This video is Pt2 of a 2004 F150 after a front suspension replacement due to worn ball joints. In this video we move to the hunter wheel alignment machine to set up the adjustable components to specifications.
The link below will take you to pt1 the repair video.
Back to PT1: Sloppy Suspension! 3 1/2 worn balls | Ford F150 https://youtu.be/J8wvXx-JIxM
Detailed Wheel Alignment! Too Far to Measure! 2012 Ford Expedition 5.4 3-valve 4x4 https://youtu.be/EZzLtfBl7B4
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https://rainmanraysrepairs.myspreadshop.com/
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Patreon is a "Tip Jar" I don't post much there, daily YT uploads are all that I can manage right now
Amazon List, must have for any toolbox!
ATD Tools 13782 10-Piece Triple Square Spline Bit Socket Set https://amzn.to/3RV2fUB
Same as Matco. Mountain 5-Piece Metric Double Box Universal Spline Reversible Ratcheting Wrench Set; 8 mm - 18mm, 90 Tooth Design, Long, Flexible, Reversible; MTNRM6 https://amzn.to/3OJTRp2
Mercedes BMW VW Wheel Stud Master Kit: https://amzn.to/3OszRaL
Bahco "Frustrated" Pliers AWESOME tool! https://amzn.to/3IfDeOa
Brake Caliper Compressor: https://amzn.to/3gQBuiB
GearWrench Hose Clamp Pliers: Currently Unavailable
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Gopro Hero 8 https://amzn.to/3mPnpFA
Gopro Hero 9 https://amzn.to/3EKDcM1
Hero 8 Dual Charger https://amzn.to/3EId84c
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Copyright Disclaimer under section 107 of the Copyright Act of 1976, allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, education and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing.”
The link below will take you to pt1 the repair video.
Back to PT1: Sloppy Suspension! 3 1/2 worn balls | Ford F150 https://youtu.be/J8wvXx-JIxM
Detailed Wheel Alignment! Too Far to Measure! 2012 Ford Expedition 5.4 3-valve 4x4 https://youtu.be/EZzLtfBl7B4
Check out my Merchandise (because I don't say MERCH) Store Below the video for Men's and Women's Apparel, MUGS and Stickers!
https://rainmanraysrepairs.myspreadshop.com/
Send support on Patreon, check out the bio: https://www.patreon.com/RainmanRaysRepairs
Patreon is a "Tip Jar" I don't post much there, daily YT uploads are all that I can manage right now
Amazon List, must have for any toolbox!
ATD Tools 13782 10-Piece Triple Square Spline Bit Socket Set https://amzn.to/3RV2fUB
Same as Matco. Mountain 5-Piece Metric Double Box Universal Spline Reversible Ratcheting Wrench Set; 8 mm - 18mm, 90 Tooth Design, Long, Flexible, Reversible; MTNRM6 https://amzn.to/3OJTRp2
Mercedes BMW VW Wheel Stud Master Kit: https://amzn.to/3OszRaL
Bahco "Frustrated" Pliers AWESOME tool! https://amzn.to/3IfDeOa
Brake Caliper Compressor: https://amzn.to/3gQBuiB
GearWrench Hose Clamp Pliers: Currently Unavailable
My Camera Gear:
Gopro Hero 8 https://amzn.to/3mPnpFA
Gopro Hero 9 https://amzn.to/3EKDcM1
Hero 8 Dual Charger https://amzn.to/3EId84c
Flexible Camera Mount https://amzn.to/3Jywrk5
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. #commissionsearned.
Also, I personally use or have used the products featured in my links and only recommended them if I feel they are of good quality.
“All the videos, songs, images, and graphics used in the video belong to their respective owners and I or this channel does not claim any right over them.
Copyright Disclaimer under section 107 of the Copyright Act of 1976, allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, education and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing.”
Old school tricks for an old mechanic!
1. grab an actual come-a-long 2. if you open the strap handle all the way up flat, it will disengage the smaller lock.. so it's one handed.
Do you even own a torque wrench? No offense, Ray, but I wouldn’t trust you to work on a covered wagon.
Thanks for the trip down memory lane. I remember having to do that at my 1st job but it got the job done
“My face” warning just like “Loud noises” warning please …your face triggers me,,,thanks
In fact, the same requirement can be done by moving the rear lower bolt outboard. When you first did them up with the lower bolts close to their inner position on the slots, you have little left 'slottage' moving the front one in, so instead, move the rear one outward in the slot, plenty of slot left to use there!
If you had used the CAMMS program in your aligner software, this video would be 10 minutes start to finish,,, use the tech your boss paid for.
