Anyone do their own alignment on their D2?
I've done the string method on other cars with basic tie rod setups and its really not terribly difficult.

I have new track bar/drag link to install and was considering stringing up the D2 to set the toe myself.
AFAIK - there is no other alignment setting like camber/caster, correct?
This is a stock truck BTW, no lift etc.

If you've done this and have pics of your string setup, I'd be curious to see......

Thanks.....

 

As long as there's only a toe setting then it should work fine. If you're wrapping the string around the whole truck then you'd need to know if front and rear track are the same, My new 04 is sluggish to return to center so I assume this is too much toe, can anyone confirm this theory or are there other known issues i should aware of in this instance?

 

I dont wrap the truck.
I use jack stands placed beyond the front and rear - square the string to center of wheel based on track width - then take my front / rear of wheel measurements then adjust....

My old WRX and my wifes Volvo have narrower track width in the rear - this is where Google was my friend

I'm happy to take some pics if folks are interested or unfamiliar with what we're discussing here.....

 

I'm interested in your results for sure. We're dealing with a couple feet of snow over the last few days so it'll be a while before i get to mine but would like to try it at some point. Are you saying that you're hanging the wheels in the air? I've always done it with all four wheels on the ground.

 

I’ve done it on my Series but the D2 should be the same as they’re both solid axle. I agree that it should be done with weight on wheels. I also have the front wheels on grease plates (2 pieces of sheet metal with grease between) to take friction out of the picture.

 

On the other cars, I drove up on ramps with greased plates so the tires would move.
You cannot do it in the air.

With the D2, I shouldnt have to raise it at all, but need to figure out what to drive up onto that will allow the tires to move when adjusted.

 

I use these:

https://www.raceramps.com/ramps/p/rr-xt/

The amount that the tires are actually moving when adjusting the toe has never caused a problem.

 

When I replaced the drag link and track rod a little over three years ago I just very carefully measured the length of the old track rod, center of joint to center of joint, and then set up the new track rod to match. You could just do that if you're satisfied with the current toe setup. It's worked well for me.

 

I have done this, not really difficult. On sports cars I have a pair of thin 1/8" steel plates - grease between them and they allow wheels to move easily. Not as friction free but you can drive on to thick wall garbage bag and achieve the same.

 

After thinking too much about this then watching this video, the light bulb finally lit up.

On a solid axle design, you certainly can do the toe adjustment with the truck in the air as long as it's on jack stands under the axle. Suspension is still compressed but now you can spin the tires.
Granted I didnt use a screwdriver like this dude, I used a sharpy.
Had my wife help me measure and found I was a 1/4 toe out.
Adjusted it back to near zero to start and I'll see how it drives.
I've always been told to never zero toe due to the tramlining effect but we'll see.
I do have excess inner tire wear so hopefully zero toe will stop that.

Worst part about doing all of this was getting 18 year old endlink nuts off 🤬