2016 Silverado Alignment Question (BFG KO2)

arkenzo · April 14, 2016

Good morning guys, can you guys check my alignment specs and tell me if there is anything of concern with them? My truck drives straight and under heavy braking, it is still straight, however it seems like the truck is "jarring" (for a lack of a better term) whenever i hit bumps on the road or whenever there is uneven surface, my steering wheel kind of softens up a bit and i have to put more effort and attention to get it back on track.

Sorry if my explanation is a little off, current setup: RC 2" level (only gave me a 1.5" level/lift) and installed some BFG KO2 275/70/17's.

Prior to this setup, I had a 2014 with RC 2.5" kit and 255/75/17 Goodyear Duaratracs.

Could my alignment be off? Do you think it has something to do with the front sway bar endlinks possibly misaligned when I installed the RC 2" level? Could it just be the stiffness of the new tires (BFG KO2) or could it possibly be a tire/wheel balance issue?

Do you think I should take the truck back to Firestone and have them re-align it and have them check the tires too while i'm at it or should I just man the **** up and accept that the BFG's don't ride as soft as the Goodyear Duaratracs?

Any advice would be awesome!

fondupot · April 14, 2016

heavier tires like the KO2's are gonna follow the road more noticeably than the duratracs.

I notice it too with my KO2's

arkenzo · April 14, 2016

heavier tires like the KO2's are gonna follow the road more noticeably than the duratracs.

I notice it too with my KO2's

Ok cool, I was just concerned that it might have been something bigger, alignment or tire balance issue, the tires handle so much better than the stock tires and traction was awesome in the rain (the very little rain Socal gets) and are quieter compared to the Duratracs.

amxguy1970 · April 14, 2016

^ How do they handle better than stock? Taller lugs leads to more play/deformation. Heavier tire affects many handling aspects as well as the usual accelerating and braking. The larger voids between the lugs leads to less contact area to the road. I know when we switched from our stock tires on the colorado to AT2 General Grabber load range C I could feel the change in turn in response and braking (or lack there of) compared to stock. An AT tire vs a street tire should do the opposite. Even a stiffer sidewall load range E going taller would offset the stiffness and lose handling aspects. Now foul weather traction is different and they all have some leeway in terms of rubber compound.

The jarring is the E load tires. What load rating were the Duratracs? A heavy E tire will ride rougher, especially over broken pavement or small rough bumps.

Tyler

Shu · April 14, 2016

You have positive camber on the RF and negative camber on the LF which can cause the sensation you are feeling. Add to it the bigger tires and that could be the issue. The camber alignment specs before were pretty dang good, not sure why they messed with those. The only thing the leveling kit did was toe it in so I would have thought they could have just toed it back out with the tie rods and been done. Did they check that rear end as well? If so that rear end is angled to the right (check the RR toe out and the LR toe in) would make the rear axle on the truck want to go right. The after looks worse to me than the before there too.

arkenzo · April 14, 2016

You have positive camber on the RF and negative camber on the LF which can cause the sensation you are feeling. Add to it the bigger tires and that could be the issue. The camber alignment specs before were pretty dang good, not sure why they messed with those. The only thing the leveling kit did was toe it in so I would have thought they could have just toed it back out with the tie rods and been done. Did they check that rear end as well? If so that rear end is angled to the right (check the RR toe out and the LR toe in) would make the rear axle on the truck want to go right. The after looks worse to me than the before there too.

Yes I had them do full alignment with the new tires. Going to take it back tomorrow to have them redo the alignment, i'll offer your recommendation to them. Sucks how they just let it go like that

arkenzo · April 14, 2016

^ How do they handle better than stock?

Tires grip more to the road than the previous tires, I can take turns much faster and the rear end feels planted.

Shu · April 15, 2016

Yes I had them do full alignment with the new tires. Going to take it back tomorrow to have them redo the alignment, i'll offer your recommendation to them. Sucks how they just let it go like that

All of their settings are within the specs. Explain the feeling you are having and they should be able to tweak the alignment a little and take that feeling out. I did a RC leveling kit on mine. Then took to the dealer to align and the first time I drove it, it felt like the steering was overly sensitive. I had to take it back and with my explanation, the mechanic knew exactly what to do to take that feel out. It is much better now, but could use a little more adjustment as mine tends to feel that way when windy. Since yours drives straight, I would try your best to explain the bounce feeling. One other thing to consider is that steering geometry is very sensitive. Bump steer is when the toe changes as the front suspension moves up and down. Ideally you want zero bump. When you change ride heights it changes the angle of the steering components and that effects bump steer. I have not noticed the RC leveling kit having this affect on my truck but I am on stock tire sizes as well. Bump is not something alignment shops tend to check. It is something we check on dirt track race cars.

arkenzo · April 17, 2016

Fixed! New alignment worked, will upload new alignment sheet soon. Thanks everyone

arkenzo · April 17, 2016

Here is the new specs

Shu · April 18, 2016

Glad they got it fixed. Looks like they took some of the right steer out and a little less toe overall. I would have expected the Actual numbers on your first sheet to have been closer to the Before numbers on your second sheet though. Also note the specified range is a little different for caster between the RPO RBZ the first time and then QBL the second. The top is cut off on the second so I cant see what tire size that is. What tires fo ou have on your truck? Is yours 4x4?

arkenzo · April 18, 2016

Glad they got it fixed. Looks like they took some of the right steer out and a little less toe overall. I would have expected the Actual numbers on your first sheet to have been closer to the Before numbers on your second sheet though. Also note the specified range is a little different for caster between the RPO RBZ the first time and then QBL the second. The top is cut off on the second so I cant see what tire size that is. What tires fo ou have on your truck? Is yours 4x4?

Tires are 275/70/17, i also noticed it was a little weird that they listed my truck differently on the first sheet.