So I put my bilstein 5100s on yesterday to the max setting and went for an alignment today. Everything is good except the right front caster which is at 5.9 degrees (spec is 2.8-4.8 I believe). He said it prob wouldn't be an issue and the truck drives fine, but he did say they could order a kit for $75 (plus $50 install) that would allow him to get it inside spec. I haven't seen anyone else have this issue and I know this guy personally so I trust he's not trying to screw me over or anything. They spent 2 hours trying to get it right (I figured something was going on) but just couldn't. He said it's not really a big deal since the camber and toe are in spec and it drives good, but I wanted to see what yalls opinion was if I should get them to install this aftermarket bracket or not. Sorry about pic, paper got wadded up.

 

Been doing alignments for over 25 years myself and your friend is correct, if your not having any issues with wandering, pulling to one side or the other, let it ride.
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Caster is what helps return the steering back to straight, Camber is the angle of the wheel to centerline, which keeps the tread flat on the ground. I would be more concerned if Camber were off than Caster. Drive it a while and see if you have any steering issues with keeping straight down a road or stiffness while going around curves.

 

Yeah he said he could get the caster right but then the camber was off but the camber is obviously more important so he got that within spec. I'm heading down to tampa in a week so i'm sure that'll give me a good idea if it's good or not, thank y'all for the info. Just wanted to double check and make sure before I put my new Ridge Grapplers on and something I wasn't aware of could cause them to wear prematurely.

 

Looking at those numbers your truck should pull to the left, road crown to the right may counter.

Tire wear is Toe (Primary) and Camber (secondary) Caster will not affect tires.
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Ok thank you, I haven't had it on the interstate yet...just 55mph highways. I'll keep an eye on it and if it seems to pull I guess I'll have them install the kit.

 

Just got home, ran it on the interstate about 10 miles and it ran just about as straight as one could ask for. Tried different lanes and even forced it one way to see if it would make it's way back and it never would. I guess as long as it won't hurt anything I'll leave it as is.

 

There you go. Sounds like they did the right thing since Caster is the least likely to cause wear or other issues.

When you did the fronts, did you torque everything with the weight on it? I usually take it for a short drive to help settle, then re-torque everything, that usually helps to get the alignment back to stock.

 

No, never heard of doing that so didn't think to. Never had any issues on two other trucks putting these on so just figured this should go the same way lol. I may just go ahead and have them put that kit in just for peace of mind, only $125 for install, parts and new alignment so that seems reasonable. I already saved a bunch of money by installing them myself lol.

 

Caster has 0 affect on tire wear. None nada zip.
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