Alignment/Tire Question

[MOlivo]

Hello fine folks of Naxja :wave1:Light poster, heavy lurker. I have a question. I have a 1997 Jeep Cherokee Sport 4x4. I have about 5" of lift, and have noticed my front tires are severely wearing around the outer edge. The rear tires are fine. I figured it needed an alignment, so I took it to get the alignment done and the tech told me that the ball joints are not adjustable, so there was no way to adjust the alignment to correct the problem. Does that sound right? If so, where can I order the adjustable ball joints? I want to get some new mud terrain tires but the fronts wore out WAY too fast due to the issue I am having. Heres a pic of the truck atriot:

Photo of it burried in the mud :laugh:

 

[Muddy Beast]

Your alignment is off...get the tierod adjusted, and don't go back to where ever you were because he doesn't know what's going on. The edges will wear when your toe is off (a.k.a. a tierod adjustment) on XJs.

~Scott

 

[MOlivo]

Thank you, I thought that sounded odd. I'm far from educated on stuff involving suspension/alignment/ect, so I couldnt argue with him either way.

 

[Slip Kid]

There's no way to adjust camber, but unless you've bent something, you shouldn't need to. Did they adjust the toe? Toe is all there is to an alignment on an XJ (tierod adjustment). Did they say that your camber was wrong? There is offset ball joints, but I've never heard of anyone needing to use them. If your camber is off, then something is rather wrong. Go somewhere else and have them set your toe-in like the first place should have done.

 

[MOlivo]

They never even checked the alignment. He put it on the rack, told me it wasnt adjustable, and took it back down. I was like "Uh...You sure? I never heard of a vehicle that needs aftermarket parts for an alignment.".

 

[MOlivo]

PS:Offset Balljoints is what he told me I needed, that rang a bell when you said that.

 

[Slip Kid]

They never even checked the alignment. He put it on the rack, told me it wasnt adjustable, and took it back down. I was like "Uh...You sure? I never heard of a vehicle that needs aftermarket parts for an alignment.".

Yes, he is an idiot, put the shop on your #$#@ list, and tell people to avoid it.

 

[MOlivo]

Cool thank you for the advice Ill take it to another shop and see what they say.

 

[dj's 2000 xj]

I just did an alignment on mine in the driveway. Never messed with it before. I think it is pretty close. if you search, there is a neat little write up. Very simple, just a couple nuts to loosen and a pipe wrench. I also centered my steering wheel. Felt pretty awesome! (Tim the Toolman Bark here)

 

[Gojeep]

Just do it yourself as very easy. See my write up.
http://www.go.jeep-xj.info/HowtoAlignment.htm

 

[dgrigorenko]

you can obtain offset ball joints from Rockauto.com and regain some of your castor, but that aside, that guy was a freaking retard. i also do my own alignments just like Gojeep's writeup.

 

[Dustin_XJ]

PS:Offset Balljoints is what he told me I needed, that rang a bell when you said that.

This is what i was told also.

 

[MOlivo]

I have an appoitment tomorrow to try and hopefully get it aligned. This shop supposedly has an excellant reputation, I asked a few different people and they all referred them to me. I tried doing it myself acording to the write up this AM, but couldnt figure it out...

 

[z_lindig]

figured i'd add my $.02. i've aligned PLENTY of jeeps, and it seems to me that even a non-flogged D30 usually doesn't fall into specs as far as camber is concerned. i wouldn't be too quick to call the alignment tech a tard, however, because many lifted jeep owners take their vehicles to get aligned because the feel the negative effects of not enough caster. yes it wasn't right of him to not even look at it, and yes there isn't much you can do to it outside of offset ball-joints or cam-bolts. mud tires are VERY finnicky when it comes to adverse wear. if there is anything in your front-end not right, and if your toe isn't correct, tires will wear funny... keep 'em rotated!!!

 

[JJacobs]

I have found that on average, a Gojeep style driveway alignment is off about .25". If that's cool, then cool. Just pointing out to the DIY'ers that accuracy isn't really happening with a tape measure.

As pointed out, it takes a LOT of camber to wear a tire, compared to toe...

 

[mrbilly2783]

I had a similar experience and need help. I purchased the lifetime alignment for my jeep before realizing I could do it my self. But now I'm not to sure where to go next. After I lifted my 90 XJ 4.5 in, I took it to get it aligned and they adjusted the toe but said I had negative camber. so now, I need help trying to figure out how to fix it? should I get those adjustable ball joints? should I check for worn parts? if so, how do I do that? any help would be appreciated. thanks

 

[REDDOGG.XJ]

figured i'd add my $.02. i've aligned PLENTY of jeeps, and it seems to me that even a non-flogged D30 usually doesn't fall into specs as far as camber is concerned. i wouldn't be too quick to call the alignment tech a tard, however, because many lifted jeep owners take their vehicles to get aligned because the feel the negative effects of not enough caster. yes it wasn't right of him to not even look at it, and yes there isn't much you can do to it outside of offset ball-joints or cam-bolts. mud tires are VERY finnicky when it comes to adverse wear. if there is anything in your front-end not right, and if your toe isn't correct, tires will wear funny... keep 'em rotated!!!

I couldn’t agree more. They say it’s in spec and I ask is it right? Most of those guys see a solid front axle and they tell you there’s nothing to adjust, just the toe. I align mine myself these days and ever so often I’ll have it checked to double check my measurements. Make sure you get a print out of the alignment so you’ll know he’s not just feeding you a line. Some of these places will charge you for four wheel alignment but just set the toe or only put the heads on the front wheels so how could you know if the front axle sits square with the rear.

For toe measurement l use a folding ruler with a slide out scale and that should get you under .0625 especially if you’ve got some one helping you. An angler finder works for camber or caster measurements.