Front wheel alignment

[claude brousson]

I am interested in any wisdom on front end alignment. I notice that the
book says to align the front wheels out at -1/8" However some others
suggest one can get a better alignment with toe in of +1/8", some say
+1/16" in, and some say - 1/8" out
So what is best? Will what one chooses be affected and should it be
controlled also by what are the other choices for castor and camber?

I read in one book that usually one chooses more castor on the right
wheel than the left to offset the slope of the road. Should this also be
true with our GMC's? The maintenance book specs don't suggest this
however.

Also when one has power on the wheels ( motor pulling vehicle ahead)
will this tend to turn the wheels outward or inward? Which ever it is I
would wonder if one should be toeing slightly the opposite. If that was
the case, the downside would be when one was coasting, it would worsen
the toe situation?

Are there any out there who know and understand front end geometry. I'd
be real interested in hearing your ideas.
Claude

 

[richard guthart]

Claude,

When I had my coach aligned last summer, the shop originally set toe at
zero. On my first trip I noticed some wander while cruising on the flat
under throttle, but tracking was better as I let up on the throttle while
descending a grade. This led me to surmise that the toe was OK while
descending but toed in too much when under power(due to the pulling of the
front-wheel drive). So I went back to the shop and had them set the toe at
1/8" out. Tracks much better now.

Your coach may be different depending on the amount of wear in your linkage
but that was my experience in a GMC with 59,000 miles on the original
linkage.

(BTW camber and caster were set to specs.)

Richard

- -----Original Message-----
From: owner-gmcmotorhome
[mailtowner-gmcmotorhome]On Behalf Of Claude Brousson
Sent: Sunday, March 26, 2000 11:46 AM
To: gmcmotorhome
Subject: GMC: Front wheel alignment

I am interested in any wisdom on front end alignment. I notice that the
book says to align the front wheels out at -1/8" However some others
suggest one can get a better alignment with toe in of +1/8", some say
+1/16" in, and some say - 1/8" out
So what is best? ............

 

[samuel pickens]

Anytime such an endeavor is to be undertaken; definitely make sure bearings
are good with the exact right amount of clearance.