Front end alignment questions

On chassis with "double wishbone" suspension (upper and lower control arms) I find that many want to change the ball joints but ignore the control arm bushings. They affect ride and alignment. It's much easier and no doubt more profitable to change ball joints. On the GM vehicles I used to work on, it was possible to change bushings with improvised stuff in my home shop. Nowadays a lot of time the whole control arm is replaced. New Arm with Ball Joint and both Bushings.

The shocks were bad and we changed all four just last month...because the tires had an uneven wear and chop/wave on them. The shock was the worst hubby had ever seen (you could pull plunger out and it would go back in all on its own....probably orginal shocks with 40,000 miles and 9 years of life). The drivers tire was noticeably worse than passenger but this also had the worst shock of all four. The uneven wear seemed to all be slanted towards one side (not sure if it was inside or outside).

These tires were newly installed before our trips. 2013 and they are now two years old. We did 20,000 miles on these new Firestone tires AND part of it was on the gravel road of Labrador.

It now drives and handles fine. Hubby thinks most of the wear was shock issues.
Donna
and thank you!

I see that the OP has a Chevy Chassis. They are not prone to the problems that The Fords have and are a lot easier to align without the extra amount of Caster.

I just had mine aligned after more than 96000 miles. I also asked about any thing else such as rear alignment and was told that unless it was dog tracking nothing more had to be done.It was taken on a test ride before and after to insure that all was in working order and if anything else had to be done,It didn't.

I was having no problems with it but after all those miles I thought it may be a good idea to have it checked.

The Tech that did the work said that all the components were in fine shape and very little wear and a small adjustment to the steering and it was ready to go.

I would have a good alignment shop that is versed in truck chassis to do the work.

If you're happy with the way it drives down the road and the tires are not worn asymmetrically, you don't need an alignment. What's the problem that you're having?

dcason wrote:
Ours is a chevy.

Then, what makes you think you are in need of an alignment? Sure looks like you have driven a lot of miles. Is it tire wear? If so, how many miles on the tires?

Ours is a chevy.

I believe the OP does not have a Ford cab/chassis.

Here is a good thread to read on alignment of a E450.
E350/E450 Ford Installed Caster/Camber Sleeves ?