We had a front end alignment today from a Mobile Alignment guy. He did a very professional job, with new, state-of-the-art equipment. He will show up where you are (In the Chattanooga area) and do the work.
I highly recommend him. He specializes in Semis, but is happy to do my bus, motorhomes, or any big equipment.
Honest, hardworking, and experienced.
$100 for the alignment, $50 for the service call. However if he does two or more at the same location he will wave the service call. So, get a caravan together and put this guy to work.
Notice a difference?? Does it drive true and straight?
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The small string line Lasers you buy from HD or Lowes are a great asset for the DIY crowd,they are a handy gadget for the tool box for checking the alignment
One thing for sure and the unfortunate thing about it, you will know how good your alignment is in about 5 - 10K miles (or less if it's really bad).
QuoteNotice a difference?? Does it drive true and straight?
It drove pretty good before, but my tie-rod ends were bad. I had them both replaced but that means it needs to be aligned after.
It seems to drive perfect, but as said, I should know more in 5000-10000 miles.
Typically if your front end is tight, once aligned, it should be good for a long time-unless you hit a curb or big pot hole. I have had my bus since 1993 and not had it aligned yet-and perfect tire wear.
As with any alignment, several measurements are made. First, the rear axle should be aligned with the bus. Then you align the front axle to the rear axle. After that you can concentrate on the actual alignment of the front axle. There are three sets of measurements. Camber-which is how perpendicular the tire is to the road. Typically, you might run the left with 0-2 degrees of positive and the right tire 0-2 degrees of negative-depending on whether you do mostly freeway or street driving (highly crowned roads will want more camber-typically with transit buses). You can't go wrong just setting the camber at 0. Caster-think of a shopping cart steering wheels. If you get a shopping cart that the wheels madly wiggle side to side, then there isn't enough caster. Caster setting also changes whether you have manual steering or hydraulic steering. Caster determines high speed stability and also steering wheel return after turning a corner. THEE most important measurement is Toe. Radial tires are extremely sensitive to toe. This is the measurement of how much the tires are in facing each other or out away from each other. You want as close to 0 with maybe 1/16" to 1/8" of toe in for best tire wear. Some go as much as 1/4" in for better stability since 0 toe can make for a sensitive steering wheel reaction. Even with 1/16" toe in, if you figure your tires rotate around 500 times a mile, that means the tires are scrubbing in 31.2" per mile! 1/4" will give you 125"! Good Luck, TomC