SO, I went in for an alignment ad was told that although I was still able to get the truck aligned, it needed adjustable balljoints to do it correctly.

At the time I had some pretty bent up tie rods that had been adjusted to work correctly but still bent enough the geometry could defiantly have been off. Also I am pretty sure he was setting the degree to factory degree settings. If he was saying my camber/caster was a bit off because of a bent housing [typical of all dodge Rams apparently from all my reading] and hes using stock degree settings. If I asked him to do the 3 degree settings rather than stock would that bring me into spec without needing the adjustable ball joints? Also he said I would need lowers. I went and bought some and took everything apart, but it did not come with instructions, so now I have no idea how to press in the new ones. i am pretty sure I want the cams set so the stud is closer to the inside of the truck [that would be the right direction if a bent housing was my problem] But at this point I am jsut about to take them back for regular ones and press those in. The old ones were pretty bad as were the tie rod ends. Im surprised he aligned it at all.

 

i thought the adjustables pressed in in a standard/universal sort of manner, and then had a rotation point so they could be adjusted during alignment w/o unpressing/repressing.

 

WHen I go in to have the truck re aligned. What camber and caster angles should I tell him to use for a Ram 1500 on 37's. IF I get teh numbers before tomarrow afternoon, I can call him and ask if usingthose specs I can just use regular ball joints.

Thanks

 

as did I but apparently they are offset to one side on top of that. Or at leas the ones I bought. SO they have to be orientated correctly to begin with, then you can adjust them another degree or so from there.

Mine are 1-3/4 degree adjustment, so i think its adjust 1 degree with jsut placement, then 3/4 or so with manual adjustment.

 

from this site

http://www.moogproblemsolver.com/_pd..._Adj_BJ_En.pdf

(can't seem to lift the picture. see the pdf link)

• Makes “non-adjustable” vehicles fully adjustable for front caster and camber.

• Fully adjustable ball joint designs allow for most combinations of caster and camber, from -1-3/4 to +1-3/4 degrees.

• Unique designs allow for fast and easy “on-vehicle” replacement.

• Adjustable designs mean fewer part numbers per application – fewer SKU’s to carry.

• Future adjustments can be easily made with a simple turn of the ball stud.

• No need to replace the ball joint again if alignment angles change.

 

link will not open for me for some reason. Pretty sure thats what I bought though, just a mevotech part. Its supposed to be fully adjustable up to 1-3/.4 * problem is they still have a cam that has to be orientated first.

I am assuming if my camber is too negative, then I need to turn the cams inwards so the ball joints are closer to the inside of the truck right?

 

yes. and they come with directions and a template.

 

mine didnt.... and the tech guy on the phone was from some country somewhere and I couldn't understand him. I finally just said screw it and bough the offsets I needed from the local parts store [i usually buy everything from rock auto. most of their parts are almost %50 off for the same parts brands...]and took the extra $130 hit.... the new ones came with the template and are exact offsets, not adjusting. just line em up perpendicular with that template.

My driver side housing had the old lower come out with it when i knocked the knuckle off... they literally almost popped in by hand...looks like my front housing driver side is a bit fried....needless to say the balljoints in it were a wreck.

 

Ok , so what brand were they the first time and what brand did you get now? I have a lower BJ (MOOG) just the box, and it has both things I described(template and directions). I want to know for future reference. That's why I'm asking what the brands are.