i had just recently installed a lift on my truck and was waiting to do alignment since im getting new tires in a few weeks, but i noticed my caster i believe that's what its called is a bit off. the tire at the bottom is out wider then at the top and the top leans inward a little. will an alignment fix this? the tires look like this:
/ \
compared to what they used to look like:
\ /
although not that extreme.
any ideas? i still wanted to crank the front end up another inch.

 

yes an alignment will fix that. 2inches is about the highest you can crank your tb's,

 

i have new keys and the treads at the top of the cross member are at about 2 inches. i still wanted to crank it a little more but i was told from my buddy they actually loosen the bolt on the t bar to get it aligned which is a disappointment

 

The adjustment to ur tbars for an alignment will be minimal if at all, def no need to worry about it changing appearance

 

I've had a alignment done and they never touched my tbars

 

okay good scared me for a second, although i cant blame the guy he works on big rigs.

another issue thing i forgot to mention is that my steering seems to feel pretty weird now. i cant get a full lock up with 2 wheel turns or what ever it is lol. it'll go if you force her when the rpms drop and almost stall out due to the ps pump. steering will get loose, then tight again when turing the wheel. bushings maybe need replaced?

im only 17 and damn is this thing a money pit, but i love her!

 

I tried to get an alignment and the guy doing it said he doesn’t like the Dakotas too hard to do so I zipped out of that place.

I’m beginning to think the best place for an alignment is the dealership has anyone heard that before that Dakotas are hard to align correctly?

I have never had my Dakota alignment done not one time and my wheels dont wear strange but I just changed out some ball joints so its should get done.

 

alignments are simple on the daks. i did it myself with a tape measure till i could get it into the shop for a professional alignment. the tech said i was just a touch out of spec and had to do very little adjusting. i think you went to a bad repair shop 98dakaz.

 

I do about 90% of my own repairs but every time I do go to a shop I get the idiots or con artists rip off shops, I will say one thing Arizona has crappy auto shops nothing like the California ones I was used to.

Arizona shops love to rip you off I think it’s because of all the senior citizens they burn them all the time so they try burning everyone.

I still drive to California for a lot of stuff and auto work I would rather get done in CA not AZ.

 

The tilt of the wheel side to side is Camber, if you where lookin at it from in front of the truck. Caster is if you look from the side of the truck it is where the wheel sits in the wheel well (front or backwords)