...stein-5100-install.149785/page-3#post-2119055

 

[ram1500rsm]

Damn you have no caster at all so more likely those UCA's are installed backwards. i think you should get in the 3* with the billies at 2.8" lift and factory arms.

 

[Sgambots91]

Damn you have no caster at all so more likely those UCA's are installed backwards. i think you should get in the 3* with the billies at 2.8" lift and factory arms.

After comparing the pics from the link shared above, it does seem they are backwards. But that doesn’t make any sense because if I swap them, the holes won’t matchup for the wire harness

 

[kurek]

After comparing the pics from the link shared above, it does seem they are backwards. But that doesn’t make any sense because if I swap them, the holes won’t matchup for the wire harness

Are you sure those holes are for the wire harness and not for the air suspension level joint? Or are you talking about some other holes?

 

[Sgambots91]

Are you sure those holes are for the wire harness and not for the air suspension level joint? Or are you talking about some other holes?

Im not sure there is a pre drilled hole with threads I figured that would be for the harness but I guess not. I’m assuming I installed them backwards which is a bummer. Hopefully the dealer will fix the caster for me, after I swap them, for no charge since I was just in there.

 

[Sgambots91]

Went to rock auto to look at pics and description of the arms. I did in fact install these wrong. Front right (passenger) has the stamps on top of the control arm. Driver side is stamped underneath. So now I have to swap them and get another alignment. I’m gonna call the dealer and see if they can fix the alignment for free since I was just there literally a week ago.

 

[kurek]

Always good when a problem ends up being something you can solve instead of something you have to live with

 

[Sgambots91]

Always good when a problem ends up being something you can solve instead of something you have to live with

Thanks for the help appreciate it. Dealer won’t do another alignment for free. So now I have to pay again. Pricey mistake

 

[Sgambots91]

Is it bad if I were to drive around like this for awhile?

 

[buddy guy]

Does it pull left or right or have vibration at any speed in the steering wheel? If not, live with it for awhile and watch for any strange wear on your tires.

That being said its a lot cheaper to do another alignment than replacing a pair of good truck tires. Call the extra alignment the cheap cost of learning how to install UCA's yourself

Sent from my SM-N960W using Tapatalk

 

[kurek]

Other option is you can align it yourself. It's not actually voodoo, a magnetic camber gauge is 15 bucks, an angle finder is between 10 and 100 bucks depending what kind you get, a plumb bob and a sharpie and a tape measure are probably lying around your house..

Doesn't give you a cool print-out and it takes a couple stabs to get it right so you might be looking at a whole afternoon of your time but if you're short on money or short on time during business hours but have evenings you can put in some elbow grease it's not impossible to get a good alignment DIY

 

[Sgambots91]

Does it pull left or right or have vibration at any speed in the steering wheel? If not, live with it for awhile and watch for any strange wear on your tires.

That being said its a lot cheaper to do another alignment than replacing a pair of good truck tires. Call the extra alignment the cheap cost of learning how to install UCA's yourself

Sent from my SM-N960W using Tapatalk

Lol I can’t believe I made this mistake. I’ve done a dozen suspension jobs, at least, over the years. Mainly on cars, but a couple trucks (97 f150 and 02 ram). This is what rushing and thinking you know everything does to you. Oh well something that I know will never happen again to me.

As far as pulling and vibrations, no vibrations and I wouldn’t say pulling. I do find myself having to correct the steering more so than it used to. Dealer said my caster won’t cause premature tire wear. My main concern is the ball joints wearing out quicker due to the incorrect angle.

 

[Sgambots91]

Other option is you can align it yourself. It's not actually voodoo, a magnetic camber gauge is 15 bucks, an angle finder is between 10 and 100 bucks depending what kind you get, a plumb bob and a sharpie and a tape measure are probably lying around your house..

Doesn't give you a cool print-out and it takes a couple stabs to get it right so you might be looking at a whole afternoon of your time but if you're short on money or short on time during business hours but have evenings you can put in some elbow grease it's not impossible to get a good alignment DIY

Never tried to do this and it does sound intriguing, but I don’t think I have the patience for it lol.

 

[Sgambots91]

So since I need another alignment I took this as an opportunity to pull the trigger on some Eibach pro lift front springs. I’m sitting at 2.8 right now on Bilstein 5100 and although the ride isn’t terrible, I just bought this truck so I want it to ride as close to factory as possible. Gonna set the bilsteins at 0 and match them with the Eibach springs.

So when these come in, then I’ll swap the control arms. Then another alignment, ughh lol