Lining Up The F150 After New Tie Rods With String And Sawhorses

[jonp]

I just put in new upper control arms/ball joints, lower ball joints and inner/outer tie rods on my 2004 4wd F150 XLT. After being careful to measure the tie rods, count the number of turns the old ends took to come off, etc I installed the new ones and, of course, the alignment was way off. Despite the dire warnings of imminent death if I didn't immediately spend $100 on a professional alignment I got out a couple of sawhorses and some bailing twine.

I set the horses up, one in front of the steers and one behind the rear axle and tied a piece of string to them running the length of the vehicle. I then jacked up the truck so the vehicle was off the ground but the tires were still touching the dirt just hard enough that i could barely move them. Turning the steering wheel so that it rested in the center position I left it. I then measure the string from the rear tires both on sides opposite each other midway up the wheel and moving the horses got them both 1in from the tire. Measuring the distances of the steer I saw that the front edge was out 1/2in farther than the opposite side so I got under the vehicle and loosened the lock nut then turned the inner rod until both edges of the tire read the same. Remeasuring both the front and rear tires to make sure they were all even I moved the horses to the other side and repeated. Letting the vehicle down I checked again and when all were ok I tightened the lock nuts on both sides and took it for a ride.

I got it up to 55mph on my road and let go of the steering wheel. Straight down the road with no movement either direction. Some recommend a slight 1/8in toe in to keep it from wandering but I didn't do it and it doesn't seem to wander so good to go!

Anyone else try this method?

[fecmech]

When I was in vehicle maint I aligned my Ford vans with a bar the width of the truck with vertical sliding pointers. Set the pointers to the middle tread on the front tires and measure the distance across from the back of the wheels to the distance across the front. Adjust so distance was 1/8" less across the front.

[lancem]

Living 60 miles away from town and after taking my truck in to be aligned after changing the ball joints, only to be told that they couldn't align it because the ball joints were bad I've taken to doing all myself. I even bought a caster/camber gauge so I could "really" do it right. Haven't been back to the alignment shop and now do all of my trucks myself. Definitely don't miss that shop always finding something "else" that needs to be fixed, and easily paid for the gauge after the second home job, and that has been probably 5 years ago now.

[EDG]

I have always checked the front tires with a steel tape.
I set the tie rods so the steering wheel points straight ahead and the front of the rims are closer than the rear of the rims by 1/8". It is amazingly easy to get it right.

[ThomR]

I've done an alignment job like that before. I used a pair of jack stands to tie the string to.

[tja6435]

I set my toe 1/16" and it wears the tires nice and evenly, no cupping, in my 01 Cherokee