Thanks Ray for another great video
Noticed the torque stick on the electric impact our master tech always talked about it as heresy is it actually fine ?
My trick with these was a harbor freight chain hoist. A few soft shackles and that hoist and I could pull anything into spec
you should get a come along
First , THANK YOU. Just bought a 2008 f150 super 8' bed and it is simply unrealistically clean underneath with 74,000. This vid let me see a lot.
Second, unreal that you have so much time under the hood and truck/car and still wear your wedding ring.
That was the most surprising part of this vid and a huge tribute to your wife.
You are very very good. Must now backtrack over all your f150 videos.
Stay safe in there man. //ji
Ratchet straps work great. If I’m doing arms on one of these though I give the option to sell the cam kits for the lower arms
Another great video. …..
I'm late lol
My first car I aligned with a tape measure.
That rack makes it a lot easier.
If the driver side was good why didn't you adjust the upper passenger arm to match it.
How many of the bolts that you re-used are actually considered one time use only by Ford ?
I was always taught you want a tiny amount of negative camber, never positive. It can have a fairly significant effect on handling to have positive camber because of the way the tyre will roll under the wheel when cornering. With vehicles with tall sidewalls like trucks it's actually even more pronounced.
Wheel alignments your way EASY 👌
the washer on the tire is driving me nuts !
Why cant it just be fixed point? For the camberr. I dont understand the design philosophy
Have a great weekend!!
Alignments are the hardest part of my day and you make it look so easy I can never get the camber and caster to do what I want it to do on front end set ups like this one
Somewhat surprised you didn’t add an alignment kit. Fairly cheap and makes final adjustments easier and it stays put. Big money maker for some alignment shops. I added them before going in for alignment.
on my rack i usually do wheel off adjustments. your rack don't have that feature?
Here’s a neat trick for ya, take 2 pieces of metal under each tire with in between them. At that point you can move the tires more easily. The only thing I would not want to do is have the car in the air.
Impressive 👍👍👍
You need a winch
Thank you Ray for another great video and you really do have great imagination!
Nice job!! show all the final numbers next time though.
Why does an alignment cost so much? … That's why. LOL … Strap usage was cool!
Thanks for the video, always enjoy watching!
Imagine owning a 2004 f150 and not knowing how to replace control arms and ball joints.
What I have done when changing those upper control arms is too measure the height before popping the ball joint and use the measurement to set the new one
No green subscribe button today Ray.
Nice work ray
On some front wheel drive cars, a Cam Bolt makes adjustments for setting Camber a lot easier.
I can’t believe there were no torches involved in the filming of this process I have to torch jam nuts on vehicles a couple years old in the north
Had no idea how much shit went into alignments. Especially how the alignment rack moved different parts of the vehicle??
Nice work on the old school ratchet strap alignment Ray
We had a big chain that had hooks for each side and a ratcheting mechanism in the middle at my last shop it works great for bigger trucks when you gotta bring it in
Hey Rey, whays the name of the music you used during the passenger ball joint replacement in part 1? I couldnt find it in the description anywhere. Im curious.
Your defeninitly a great mechanic I love ur videos but do u guys like doing the job more then one time all I ever see u guys use is autozone duralast brand parts all autozone control arms and ball joints I’ve had duralast ball joints brand new have play rite out the box idk why u guys always use cheap brand parts I give it a month tops before this owner is back for warranty problems stay away from duralast u being so experienced u should know that brand lacks quality their control arms ball joints hubs wheel bearings struts are all trash and axles look on YouTube and look up autozone duralast parts junk a lot of people have problems with them usually shops always go with moogs when it comes to aftermarket never go with the store chain brand
Caster and camber and toe adjustments these days. I still remember performing steering axis inclination adjustments.
man! you guys, and all of us, are getting an extra healthy dose of the FLANDERS PHONE today! lol love these videos man, keep em coming!
what a pain good job ray
There are very few shops that do an actual wheel alignment, most people will get scammed by places like Mavis discount tire where they claim they do a full four wheel one and an unsuspecting customer never realizes that they just did the towing and toe out on the front of the vehicle and shipped it out.
Excessive ball joint wear: couldn't you have replaced the ball joints alone?
Still hearing brake drag noise on test drive. From the looks of the rotors and the newness of the pads I'd say no new rotors or turning of the rotors took place when pads were replaced. They appeared to have groves and hot spots on them. If I were Ray, Id want to ask the customer the details of his brake job and mention the noise just to CYA … cover your arse… Someone else mentioned and I too, did not remember seeing Ray tighten the lower strut to lower control arm bolt when he had the car on the alignment lift. All in all, damn good job Ray.
