Need alignment help

[Oyeller720]

So I need your guys help more opinion, but my right front tire is going through tires like crazy an I don't wanna spend the money on a alignment more a DIY kinda guy an iv been told by old timers, you can do it with either a tape measure or piece of string so wondering what's your guys take on that an how to go about it

[Rick-rat]

Depends on what the problem is, toe-in, camber, caster, get it aligned by someone

[datzenmike]

These are very rough 'look see' measurements, but if you can actually see a difference then the problem is worse than you think.

 

Park on a level surface. Hold a level, I used a magnetic torpedo level, vertical against the rim edges. Is the rim vertical? or is it leaning in or out? In or out is camber and this places the weight of the truck more on one edge than the other. The torsion bars may have sagged or been adjusted outside the vehicles proper height limit.

 

Have someone turn the steering wheel while you sight down the side of the truck to the back. Line the front tire edges up with the rear tire behind it. Take your time and get it as close as you can. Now go over and look at the other side. If you can see the rear tire tread the front is toed out. If you can't see the rear tire and are looking off to the outside of it you are toed in. This is easily adjustable.

[Oyeller720]

See someone said u can measure inside of tire to torsion bar an adjust that way but it's the inside tire that is wearing down. I don't have my book right now but can't u adjust the torsion bar for ride height without screwing up the alignment.cuz I'm looking to raise it but never adjusted torsion bars before

[Doctor510]

Check the control arm bushings as well, wheel bearings?

[datzenmike]

Toe is never adjusted by raising or lowering, even using the torsion bars. Any raising or lowering will affect the toe in or out. Once you have the vehicle height correct, the tie rods are turned in or out to set the toe.

 

Vehicle height above or below normal can also cause camber issues.

[Lockleaf]

I've had this kind of issue on all 4 of the 720s I've owned. Weird scrub and wear issues with front tires, even when they seemed to be aligned well enough. Control arm bushings are shot would be my guess. The rear lower control arm bushing gets so worn out that the bracket gets pounded into an oval twice the diameter of the original hole. This introduces huge amounts of slop and allows for unpredictable camber and tow changes while driving.

 

If you are lucky, you can get away with just doing the lower control arm rear bushings and the upper control arm bushings for now. Lower front is a complete nightmare and usually takes hours just to do one.

 

Want it done right? The bracket, if pounded out, needs to be fixed, and your truck likely wants every bushing in the front end replaced.