Negative Camber after Dream Beam install

[CraigM]

Installed Dream Beams with new Moog stock style springs and DJM shocks. I have about 1" of negative camber now. I understand the toe-in that it has now will be corrected when I get it aligned. Any chance the alignment might magically fix the camber or did I do something wrong? I would've expected this issue if I reused my old springs but not with new ones. Ideas?

Pictures don't really tell a whole lot but here they are anyways.

[lineman1984]

Craig,
I believe there were different springs for 6 and 8 cylinder trucks. There were even different springs for right or left side because of the offset on the FE motors to the passenger side. Does your truck have an 8 cylinder motor? Could your springs be for a 6 cylinder? If your original springs aren't cut or sagging you could try reinstalling them. Just a thought.
Justin

PS Love your truck! I like seeing a dropped LB.

[CraigM]

I got the 6 cylinder springs for my I6 and installed them on the correct side. Tall side passenger, short side driver.

[Toyz]

Toe-in will not affect camber. If there is no looseness, the beams will need correction. I would consult with DJM; there should not have been that much camber built into the beams. It appears that the truck would have a serious nose-up attitude if stronger/longer springs were installed to correct the camber. If the drop you ordered matches your current stance, I would expect Dream Beams to correct what appears to be their problem.
Paul

[bruceandersson]

Find a shop that has the right equipment and they can adjust the camber by bending the beams.

[CraigM]

Thanks for all the replies so far.
I don't think any shop will bend aftermarket beams nor do I want to go that route.
As far as them being defective, it's a possibility but I haven't been able to find any instances online of that occurring with anyone else's order.
I may just put the original springs back on for comparison.
Is it at all possible that tire size would play a role in this? I'm currently running some 70's steelies with 205/75/15's. All the bushings are new and everything is tightened up.
I may try and call DJM if I have time today but I'm not sure if they have a post-installation tech line.

[shocker998md]

When my toe was out the camber looked off. It just looked off until I got it within 1/8 of toe in with a tape measure. Put a tape on it and get it close and see what it looks like.

[CraigM]

So I talked to an engineer at DJM and he suggested putting some shims under the coil cup to see if it corrects things. The rain is back so I probably won't be able to get to it for a bit.

[Toyz]

Good statement on the camber "appearing" off! Excessive toe-in will give that effect. With our trucks; due to the narrower rear track, it is difficult to "eye-ball" a straight-ahead position. Thus, if the toe-in is extremely excessive, the camber will be negative with the wheels equally toed-in. You might try bringing one wheel to a more correctly "tracked" position, and note if that reduces the negative camber. Shims or heavier/longer springs will certainly move the camber toward positive; at the same time, those "solutions" will also affect the ride height of the front of the vehicle..
Paul

[yellodog]

get the truck on some slip plates before you get too excited about camber. too much toe, in or out, will change the camber when the tires push or pull the i beams as the truck is moved.

[Toyz]

get the truck on some slip plates before you get too excited about camber. too much toe, in or out, will change the camber when the tires push or pull the i beams as the truck is moved.

KPI (kingpin angle of inclination) WILL affect camber reading and appearance due to grossly mis-adjusted toe-in; the amount of movement in the beam itself is a very minor factor given good suspension components. Without the angle of inclination, it would not be a factor at all.
Paul

[CraigM]

Thanks again for the advice. The toe-in is pretty excessive at the moment. As far as alignment goes, I don't have a flat surface to really work on. If I took it to an alignment shop first, would it have to be realigned after the camber is fixed?

[shocker998md]

You cant get a helper and just measure with a tape for 1/8th of toe in? Looks like the truck is on a flat surface in the picture. Id do it just to get you close, if your toe is REALLY bad you wont be able to drive it to a shop unless its around the corner and your going under 30 or so.

I was able to get my 66 close enough last month after kingpins and all new bushings with a buddy, tape and some hand tools. Just takes a little while and jumping back and forth measuring the tires.

[Toyz]

I have no personal experience with the Dream Beams, but if you did not disturb the adjusters on the steering linkage, I am concerned as to what caused that much change in the toe as well as the camber. If you have actually separated the adjusters in the process of the change, that may be understandable. Even if you were to simply adjust the toe out to some approximation of zero setting, you would have a better visual indication of the actual camber problem. If no helper is available, a piece of dowel rod or tubing and a couple of clothes pins could be used to get somewhat close. Just turn each loosened adjuster equally until your clothes pin dimensions are the same at the front and the rear. The key to any semblance of accuracy will be keeping the rod the same distance from the ground both side to side and front and rear of the tire.
Paul

[CraigM]

I didn't make any adjustments to the tie rods and it had been aligned previously.
I will try and get close with an alignment this weekend. Thanks again for the tips.

[randyr]

Hi Craig. I installed DJM beams on my '66 F100 shortbed a couple of months ago using my original springs with 1/2 coil cut, and new DJM shocks. I also installed new kingpins/bushings and left tie-rod end. I adjusted the toe-in myself using 2 tape measures on the front & rear of the front tires. I didn't bother to take it to an alignment shop because they couldn't do any camber adjustment anyway. After getting the toe-in dialed in at 1/8", the truck drives great!
For yours, I'd suggest you get the toe-in set properly before passing judgement on the camber. It's possible the "negative camber" is an optical illusion at this point. I don't mean that to sound smart-ass, I just know it happened to me.

[CraigM]

Well I have a boring update. I swapped out the Moog coils with my original ones and the negative camber was even worse so I put the Moog ones back on and for some unexplained reason the camber was improved. In fact, when I took it to get aligned it actally had 1 degree of positive camber now which they corrected by re-indexing the springs. I guess I'll have to chalk it up as a mystery.