Proper Alignment Specs

Ocho

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I know this has been answered somewhere but I can't find an all in one thread using the search bar and I'm hangry so I'm not in the mood to look through 800 threads to find specs. Waiting on someone to respond to an email so I have a few minutes to ask.

Is there a source for proper alignment specs? Toe-In, Camber, Caster etc.

33" Tire. 3" Suspension Lift.

Thanks in advance for making this easier for me. Can't eat till I finish this project at work and I'm on the struggle bus trying to line up some f*cking carports with PV plans that don't match my A set..
 
Just had my '02 aligned in August. So I can say the toe in should 0.15 degrees per side.

There is no Camber adjustment, it's fixed on our Jeeps. ( but there are ball joints that give minor corrections)

My rig has a 4" lift, and the recommendation I got for Caster was to set it at 6 degrees. Which gave me good handling, and no front drive line vibration.

I don't know the factory Caster, but I did find this info supposedly from a factory service manual for '03 Wranglers.

Caster: 7.0 degrees +/- 1.0 degree
Cross caster: +/- 0.65 degrees
Camber: -0.25 degrees +/- 0.63 degrees
Cross camber: +/- 1.0 degrees
Total toe: +0.30 degrees (or +0.15 degrees per side) +/- 0.06 degrees
Thrust angle: +/- 0.25 degrees

Hope this helps, good luck!
 
Total toe will vary with tire diameter based on angle. A 30 inch tire won't have the same amount of toe in as a 35 inch tire. The toe in for a 38 inch tire should be about .200 of an inch or a little over 3/16. A 35 inch tire will be a little under 3/16. I have a quick trick alignment tool and the bars for measuring toe in are about 36 inches long. I input numbers into a taper calculator for .15 degrees using 36 inches as the length of taper and picking a random number for the distance between the rear of the tires at 60 inches. The calulator shows the front of the tires to be 59.81 or .189 . 3/16 is .180
 
Total toe will vary with tire diameter based on angle. A 30 inch tire won't have the same amount of toe in as a 35 inch tire. The toe in for a 38 inch tire should be about .200 of an inch or a little over 3/16. A 35 inch tire will be a little under 3/16. I have a quick trick alignment tool and the bars for measuring toe in are about 36 inches long. I input numbers into a taper calculator for .15 degrees using 36 inches as the length of taper and picking a random number for the distance between the rear of the tires at 60 inches. The calulator shows the front of the tires to be 59.81 or .189 . 3/16 is .180

Set up a 24” bar and toe in 1/8” and you’ll be dead on nuts with any tire size.
 
Set up a 24” bar and toe in 1/8” and you’ll be dead on nuts with any tire size.

Is the 24” the magic length for 1/8” to equal .15 degrees?

I always thought the old 1/8” at the front of the tire was potentially inaccurate vs degrees. Not saying it is enough to cause any discernible effect.
A 35” tire should be closer to 3/16”. Which does not seem like much more than 1/8” yet it is 50% more toe.
None of which is probably relevant.
Silly things entertain me.
 
Last edited:
Is the 24” the magic length for 1/8” to equal .15 degrees?

I always thought the old 1/8” at the front of the tire was potentially inaccurate vs degrees. Not saying it is enough to cause any discernible effect.
A 35” tire should be closer to 3/16”. Which does not seem like much more than 1/8” yet it is 50% more toe.
None of which is probably relevant.
Silly things entertain me.
The thread below gets interesting around post 130. Then see post 147 by Blaine. Then jump to 300 and you see the rest and how everyone but Jerry abandoned the 1/16-1/8” for all tire sizes and concluded that 1/8” toe in at 24” is .15*/tire for total .30 which is the FSM spec. Translated to a 35” tire is 3/16” with FSM degrees. It’s an interesting thread.

https://wranglertjforum.com/threads/how-to-align-your-jeep-wrangler-tj.85/page-7
 
The thread below gets interesting around post 130. Then see post 147 by Blaine. Then jump to 300 and you see the rest and how everyone but Jerry abandoned the 1/16-1/8” for all tire sizes and concluded that 1/8” toe in at 24” is .15*/tire for total .30 which is the FSM spec. Translated to a 35” tire is 3/16” with FSM degrees. It’s an interesting thread.

https://wranglertjforum.com/threads/how-to-align-your-jeep-wrangler-tj.85/page-7

yep. while 1/8” is close enough, i got it dialed in at the proper toe in for my size tires. forgot what that was but the equation is sharpied on my alignment rack. math is a real thing.
 
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Just had my '02 aligned in August. So I can say the toe in should 0.15 degrees per side.

There is no Camber adjustment, it's fixed on our Jeeps. ( but there are ball joints that give minor corrections)

My rig has a 4" lift, and the recommendation I got for Caster was to set it at 6 degrees. Which gave me good handling, and no front drive line vibration.

I don't know the factory Caster, but I did find this info supposedly from a factory service manual for '03 Wranglers.

Caster: 7.0 degrees +/- 1.0 degree
Cross caster: +/- 0.65 degrees
Camber: -0.25 degrees +/- 0.63 degrees
Cross camber: +/- 1.0 degrees
Total toe: +0.30 degrees (or +0.15 degrees per side) +/- 0.06 degrees

Thrust angle: +/- 0.25 degrees

Hope this helps, good luck!

Correction. You can adjust Camber on your TJ with this product:
https://www.spcalignment.com/index....part_description&pid=26012&Submit_form=Submit

There are two part numbers 26012 for 0.5 degree adjustment and 26014 for 1.0 degree adjustment. They work well. Used them on my LJ several years back. Have held up well with no problems.