Alignment Caster/Camber Kit

What lifting does to alignment

Raising a solid axle vehicle rotates the axle on its control arms. On a coil sprung Jeep or Ram, the front axle tips forward as the suspension drops, which reduces caster; the rear axle rotates and changes pinion angle. Less caster makes the steering wander and feel light on the highway, and a wrong pinion angle causes driveline vibration. On trucks with independent front suspension, a lift or sagging springs pushes camber out of range and wears the inside or outside edge of the tires. The parts here are the adjusters that let an alignment shop put those angles back where they belong without replacing control arms.

Kits by type

• Cam bolt kits: replace the control arm bolts at the axle with an eccentric bolt and washers so the arm position can be shifted a few degrees. Rubicon Express sells front and rear sets for the JK and rear sets for the TJ; Rugged Ridge sells front lower sets for the ZJ, TJ, LJ and JK. Typically good for 2 to 3 degrees of change on lifts up to about 3 inches.
• Caster and pinion cam kits: Specialty Products kits for Ram 1500, 2500 and 3500 replace frozen factory bolts with adjustable cams allowing about plus or minus 1.5 to 2 degrees.
• Alignment sleeves: offset bushings for the upper ball joint on 2005 and newer Ford Super Duty axles, sold by degree. A zero degree sleeve is used first to measure how much correction is needed.
• Camber kits and camber bolts: Moog upper control arm kits and front camber bolts for F-150, Expedition and Navigator with independent suspension.
• Shims: Skyjacker camber and caster shims for the Ranger and Explorer twin beam front end.
• Offset caster bushings: ARB radius arm bushings for the Defender 90 and 110 that correct caster after a lift.

Choosing the right adjuster

Start from how far out your alignment is and where the correction has to happen. For a Jeep at 2 to 3 inches of lift, cam bolts recover enough caster to settle the steering. Beyond that, adjustable control arms are the better tool, and cam bolts become a fine-tuning aid. On a Ram with corroded factory cams, the Specialty Products kit solves two problems at once: it frees the seized hardware and adds adjustment. On a Super Duty, have the shop measure caster and camber first, then buy the sleeve degree that corrects both; sleeves come in half degree steps, and one kit covers one axle or one side as noted in the listing.

Installation and the alignment itself

Cam bolts and sleeves are installed with the vehicle on the ground or on an alignment rack at ride height, because the angles change as the suspension moves. Mark the factory position before loosening anything. Seized control arm bolts on Rams and older Jeeps often need heat or cutting, and the new hardware should be torqued to the control arm specification only after the final adjustment. Then get a four wheel alignment on a rack; eyeballing caster is not possible, and a quarter degree of camber matters for tire wear. Rear cam bolts on a TJ or JK set pinion angle, which is a driveline setting rather than a tire wear setting: the pinion should point a degree or two below the transfer case output on a standard driveshaft, or straight at it with a double cardan shaft.

Safety note

Steering and suspension geometry affect how a vehicle tracks and stops. Use new hardware from the kit, follow torque figures, and have the final settings done by an alignment shop with a rack. Recheck after a few hundred miles since new bushings settle.