How acceptable are these alignment specs?

fondupot · April 22, 2015

I recently installed Bilstein 5100's on all four corners. I set my Bilsteins on the 2nd to top setting, which equates to about 1.25" of level up front. Shouldn't throw the front geometry off too much, but like a good modification enthusiast, I promptly had my truck aligned by my local mechanic right after having the work done. The only driving before it was aligned was between my house and the mechanic which is about 10 or so miles. Well today is about 1000 miles later since I have had them installed and the truck aligned. And I was filling up gas today and walking around the truck inspecting the tires and I noticed my front right tire has noticeable more outer edge wear compared to any other tire on the truck. See the pics.

Front Left Tire: If you look at the outer edge you can see the grooves/sipes still in the tread. This is how three of my four tires look. I'd consider this normal wear for nearly 18k miles.

Front Right Tire: Notice the outer tread. You can barley see the grooves/sipes out toward the edge. This tire is showing more wear than the rest, which leads me to believe the camber on that side is not set correctly, to me it seems like there is too much positive camber, which would make sense after leveling the front end. However, I know that front tires will wear more on the outer edges than rear tires, but this seems excessive.

This is my alignment report from my mechanic. Anybody know with any certainty if these are close to the spec for this truck?

Should I be concerned with this wear? And/or should I have the alignment readjusted?

Thanks in advance.

WendysOrBust · April 22, 2015

I recently installed Bilstein 5100's on all four corners. I set my Bilsteins on the 2nd to top setting, which equates to about 1.25" of level up front. Shouldn't throw the front geometry off too much, but like a good modification enthusiast, I promptly had my truck aligned by my local mechanic right after having the work done. The only driving before it was aligned was between my house and the mechanic which is about 10 or so miles. Well today is about 1000 miles later since I have had them installed and the truck aligned. And I was filling up gas today and walking around the truck inspecting the tires and I noticed my front right tire has noticeable more outer edge wear compared to any other tire on the truck. See the pics.

Front Left Tire: If you look at the outer edge you can see the grooves/sipes still in the tread. This is how three of my four tires look. I'd consider this normal wear for nearly 18k miles.

Front Right Tire: Notice the outer tread. You can barley see the grooves/sipes out toward the edge. This tire is showing more wear than the rest, which leads me to believe the camber on that side is not set correctly, to me it seems like there is too much positive camber, which would make sense after leveling the front end. However, I know that front tires will wear more on the outer edges than rear tires, but this seems excessive.

This is my alignment report from my mechanic. Anybody know with any certainty if these are close to the spec for this truck?

Should I be concerned with this wear? And/or should I have the alignment readjusted?

Thanks in advance.

I was going to say he used the wrong year for the alignment settings. But according to your report your toe is only at .03 in the front. With a bit toe in at the rear at .17. It seems like you have too much toe-in, toe is what causes your tires to over wear, typically toe in equals outer wear. Toe out equals inner tire wear.

oldscsc · April 22, 2015

Is that report indicating before or after alignment? Often times techs will print a before and after image of the readings.

Also, do you rotate your tires? General spec is ever 5-6k miles.

Easymoney · April 22, 2015

I recently installed Bilstein 5100's on all four corners. I set my Bilsteins on the 2nd to top setting, which equates to about 1.25" of level up front. Shouldn't throw the front geometry off too much, but like a good modification enthusiast, I promptly had my truck aligned by my local mechanic right after having the work done. The only driving before it was aligned was between my house and the mechanic which is about 10 or so miles. Well today is about 1000 miles later since I have had them installed and the truck aligned. And I was filling up gas today and walking around the truck inspecting the tires and I noticed my front right tire has noticeable more outer edge wear compared to any other tire on the truck. See the pics.

Front Left Tire: If you look at the outer edge you can see the grooves/sipes still in the tread. This is how three of my four tires look. I'd consider this normal wear for nearly 18k miles.

Front Right Tire: Notice the outer tread. You can barley see the grooves/sipes out toward the edge. This tire is showing more wear than the rest, which leads me to believe the camber on that side is not set correctly, to me it seems like there is too much positive camber, which would make sense after leveling the front end. However, I know that front tires will wear more on the outer edges than rear tires, but this seems excessive.

