CHANGE your shocks!!

[Ozbozz57]

What gets adjusted in an alignment on these solid axle, king pin steering systems, besides toe in/out?
How is it done?

 

[nikitis]

There is a bar behind the axle which connects the wheels for steering via the knuckles. There is a screw adjust on the bar. (Tie rod?) with double nut to lock it in. That's basically it.

From drivers side the knuckle has an extra piece which connects to the power steering device.

From there, there's a bar with a ball joint that goes under the bus to the other side and connects to the passenger side knuckle. It's that bar that needs adjusting to align. Other than that, as you said, the king pins need to be in top shape and greased to prevent faster wear.

King pins more or less affect which side of the tire the bus rides on more and it's always the inside of the tire has more wear than the outside, but they don't affect alignment. So a half worn tire doesn't mean your alignment is off necessarily. You do want to have an alignment shop re-align after replacing king pins though to be sure.

 

[Ozbozz57]

There is a bar behind the axle which connects the wheels for steering via the knuckles. There is a screw adjust on the bar. (Tie rod?) with double nut to lock it in. That's basically it.

From drivers side the knuckle has an extra piece which connects to the power steering device.

From there, there's a bar with a ball joint that goes under the bus to the other side and connects to the passenger side knuckle. It's that bar that needs adjusting to align. Other than that, as you said, the king pins need to be in top shape and greased to prevent faster wear.

King pins more or less affect which side of the tire the bus rides on more and it's always the inside of the tire has more wear than the outside, but they don't affect alignment. So a half worn tire doesn't mean your alignment is off necessarily. You do want to have an alignment shop re-align after replacing king pins though to be sure.

So it's toe in/out only. Seems that caster and camber angle could only be adjusted by bending the axle.

 

[nikitis]

So it's toe in/out only. Seems that caster and camber angle could only be adjusted by bending the axle.

Camber shouldn't be off at all if Kingpins are fresh and not worn. When King pins wear the camber is off which is why the inside of the tire wears fast.

If you do a fresh king ping job and it's still off then yeah your axle is bent and will need to be replaced.

The king pin will wear into your knuckle eventually and making it an oval shape and unusuable. You'll have to replace it when that happens.