where to measure

[swynx]

was messing around with the pickup today, i need to cut the fenders more. was going to mark some lines, when.... i pulled out the tape measure and realized that for some reason the passenger tire is 3.5 inches from the fender mount, and the driver side is 4.5 inches. so the tire rubs the mount slightly on the passenger side and not even close on the drivers side. measured from the center of the beam, right behind the u joint on both sides, back to the radius arm mount, got 31" on both sides. it doesnt wander, or track funny down the road. i dont notice that any thing is bent. it does have a home brew alignment on it which seems to work good, i have pretty good centering of the wheel. but the caster is not perfect.

so where should i measure from? place a plumb bob on the front frame horns and just start measuring?

 

[ericbphoto]

If you figure it out, let me know. My driver side wheel is closer in than the passenger side. My DS tire rubs the radius arm in tight turns. Pass. Side hasn't rubbed yet.

Although my truck isn't stock any more.

 

[Ranger850]

Center of hub straight up or straight out. Use a 3 or 4 ft level. Idk just a guess.

 

[swynx]

maybe its a ttb thing lol.

took an buttload of measurements, everything looks square. measured the shocks and it appears that i have a 1/2" more lift on passenger side than driver side (which is odd considering, the driver, battery and fuel tank) so at first i was thinking that maybe a half inch of lift, plus the curvature of a 37" tire amounts to 1" difference? so i lifted the passenger side 1" but it didnt do much for difference in the clearance.

then i got out the magnetic angle guage. turns out the driver side mount sits at about 83.5* and the passenger sits at about 88.5. idk much geometry but i was thinking that maybe 5 at 5" for the mount plus 1/2" lower ride height makes the difference? also my body mounts on passenger side are way more shot than driver side. thats all ive came up with. at this mount im probably going to trim the mounts the same so it doesnt look retarted.

 

[swynx]

Center of hub straight up or straight out. Use a 3 or 4 ft level. Idk just a guess.

i generally set the camber at about 5* on the hub(if i remember correctly) so its just a bit on the positive side. i feel that with my far softer than normal spring rate it helps even out tire wear.. and i have not had any issues with the tires wearing funny.

 

[ericbphoto]

measured the shocks and it appears that i have a 1/2" more lift on passenger side than driver side

I think I figured that part out. The axle beams are different lengths. So if everything else is the same, one side has a different amount of leverage than the other. I put a better explanation in my build thread a couple weeks ago. I leveled mine side to side with different sized spacers under the coils. Doesn’t do anything to help side-to-side positioning.

 

[ZMan]

My 2wd was like this. The radius arm crossmember was bent from a accident before I bought the truck. I changed the crossmember with a dorman replacement and all is well.