This is my alignment report from my mechanic. Anybody know with any certainty if these are close to the spec for this truck?

Should I be concerned with this wear? And/or should I have the alignment readjusted?

Thanks in advance.

Are these the only measurements you have?

1. Front left toe: The spec is negative - 0.05 to - 0.15. The reading is 0.03. So it looks to me like it has positive toe when it should be negative. There should be a negative sign in front of the 0.03. Same thing on the right.

2. Front left camber Spec calls for negative camber. The reading shows positive.

3. Front right camber is close to spec.

4. Changing the ride hight on your truck 1.25 inches will move the alignment out of spec.

5. You may want to try a different shop and see what they say.

6. If you have it realigned by someone else, rotate the tires and keep an eye on the wear.

POS VETT · April 22, 2015

After changing ride height by that much, I would have the alignment adjusted. Positive camber is unacceptable to me.

thewhitestallion · April 22, 2015

The sheet that you posted shows that those alignment specs are for the gmt-900 not k2. I am not sure if those end numbers are in spec for a k2 truck.

IF your alignment is good then my next question would be how often do you rotate your tires? Also when you rotate them do you rotate them just front to back every time or do you cross them every time. I personally rotate my tires every 5k (easy to remember) when im at the 5k mark (i.e. 5k, 15, 25, 35, 45, etc) I rotate them just front to back. When I get to the 10k mark (i.e. 10k, 20k, 30k, 40, 50, etc) I cross them for multiple reasons.

First reason is because the right rear tire will be wear faster b/c it receives most of the torque of the motor which causes it to wear. Second reason is depending on how you drive and your normal routine you can wear one of your front tires outer edge faster than the other. so crossing them helps make them wear a little more even and last longer. but if you cross them every time then that dos you no good IMO, same with just front to back. This is all just my opinion I obviously have no scientific evidence to back this up as I am just a normal enthusiast that develops certain ideas and opinions over time.

fondupot · April 22, 2015

Hey guys thanks for the replies. I'm on mobile otherwise I would quote people. But so far I agree with everyone. I just noticed the spec was for a gmt900 truck. So I'm guessing it is not correct.

That sheet i posted was the only report they gave me. But something is def not right.

I have my tires rotated every 5-6k miles. So far with every oil change. And that was done around 16500 miles. As of this morning I have 18000 on the truck. I didn't notice this wear on the tire after they were rotated. Idk if they crossed them back to front. The dealer does it so I'm not to hopeful.

I am got to call the shop that did the alignment and point out that they used the wrong specs and want it fixed.

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fondupot · April 22, 2015

After changing ride height by that much, I would have the alignment adjusted. Positive camber is unacceptable to me.

Yea I did have it aligned....but I think the shop didnt align it correctly with the right specs.

Stoddard · April 22, 2015

Here's GM's specs for '14s

Stoddard · April 22, 2015

Here's the last. Check your RPO codes.

fondupot · April 22, 2015

Thanks Stoddard. I ended up being close by to my dealership that has a quick alignment check in the service bay. I drive up and asked them to check it. Sure enough it was out of spec. The toe on the passenger side was out of whack and the camber was borderline.

I decided to just have my dealership do the alignment while I had it there. I can't trust the original shop I had it done at now.

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fondupot · April 22, 2015

New alignment specs. Had my dealer fix it up. The passenger side toe was whacked out.

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WendysOrBust · April 22, 2015

Glad they were able to take care of you. Sucks that damage is already done. Aside from going back to the place you initially got your alignment from and requesting a refund, I don't know what else you could do.

fondupot · April 22, 2015

Glad they were able to take care of you. Sucks that damage is already done. Aside from going back to the place you initially got your alignment from and requesting a refund, I don't know what else you could do.

Yea I know. It's probably not worth my time to pursue. I just will not be using them anymore. I was going to have my sisters and my moms car serviced there soon, but now I will search elsewhere. Tough shit to them.

I also had the my dealer flip the front tires. So now I can see if that side still wears faster after another 1000 miles or so.

fondupot · April 23, 2015

Well I wish I could say the dealership got it right.....Now the steering wheel is not centered. If I hold the wheel straight I drift left, in a hurry. I have to turn the wheel right about 2" to keep it straight.

Gotta go back now and have them adjust this.....