I have that as well with Tires plus which is owned by Firestone. It was the best 150 bucks I have spent being that I wheel my D off road and occasionally hit a monster pot hole.

 

So i stopped into my friendly neighborhood alignment guy today and asked if he could tell me how to measure to see if my d is set at stock height in the front and he said by making an appointment and letting me check it...... can someone tell me plz i cant get the manual to open and i wanna do the t/s lift this weekend. Have to make sure im at stock before i go crankin the bolt.

 

It was in a previous post
1) measure distance of rear control arm bolt to ground.
2) measure center of wheel to ground.
3) subtract 2 from 1
4) that's your number.73mm

 

Ops it definately was. i read it and totally over looked it. Sorry and thanks for the help guys.

 

Close:


On the control arm there is a hexagonal shaped hole in the center. To find this:
Follow the Torsion Bars from under the drivers and passenger seats up to the front end. Where these bars input into the control arms is hexagonal key way I am talking about. You will measure laying on the ground at the front of the truck. Now measure from the ground to the center of this hexagonal key way.

Now walk around and face the tire and rim (not under the truck). Measure from the ground to the center of the wheel rim.

Now subtract the differences and it should be 73 mm (2.9 inches).

HEIGHT MEASUREMENT
(1) Jounce the front of the vehicle.
(2) Measure and record the distance between the
ground and the center of the lower suspension arm
rear mounting bolt head (Fig. 2).
(3) Measure and record the distance between the
ground and the center of the front wheel (Fig. 2).
(4) Subtract the first measurement from the second
measurement. The difference between the two
measurement should be 73 mm (2.9 inches) 6 3 mm
(0.12 inches).
HEIGHT ADJUSTMENT
To adjust the vehicle height turn the torsion bar
adjustment bolt CLOCKWISE to raise the vehicle
and COUNTER CLOCKWISE to lower the vehicle.
CAUTION: ALWAYS raise the vehicle to the correct
suspension height, NEVER lower the vehicle to
obtain the correct suspension height. If the vehicle
suspension height is too high, lower the vehicle
below the height specification. Then raise the vehicle
to the correct suspension height specification.
This will insure the vehicle maintains the proper
suspension height.
NOTE: If a height adjustment has been made, perform
height measurement again on both sides of
the vehicle.
WHEEL ALIGNMENT

 

I am thinking of doing the T/S lift should I get the truck aligned before or after the lift? real question so a real answer would be appreciated. Thank you

 

AFTER

as this T/S kit will change the angles of your front end components.

 

Need to get a 4 whell alignment when doing the lift, not just front end.

 

Alignment on a solid axle...... riiiight

 

ancient thread I know. but besides all the BS banter and badmouthing within, I have to say something here/ as both a loyal Dodge owner (been a licensed driver 36 years and have yet to own ANYTHING else) and a former alignment guy of 20 or so years. Still twisting wrenches, am now a fleet mechanic for the State which I live in/ that unfortunately has to farm out alignments, and usually get "just the minimum" to get the readings "in the green". I wish the state would buy an alignment rack for at least, say, 1/4 of the state garages. There are tolerances in camber caster and toe, for a reason. As cars are built on an assembly line, there are variances. Change tire brand or size or tread pattern, variation in miles driven between them, HOW those miles are driven, (suburban or straight highway, police/taxi use, towing, etc) springs at or below minimum height spec, amount of road crown (or not) in your particular part of the country, other work done during a cars lifetime (or not) can all play a part.
There is a "preferred spec" and a tolerance plus or minus that value.
But those tolerances have to also be within a certain amount side for side, as well as being within tolerance individually. I can set your car all "within spec" and have it drive like **** /if one side is barely in spec on the high side of the range and the other side barely in spec on the low side. Or, I can align something all "in the red" and have it drive great. Way too much cross-camber and/or caster. Side for side they have to be within "so much" of each other, and a pull will happen (if due to alignment) to the side with higher camber (more positive/less negative) while caster is opposite. Before the machines that had the specs for the car at hand stored in memory, back when most cars were RWD, we had a set of generic specs we'd set almost everything to and not have any complaints/problems. I started doing alignments in 1987.