How many in here went GALILEO ?!!? Or just me 😂
I made the mistake of lifting something with a ratchet strap. I realized my mistake when I needed to lower it in a controlled fashion.
I thoroughly enjoyed this video, it put right to sleep, thankyou your awesome………
By raising the vehicle at center would bring suspension equal
How does it stay aligned with no positive retention like cams or shims? Seems the LCA bolts would move around no matter how tight. That's a crappy setup.
Funny, in aircraft most of the time we would tighten the nut…
Alignments on these F150 trucks is a pain ! I usually adjust the caster and camber with the wheels elevated, jacked up on the frame. It takes most of the tension off of the lower control arm.
I've always liked about .25 to .4 less positive camber on the left to compensate for road crown.
As a young technician learning alignment I was taught to always consider the driver and passenger weight and put quickcrete bags in the. seat where large folks sat to correct camber issues. Don't know if anyone does that anymore. Always fun to explain what was going on to the customer when I got caught.
Doing the alignments with such bad tires?
Looks sketchy with the ratchet strap. I'd have used a come along.
Someome once told me you can not align I-beams
great clickage spec
Good Job Ray
I'm always astounded by how good Milwaukee's M12 lineup is. Ray should get their sponsorship.
Ray could you please do a video explaining the crazy fad of putting tiny wheels on cars and having the tiny wheels tilted at a pretty severe angle? I still see some of those things around and wonder how they can even be driven, let alone how long the tires last. Probably a vid for your other channel.
WOW…. WEIGHT ON WHEELS.. means something else in the navy
So how we’re wheel alignments done before lasers and computers? As always another great video. 🇨🇦
More respect for alignment people now!! Great job Ray especially at the end “if you didn’t like it don’t know what to tell yea”
What I LOVE about Ray is watching someone work hard, teach while doing it, and have a general joy of working hard! No complains or anything, just faces a challenge gets over it.
Almost like I'm there helping, but in my chair in my cozy house with ma Coffee!
Thank you Ray!
Why is castor not a live measurement? Interesting to understand this stuff.
I can see now why Toyota uses cams on their wheel alignment bolts to adjust wheel position. Surprised that Ford doesn't do the same.
Where are you located in Florida have a problem with my car
…..What do you think about doing a
LIVE STREAM with Eric O?
"Change of plan"…😁
It's just like a 4 legged table with a wobble you cut one a bit shorter to STOP the wobble but it still wobbles and so on lol😁
WHOLE TRUCK GRAVITY!! 😂😂😂
brake pads needed lube on backside of pad?
whole truck gravity is bad that means it fell off the lift
Rachet straps…indeed.. I pulled power cables out Aux one Uss J P J 100f deck 3. JPJ almost "cooked" too at BAE San Diego😳. bit ancient soapbox…
I might have missed it, but did you do a final torque on the lower strut bolts?
what is in the front driver's side tire?
Seems a bit hit or miss with the adjustment routine., some bolted adjustment should be employe,. but I supopose that costs money in the production process. Cheap doesn't mean better simpler. Good instructional video though, despite having to mess around with rachet straps.
Need to have t shirt made saying doo Doo Doo the phone sound🤣🤣
Imagine how hard this was when there was no computer — I used to watch my dad this this with tape measures, chark, string and plates…
To pop the ratchet strap, pull up on the release and push it out flat and POP 👍
Off topic, but what’s with the “USED TOILET” and “CAUTION“ signs at the end of the shop?
Great work on the alignment
Ray, a question : Did the new ball joints sort out the wobbly steering wheel under brakes? Or is that yet to be addressed?
As an occasional DIY'r I often had to address overly tight bolts and nuts with some sort of cheater. I used that box-end, open-end trick twice. The first time it worked. The second time the mouth/jaw/? of the open-ended wrench nearest me snapped right off and ricocheted off my forehead. Lead to a definite preference for higher quality tools when I could find them and afford them.
Would it make sense to recheck alignment after the test drive at least, if not 500 miles later? That stuff will settle in and I would think it would change the results?
Ahh the old ratchet strap leverage niiice.🤘
Used the same method to install the track bar on my 12 F350. The weight pushes the axle to the right so have to pull the body and axle together with the strap. Sure makes things much easier.
What was stuck in the drivers side tire at the beginning of this video when you spoke to Peter? It looks like a thread insert of some sort? Could be a sticker, im blind as a bat.
Why didn’t you install the Spc camber/caster kit for the truck?
I had two 6 six foot pry bars and a come along to make suspension work easier.