The best tools in the world won't help a bad mechanic.
*Fixed*
Well after spending half the night researching rear alignment issues. And getting no feedback from 4WheelParts' call into Rancho, I decided to pop into my local "Used Tire/Taco Stand" to see if I could figure it out. It's not the most sophisticated place in ambiance or equipment, but I have used them before... one of our many basic Mexican tire stores here in Texas. Plus no "off limits" shop floor here. I can feel free to roll up my sleeves and get involved.
My Taco shop does alignments, but they are not setup for 4X4 rear alignments. So we went old school, using a torpedo level and a tape measure on the rear. Long story short... I'm riding like a dream!!... and only took us about 25min to complete. So apparently the guys at 4WheelParts are able to measure accurately with their laser guided, 4X4, simultaneous, alignment tool. But their ASE Cert Mechanic had no clue as to which cam bolts effected which plane of the wheel geometry?? And more surprising, apparently couldn't figure it out by adjusting and watching what changed. Proves my theory that "parts changers" with little or no troubleshooting abilities dominate the big store retail shops.
Anyway, all seems good now. No more squirrelly lane changes at +40mph. Ran straight and true at +80mph yesterday. I'll most likely bring it to a more sophisticated shop to check the actual alignment specs in about 1000 miles, after I had a chance to fine tune the Rancho shocks, AirLifts and watch the tire wear. One thing I had to do was remove the front mud flaps after the lift. The very slight rub I was having while turning with the 285/65/18 tires on stock rims, got a little worse after the 2" lift. Not bad but better without the flaps.
Here is a quick photo after the lift. In this shot the rear is about 1" higher than the front, but I filled my AirLifts to Max 35psi last night to insure I didn't have a leak or seeping overnight. As of now it seems to run as smooth as stock with Ranchos set to #4 and Airlifts at 15psi on surface streets and the interstate. Next on my list, replace all the sway bar bushings,
doctahjones suggested. Mine don't look that bad, but they are definitely gaping at the split. The new OME sway bar bushings have a better split placement that avoid separation.
Thanks all for the recommendations.
NmexMAX wrote:Looks good, and sounds like fun. I need to get me a BDGT. What model did you get? I like that you can adjust the speedo.
To be clear, BDGT allows you to adjust it's own internal speedo readout , not the 2008 Pathy's mechanical dash speedo.