Forum Discussion

Toot_Mc's avatar
Toot_Mc
Explorer
May 12, 2018

E-450 alignment

I am looking to get my e-450 chassis front
wheels aligned and get the caster fixed to stop the wondering around and white nuckle driving all day.

Can anyone give me shops name in Houston Tx, preferably on NW side of town, that they would recomend?
  • j-d's avatar
    j-d
    Explorer II
    Hopefully someone can give you exactly what you ask. Ifnot, call John at Hendersons Line Up in Grants Pass Oregon. He has a list of shops nationwide that do alignment the way they do, and discovered by Harvard here.
    If you need the specs, I have them written down where I can probably find them. It's basically Left Front Caster 5* or more, Right Front the Left +0.5*, Camber close to Zero, Toe slightly IN.e c
    Please choose a shop by whether it will do what you need. NOT by convenience! . This is too important to trifle with. Some shops won't go outside of the 3* Left and 3.5* Right Caster that's the middle of Ford's range. Others won't use the adjustable bushings that will probably needed to get to 5* Caster and 0* Camber.
    Then there are those thieves who do a Toe-And-Go alignment on these Twin I-Beam axles without checking anything else.
    So drive if you must drive to get the right job.
  • The Ford dealership in the city where we "base" for health care, etc., (Augusta, GA) has a true truck shop. The only thing they work on were 1-ton and heavier chassis - including RVs, etc. Perhaps there's something like that not too far from you.

    Rob
  • Planet ford heavy truck shop in Spring. I know the manager. They do good work.
    (281) 719-3906.
    Also, Strouhal tire in conroe does good alignments for RV’s. (936) 856-2812
  • Before assuming the alignment is the problem, have your coach weighed in full trim. You might be rear-heavy to the point of changing the front suspension geometry giving you the problems. Your front axle is rated for 5,000 lbs, so if your rear is near max and your front is only at 3,000 or below, that would be the problem. Shift weight forward in the coach to fix the issue.

    I learned this the hard way on a Safari 38' DP... With the entire drive train in the rear and the grey and black tanks in the rear, unless I drove with a full 110 gallon complement of water and over a half tank of fuel (110 gallon tank, too), it wandered all over the place. Adding that 900 lbs of water and 350-700 lbs of fuel corrected the issue.