Front axle off set to passenger side

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Flatwater

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Not trying to be a smart***, but you possibly have a case of tunnel vision. The issues may not be related but you’re fixated on the axles. Vibration and pull could be an out of round or out of balance wheel and/or tire, or a broken belt. Check air pressure and rotate the tires. Simple, cheap fix. Try and eliminate those from the equation.

I fought a terrible vibration, pull, and poor ride quality on my wife’s Infinity. Finally tracked it down to a thrown wheel weight. Rebalance and rotation, handles like a dream now.

Dunno, just throwing it out there…
 

Radiohead

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I also wonder if maybe the whole front axle assembly isn't wrong; meaning maybe at the factory they welded the wrong tube on that side, one that is too long. You'll have to find another like it somewhere and measure the length of the axle tube on both examples, right side. The rest of the being off center is strange too. Double triple check the previous work...
 

iamtherealJayy

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I agree with the possibly being cheeked a little. The only driving the guy could manage was pulling it in the shop door and backing it out… and I heard the truck start atleast 6 times before I had to hand them money. Nope I didn’t get provided anything except a receipt. I’m going to checkout the adjustment sleeve to see if it even moved later since I didn’t have any shakes or pulls until I changed the steering and suspension, that’s my reason for thinking that’s part of problem. I don’t want to balance the wheels and tires since I need new tires anyways but I can get them balanced if need be. I’m going to get a rough estimate on distance between front of tires and distance between the back of tires later. Since they obviously didn’t test drive the truck and uh quite frankly ol feller couldn’t even drive it.. I think honestly it started pissing him off that he kept stalling it. One time he revs it to the moon it sounds like and then you seek him parking it back in a parking spot.. hell if I know I’ll have to start doing stuff myself I reckon since help doesn’t seem to do much but cost me more.
 

iamtherealJayy

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Here’s four photos from before I got an alignment,
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Now here’s a photo from after… can anyone pinpoint a difference? I’m counting threads right now to see if it even moved..
 

iamtherealJayy

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I just found this in my floorboard. I don’t think it’s a great sign with all the numbers being different
 

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I just found this in my floorboard. I don’t think it’s a great sign with all the numbers being different
Looks good to me, they adjusted you from almost 1/2" of toe in to 0.04"

I don't know what the caster spec should be but 7 degrees seems like a lot. Caster not being in the sweet spot can cause wobble. Usually a little extra caster does help with steering return to center because the caster angle makes the truck want to go straight.
 

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Yes to -.04, in my opinion that’s facing away from each other? Or would that be positive? And what the hell could they have changed in the rear? What changed .01 in the rear? In my opinion my rear axle looks off center now(hopefully just the bed being crooked) and what’s caster.. I haven’t learned that yet since I haven’t messed with it. I know camber fairly well, my opinion if I had camber my wheel bearings are junk. Caster I dunno tho. Toe is distance between front of tires? Maybe?
 

idahovette

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Yes -.04 is toe out, shoulda been +.04. Toe in helps take up whatever slack there is in the linkage and helps stability a little. Natural pressure going down the road pulls the wheels and tires apart. I know you have new tie rods etc. but it still need a touch of toe. Caster looks decent, Camber you can get by with, depending on how much you drive it, but the toe is the biggest wear factor and it doesn't look too good to me, needs a little toe in........just my 2 cents worth
 

iamtherealJayy

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Yes in my opinion the passenger side tire needs brought inwards some. The truck shouldnt pull to the right as much as it does after an alignment. Especially since I had no problems before fixing things.
 

iamtherealJayy

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Dad thinks it’s a grooved rotor and pad not getting along, since it shakes worse when slowing down from high speeds. I’m going to try and get the wheels balanced to see if that gets rid of the vibration at speed it’s enough to feel your arm jiggling.. lol. But if you go from 70-30 in neutral it shakes and the shake gets quicker as you press the brakes but under 30 ish there is no shake. You can feel the shake everywhere throughout the truck. In your feet through the pedals and in your arms through the wheel. Guess you can’t feel it in your butt since the seat is so foamy lol
 

Redfish

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Caster is easily explained. Assuming you have ridden a bicycle before and assuming you were as dumb as I was when I was a kid...

