Aligning solid axle trucks is really easy, but it does require accurate measuring devices to do it right. Normally that means taking your truck to an alignment shop and them using lasers to check everything, but before all that technology came out, people used to align their vehicles a much simpler way. And that way still works just as well, as long as you have a solid surface to measure from. For all you DIY guys who want to do your own alignments at home, here is the tool you need. Our alignment plates bolt to your front hubs and provide a square surface to measure your toe in quickly and make quick adjustments to get it dialed in. This place is cut on our CNC table out of 3/16" steel so it's very tough, it will not bend easily and can be used forever on any 8 x 6.5" lug trucks.
To use, all you do is park your truck on a flat level surface with the tires pointed straight ahead, set the parking brake, put the front axle on jack stands and remove the front wheels. Bolt our alignment plates to the hubs (one on each hub), then run a tape measure across the front and back of the plates using the slits cut into the plates. Now you can measure the toe and adjust it until you have it exactly where it needs to be. Once your toe is set, remove the plates, put your wheels back on, and your truck is now aligned! We will have a video available soon that shows just how easy this is to do. If you can read a tape measure, you can align your truck.
These plates only measure toe, but you can adjust your steering wheel if needed very easily, and we can explain it to you once we know what kind of steering your truck has. The only other thing an alignment shop does is correct your caster, which is done with the control arms. You can adjust that using the lower arm cam bolts if needed, and there are ways to measure the caster without fancy equipment, but most of the time you don't need to touch the caster. These are the only three things an alignment shop does on all solid axle trucks (unless you have one with a rear 4 link suspension, then they do a four wheel alignment), and more times than not you've got to go back to have it corrected shortly afterwards anyway. And a lot of shops won't even touch your truck if your tires are over 37" tall or if the truck is too wide, so this is a way to get your truck alignment dialed in without having to leave your house.
This product includes two plates cut out of 3/16" steel, powdercoated black. You will need to use your own tape measure, and we recommend using two of the same one just in case there are any variances between different brands. You can use one tape measure if you want, it just takes a little longer to move it from front to back if you use the slits in the plates to hold it in place. You will use lug nuts to hold the plates to the hubs; we do not include any hardware.
