Alignment/tire question

Hey all, so I'm about a week and a half removed from a little 400 mile road trip out to the sand dunes in Michigan (needed to take her out for some Baja-ing. It was the only thing I didn't get to try out in my truck while in Moab over the summer). It was fun as hell, I swear I fall in love with this truck all over again every time I take it out just about anywhere, especially when I get to use it as intended. But I digress...

Question is, how often should I be inspecting it for proper alignment, particularly when off-roading? I ran her a little hard at some points, and I'm trying to eyeball it, seems like the front tires have a slight negative camber to them, but I don't know if that's really how I should be judging it. I don't really feel it pulling any which way, drive quality seems about the same, I was just wondering if it's something I should get done after a few hours of hitting the dunes. I've tried scouring the forums as much as I could, but couldn't find exactly what I was looking for. (Side note: I've got a '19, 12,6xx miles on it, never had anything done to it besides oil changes and tire rotations. Never looked into alignment after the Utah trip).

And another question: feeling some slight vibration in the steering wheel, felt it after getting back home from the Utah trip. It's not horrible and it doesn't really bother me, but what does is the bumpiness I was feeling just after getting back home. I suspect it to be the tires. It was very noticeable and felt like it was coming from the front, but after tire rotation I felt it transfer to the rear, although now it's not as bad and I only notice it every once in a while. I'm convinced its the tires themselves, maybe out of balance? Should I have them road force balanced? My dad and I co-own a Mayflower brand tire changer/balancer, but I'm assuming it wouldn't quite do the job as say a Hunter brand.

As always, thanks in advance to anyone able to help out a Raptor newbie!

Poor alignment can eat tires quickly. If you think you might have knocked it out there are plenty of places that will do free alignment checks. Firestone lifetime alignment is a pretty good deal if you can get them to do your Raptor.

It doesn't take that much to knock one of these out of alignment if your cruising good, a big hole or dip can cause it. Specialty products makes an alignment cam kit that helps.

I got fed up with mine getting knocked out of alignment, local firestones would only sell me 1 time alignments, Goodyears 3 year plan only allows 1 alignment every 6 months, so I ended up buying Longacre alignment tools. Very good investment.

After a bit of crawling in Utah I noticed that I had torn off a couple of the blocks on the tires. Have you inspected yours?

B E N said:

Poor alignment can eat tires quickly. If you think you might have knocked it out there are plenty of places that will do free alignment checks. Firestone lifetime alignment is a pretty good deal if you can get them to do your Raptor.

It doesn't take that much to knock one of these out of alignment if your cruising good, a big hole or dip can cause it. Specialty products makes an alignment cam kit that helps.

I got fed up with mine getting knocked out of alignment, local firestones would only sell me 1 time alignments, Goodyears 3 year plan only allows 1 alignment every 6 months, so I ended up buying Longacre alignment tools. Very good investment.

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Good to know. I also like to have my own equipment, so I'll look into it.

GordoJay said:

After a bit of crawling in Utah I noticed that I had torn off a couple of the blocks on the tires. Have you inspected yours?

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Yes I did, when I rotated my tires after the trip. Looked fine. Although now the rear tires feel like they need balanced or roadforce balanced for sure. At least, that's what I suspect is needed.

KingKoopa17 said:

Good to know. I also like to have my own equipment, so I'll look into it.



Yes I did, when I rotated my tires after the trip. Looked fine. Although now the rear tires feel like they need balanced or roadforce balanced for sure. At least, that's what I suspect is needed.

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@B E N is right.

Look into these: https://www.spcalignment.com/component/spc/?task=part_description&pid=86252&region=USA&make=Ford&model=F-150&year=2004 - 2014&from=USAFrom&to=USATo

Apparently it’s known the F150 is weak on the camber adjusters.

My Used ‘14 kept pulling right and alignments weren’t fixing it. Mine had one on the left but not the right. After installing the right it’s smooth and straight ahead sailing.

I’m sure a pair of these will help, if not prevent it from being kicked out again if that truly is the problem.

B E N said:

Poor alignment can eat tires quickly. If you think you might have knocked it out there are plenty of places that will do free alignment checks. Firestone lifetime alignment is a pretty good deal if you can get them to do your Raptor.

It doesn't take that much to knock one of these out of alignment if your cruising good, a big hole or dip can cause it. Specialty products makes an alignment cam kit that helps.

I got fed up with mine getting knocked out of alignment, local firestones would only sell me 1 time alignments, Goodyears 3 year plan only allows 1 alignment every 6 months, so I ended up buying Longacre alignment tools. Very good investment.

Click to expand...

My local Firestone sold me the lifetime. I needed one after thrashing it on my last hunting trip and I'm sure I'll more in the future.