You do want a slight offset, to allow for road crown. tires themselves can cause a pull. Different brands, or sizes side to side, different tire pressure, or just a "heavy spot" within the tire carcass that can't be seen. Ive had brand new tires cause a pull where the old ones didn't, often you flip flop the tires side for side and a pull will go away or sometimes pull the other way. Tires play a lot bigger part in handling than most realize.

and, yes, often suspension height can play a huge part in alignment. Usually (especially on Chevys for some reason) when they came in all screwed up alignment wise, simply measure the height at center of fenderwell side for side.... the driver side would often be 1/2" low.... but which ever side, to watch the screen on the alignment machine, as you raise the low side (never drop the high side) the alignment readings would often fall right in "dead nuts" without having to change shims at the control arms. One of the first things taught in ANY alignment class, is that "chassis height MUST be right" so yes/ that would be the first thing corrected, after replacing any worn/damaged parts, before any other adjustment would be made. That is NOT being "lazy" by any means. that IS the right way to do it. and on most, camber will be too low (negative) when the ride height is low. The cars I hated aligning the most (besides For Aerostar vans) were those that had been "lowered"-- partly because I couldn't get them onto the rack, but also because even max'd out I could not get the readings anywhere close to where they should be. usually guys would torch the springs til the car sagged, "til it looked cool".

Since I have been away from being an alignment guy, I used to be able to go back to my old shop, and they'd let me use the rack and do my own, they are still in business but have sold out, so different ownership, I'm just like any other customer now. In fact, the last time I tried to get my Dakota aligned there, the guy behind the counter said "this guy has never done a slip shaft alignment, you'd be better off going elsewhere". I used to work with this "guy behind the counter, he knows me well, and knows Id rather do my own. there is nothing I hate more than having someone else work on ANY aspect of MY vehicle, I stand right there and talk to the guy doing the job, because every time I don't, if I drop my vehicle off and leave it/ come back when called, I always wind up having to go back for a redo. Without fail. I hate that with a passion. maybe I am more picky because I DID that job for so many years/ but when it comes to alignment I am hard to please. and all the guys I would trust if I can't do my own, are either retired, or dead.

but no, what they would be doing to a truck with a solid rear axle, even though they put heads on all 4 wheels if there is no adjustment possible on that rear axle, you are getting a THRUST LINE 2 wheel alignment. NOT a "4 wheel alignment". a "4 wheel alignment means there are adjustment provisions on all 4 wheels. Of some kind. May not be "everything", may just be allowed to set toe on rear/ but if there is NOTHING adjustable back there, then it isn't a true "4 wheel" alignment". What you guys call a "2 wheel" alignment" would be a "center line" alignment, referencing the cars centerline. but a "thrust line" alignment references the back wheels relative to the front and takes into consideration that the rear axle may be slightly out of kilter. . and the last alignment equip I used, even doing a "center line" alignment, you still had to hang heads on all 4 wheels.
You always want at least a "thrust line" alignment.

On the "lifetime" alignment, my Dad used to get that from Firestone when I was still too young to drive. I worked as an alignment guy at 2 different Sears stores over the years, they used to sell a "lifetime" alignment, and phased them out, years before Sears got into their current predicament. The idea was to basically pay for 2 alignments "up front" and you could bring your car to ANY Sears and they would put your car up on the alignment rack, hang the heads and check the alignment any time you wanted. the idea was to get you in the door twice a year. If any adjusting was needed, it would be done no charge. usually our regular customers were those that didn't trade every other year, kept their cars forever, and usually when theyd bring their car in for alignment they would rarely need anything readjusted after the 1st time we aligned them, unless they were in a wreck or had parts wear out and need replaced. nd most of the people with "lifetime alignments" were the types of people that, if we did find an issue, once explained to them, rarely questioned it and just wanted their car "right". NOT that it was a "set once and forget it"..... so if you paid for a lifetime alignment and had the alignment done more than twice during your ownership you were money ahead. It truly was a great deal. and if you were so inclined to replace your own parts, great. Bring it in when done and we would set the alignment for free if you had a lifetime alignment.