Camber issue

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Fleetwood

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1987 K10. Driver's side wheel has visible positive camber (top of the tire going out) and is wearing the outside of the tire noticeably more than the inside. Passenger side appears to be fine. How do I fix this? Is this normal?

Also, the truck has always pulled pretty well right even after alignment.
 

idahovette

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Don't think you have had a "proper" alignment if the tire is wearing. 2 different ways to cure this problem, 1 is to install a shim between the spindle and the housing with the thick side down. To pick the right shim you would need a print out of the alignment angles from your last Alignment and try to get it close to 1/4 degree or 0. The other way, which I'm NOT fond of is a new upper ball joint adjuster bushing, and again you would need the printout to get the right one. The pull to the right(pass) may not be an alignment problem.......could be a tire pull....have you rotated tires?
 

bucket

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Don't think you have had a "proper" alignment if the tire is wearing. 2 different ways to cure this problem, 1 is to install a shim between the spindle and the housing with the thick side down. To pick the right shim you would need a print out of the alignment angles from your last Alignment and try to get it close to 1/4 degree or 0. The other way, which I'm NOT fond of is a new upper ball joint adjuster bushing, and again you would need the printout to get the right one. The pull to the right(pass) may not be an alignment problem.......could be a tire pull....have you rotated tires?

Why are you not fond of the adjustable sleeve? Is it because the proper placement is not necessarily the proper installed height/torque?
 

idahovette

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@bucket When I use the shim, I get to see all the parts associated with them......brakes, rotors, hubs, bearings,...wheel and spindle. Just a lot of things to care for while it's apart. Also, it's hard to get the proper torque on the bushings and have them in the right position.
 

Ricko1966

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Lower the drivers side of the truck.
 

Grit dog

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Lower the drivers side of the truck.
Huh? It’s a solid axle. And even if you could, by the time you got the bad one straight, the other side would have just as bad of camber in the opposite direction. Or am I missing something here?
 

Grit dog

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1987 K10. Driver's side wheel has visible positive camber (top of the tire going out) and is wearing the outside of the tire noticeably more than the inside. Passenger side appears to be fine. How do I fix this? Is this normal?

Also, the truck has always pulled pretty well right even after alignment.
It is not normal and the 2 fixes were presented. I’ve seen this before.
Idk what causes it but a bent axle is typically opposite so I’m saying mfg defect that passed by @Keith Seymore nose back in the day!! lol. Jk Keith.

Actually our 74 CJ5 has a bit of this going on. Never measured how far out it is but I can see one side has a bit of positive camber.
It doesn’t get enough miles on it to warrant fixing it and isn’t bad enough to notice tire wear (even on the 25 year old set of mud tires I replaced a few years ago).
 

bucket

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Huh? It’s a solid axle. And even if you could, by the time you got the bad one straight, the other side would have just as bad of camber in the opposite direction. Or am I missing something here?

I do believe that was just some dry humor :)
 

Ricko1966

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Huh? It’s a solid axle. And even if you could, by the time you got the bad one straight, the other side would have just as bad of camber in the opposite direction. Or am I missing something here?
I'm sorry I thought everyone would know I was just being a smart a$$. I'll stand in the corner and think about what I did.
 

Grit dog

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I'm sorry I thought everyone would know I was just being a smart a$$. I'll stand in the corner and think about what I did.
Hahaha sorry man! I just assumed you were providing your usual great advice and I was way too slow on the pickup. Cheers
 
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Blazerbiker

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My '82 K5 had the same problem but it was gentle enough on tires that we managed it from the time I was a kid with rotations and it generally had small tires. By the time I was done with it, it leveled right out. Of course you could see the camber change when you put a floor jack in the middle of the axle, meaning it had that much flex between the tube and housing. I had to truss it to make it the last year or so I used that housing.

Just shim it.
 

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