Alignment Question

Buzzcut1 wrote:
I seriously doubt that any regular tire shop has a tall enoug bay to put my truck and tc on the alignment rack.

I agree finding a regular tire shop bay tall enough with TC on. My TC adds 300 lbs. loaded to front. Never had issues with alignment done without camper on or alignment issues after loading TC.

Super_Dave wrote:
To some degree, I think you'd employ the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" mentality. If getting it aligned with the camper off hasn't resulted in any odd tire wear with the camper on, I'd probably stick with that approach.

For the most part, I agree. The problem comes in when you do have alignment problems, why? Was it due to TC weight, normal wear, hitting one hole too many, or?

For me, I decided 200 pounds is just not much weight, so I ignore it and align without the TC. If I were concerned, I would have the front aligned without the TC. I would put a basket in the front, and load it with 200 pounds of sand, and have them put it back on the machine to see if there was any change. Obviously, you would have to weigh your front and rear axles.

To some degree, I think you'd employ the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" mentality. If getting it aligned with the camper off hasn't resulted in any odd tire wear with the camper on, I'd probably stick with that approach.

I would be more concerned about alignment if you have a front carrier with something heavy than whether you are carrying the TC. If you tow something heavy behind your truck without a WDH, you will also see more variation in front end alignment.

I seriously doubt that any regular tire shop has a tall enoug bay to put my truck and tc on the alignment rack.

I align/check mine without the TC on every spring whether it needs it or not, and I've never had a problem.

Rick

Reddog1 wrote:
I had mine aligned without the TC on the truck. The weight on the front axle of my truck only increases by 200 pounds with the TC loaded. This has worked well for me for the past 175,000 miles.

Wayne

Wayne said it right - very little weight added to the front of mine and I have never seen any wear from my 100,000 miles plus.

That is a good question , one I've pondered myself . I have asked 4 different alignment shops and got 4 different answers . What I have done is compromise and loaded the truck approximately half way so it wouldn't be off too much either way . It also depends on how many inches the back end squats when loaded , that's what changes the geometry . Another thing to keep in mind is not the amount of time it is loaded but the mileage . It could be loaded 50% of the time but that might only represent 10% of the mileage , or vice versa . Another wild card is if the original specs already take into account it will be fully loaded . Haven't found anyone to answer that yet either .

I had mine aligned without the TC on the truck. The weight on the front axle of my truck only increases by 200 pounds with the TC loaded. This has worked well for me for the past 175,000 miles.

Wayne

I would probably do it with the TC loaded. The additional weight will make any misalignment much more severe and cause tire and front end wear.