If you are riding a bicycle the front wheel sits in front of the pivot point which gives a +, positive caster. The bike naturally wants to go in a straight line.
If you turn the handlebars completely around (180) where the tire is now tucked up underneath you, that is -, negative caster. The steering is twitchy and it becomes very difficult to hold a straight line.

Obviously there is more to it than that but this will hopefully give you a decent idea of what is happening.


As far as what moved on the rear, probably nothing. The thrust angle probably did change slightly based on the toe adjustments on the front but the change on the rear toe measurement is most likely just that the instrument moved slightly or that the readings are right on the edge between two numbers. I wouldn't worry about that at all, it is of no significance.
 

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I can’t remember if you mentioned this or not, but did you replace the ball joints in your 10 bolt?

Also, do you recall whenever you did the tie rods, if the joints fit well into the knuckles? Those holes can get wallered out. The taper shouldn’t completely fall right into the knuckle. It should take some torque to draw it in.
 

1STLS1

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I am going to suggest taking it to a frame shop and having them put it on a lift, hang the gauges and get the tram gauges out.

I bought this truck a couple years ago and looked over it carefully before I paid him. I knew it was wrecked at some point because the left 3/4 front sheetmetal was replacement GM parts with stickers. Crawled underneath it, didn't see anything that was a deal breaker. It drove ok after changing a couple bad front end parts and new tires, had the transmission rebuilt, they didn't say anything.

Pulled the bed and dropped both tanks and found the frame kinked in the center, the tanks blocked the view. When they "fixed it", they bent the cab mounts to level the cab. I had previously ran a Carfax prior to purchase and there was no accidents listed and it was one previous owner. I bought it off the grandson of the 90 year old couple going into assisted living home.

First, found a guy who could do it, not easy today with production shops everyplace here, he racked it and showed me 5 other areas out of place. I have been waiting for him to get to it, he is 4 months out on appointments.

With these trucks being around 35 years old, many of them have numerous stories hidden in them. With this being wrecked in the front and a loaded trailer swinging off the hitch at the time, I can only imagine what they will find.


The shimmy that comes and goes, I would bet is a tire with a shifted belt. Quick test is to lower the air pressures in the suspect wheel and take it for a spin. I used to shift belts all the time running at max PSI on company trucks, drop them dow so it drove better and the shifted belt went away.




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I am going to suggest taking it to a frame shop and having them put it on a lift, hang the gauges and get the tram gauges out.

I bought this truck a couple years ago and looked over it carefully before I paid him. I knew it was wrecked at some point because the left 3/4 front sheetmetal was replacement GM parts with stickers. Crawled underneath it, didn't see anything that was a deal breaker. It drove ok after changing a couple bad front end parts and new tires, had the transmission rebuilt, they didn't say anything.

Pulled the bed and dropped both tanks and found the frame kinked in the center, the tanks blocked the view. When they "fixed it", they bent the cab mounts to level the cab. I had previously ran a Carfax prior to purchase and there was no accidents listed and it was one previous owner. I bought it off the grandson of the 90 year old couple going into assisted living home.

First, found a guy who could do it, not easy today with production shops everyplace here, he racked it and showed me 5 other areas out of place. I have been waiting for him to get to it, he is 4 months out on appointments.

With these trucks being around 35 years old, many of them have numerous stories hidden in them. With this being wrecked in the front and a loaded trailer swinging off the hitch at the time, I can only imagine what they will find.


The shimmy that comes and goes, I would bet is a tire with a shifted belt. Quick test is to lower the air pressures in the suspect wheel and take it for a spin. I used to shift belts all the time running at max PSI on company trucks, drop them dow so it drove better and the shifted belt went away.




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That's just mind blowing..
 

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