Dually Alignment

[GoPackGo]

Hi everybody - I've never owned a dually before and I want to get a wheel alignment done. Is the process the same as any other 4 wheel vehicle ? Do they align all 4 corners or do they align just the fronts ?

I have a 2013 F350 if it matters.

Thank You,

Tim

[john_bet]

Mine was checked 4 1/2 years ago as part of new tire deal. No adjustment needed. Not checked since.

[B_O__Plenty]

I've never had an alignment done in my life. I watch how the tires wear and if there is no problem why waste the money...Having worked with alignment techs in the past I've seen plenty of cars/trucks go out the door in worse shape that they came in. It's easy to skew the printout on an alignment rack to make it looks like it needs an alignment when it doesn't..

B.O.

[retispcsi]

I had SRW aligned wherever I got a deal in the past. On my 2012 Dually I use the dealer. The price is about the same as other alignment shops and Ram sends out coupons every now and then which makes it less expensive. I think I paid 75 to 80 bucks last time.

[VintageRacer]

4 WD Ford Superduty trucks can be fully adjusted for toe, camber and caster. Camber and caster is adjusted by rotating or exchanging an eccentric bushing that locates the upper ball joint, so the camber and caster adjustment is very inter-related. One of the bigger problems with the Superduty solid axle is front wheel wobble. This is often caused by the rubber bushing in the chassis side track bar mount starting to soften, or by too little caster. Slight pull to one side or the other can be caster, and can also be tire wear or the so-called "radial tire pull", a tire just pulls one way or the other for no discernible reason. It's worth while just rotating your tires before you go for an alignment.

Brian

[Huntindog]

In 2001 I bought a lifetime alignment contract at Firestone for my 2001 Silverado dually. I had it checked several times and then they got a new alignment rack that couldn't fit a dually. So they refunded my contract in full.
I never bothered with it again, as they =had never done any actual fixing. HD trucks seem to hold their alignment really well.

[Chiefcpo]

Had mine done at Woody Anderson Ford in Huntsville, Al.. They would only align it if I brought my 5er in with it so they could do a proper loaded alingment should it need any.
found my stablizer was bad causing the rig to shimmy at R/R crossings.

[Halmfamily]

Had to take my truck k to Firestone as they were the only ones that had a rack big enough for my dually. All the mom and pop shops could not handle a dually.
The manager of the Firestone told me to bring the exact pin weight on the next alignment and they can align the truck better to towing the fiver.

[RamTC]

I found very few shops are capable of performing a dually alignment in my area. Duals require a wide rack designed for DRWs.

[JamesBr]

With a dually or not there is little you do with a live axle rear end. The thrust angles are usually not far off unless there are other underlying issues.

The front end wise, they will do a camber/caster sweep which will tell them if something is irregular, there is little you can do to adjust camber or caster without a busing meant for it. But they will check toe and ensure that your toe angle for each wheel, plus total toe are within spec.

[dbbls]

I think all the will align is the toe in. All other conditions are pretty much non-adjustable. I guess they could bend an axle but I doubt if it needs it unless you have hit something pretty hard.

[GoPackGo]

Thanks for the reply. You confirmed what I kind of wondered - there's nothing to align on the rears.

I did buy it new (May - 2013) but I now have 18,000 miles on it and it seems to want to pull off to the side a little. And my experience has been that vehicles don't come perfectly aligned from the factory.

Tim

[VintageRacer]

A good place will check the rears but there isn't anything to adjust on the rear so unless they find a problem they don't do anything. Front is the usual caster, camber, toe, center the steering wheel. Why do you want an alignment on such a new vehicle?

Brian