Chevrolet 1980 Light Duty Truck Service Manual page 182

3A-2 FRONT A LIG N M E N T
MAINTENANCE AND ADJUSTM ENTS
PRELIM INARY CHECKS PRIOR TO
ADJUSTING FRONT A LIG N M E N T
Before making any adjustment affecting caster, camber
or toe-in, the following checks and inspections should be
made to insure correctness of alignment readings and
alignment adjustments.
1. Check all tires for proper inflation pressures and
approximately the same tread wear.
2. Check front wheel bearings for looseness (.001-.008
end play is correct) and adjust if necessary.
3. Check for looseness of ball joints, tie rod ends and
steering relay rods; if excessive looseness is noted, it must
be corrected before adjusting.
4. Check for run-out of wheels and tires.
5. Check vehicle trim heights; if out of specifications
and a correction is to be made, the correction must be made
before adjusting caster, camber or toe-in.
6. Check for steering gear looseness at frame.
7. Check for improperly operating shock absorbers.
8. Check for loose control arms.
9. Check for loose or
attachments.
CAMBER ANGLE
FRONT VIEW
Fig. 3 A -1 -C a s te r - C am b er - Toe-In
missing stabilizer
CASTER ANGLE
10. Consideration must be given to excess loads, such
as tool boxes. If this excess load is normally carried in the
vehicle, it should remain in the vehicle during alignment
checks.
11. Consider the condition of the equipment being used
to check alignment and follow the manufacturer's
instructions.
12. Regardless of equipment used to check alignment,
the vehicle must be on a level surface both fore and aft and
transversely.
13. Steering and vibration complaints are not always
the result of improper alignment. An additional item to be
checked is the possibility of tire lead due to worn or
improperly manufactured tires. "Lead" is the deviation of
the vehicle from a straight path on a level road without hand
pressure on the steering wheel. Section 3E of this manual,
"Wheels and Tires", contains a procedure for determining
the presence of a tire lead problem.
FRONT A LIG N M E N T REQ UIREM ENTS
Satisfactory vehicle operation may occur over a wide
range of front end wheel alignment settings. Nevertheless,
should settings
readjustments of alignment is advisable. The specifications
bar
stated in column 1 of the chart in the specifications section
<[. OF WHEEL
DIRECTION
SIDE VIEW
vary beyond certain
LIG H T T R U C K S ER V IC E MANUAL
tolerances,