Hey everyone, I'm about to replace my lower ball joints & when I do so I'm going to crank my torsion bars. I've read that I will more than likely need a cam kit or what not, but I called a local auto shop & they were gonna charge $150 just for the cam kit, that's not including labor or what not. But I was wondering is there a place online where I can get one of these kits? If there is some where online that I can find them, can I install it myself? Also what is THE correct way to crank them? I remember 04edge I think saying something about craning them w/ like the spindle or something disconnected or something like that, but any feedback would be greatly appreciated...

Brenton

 

you can just crank them. also if your truck isnt out of alignment first hand then you dont need to align it thats been proven before. also i dont recommend installing cams with out an alignment mechine becuase you cant properly align it

 

Since my ball joints are bad my truck won't hold an allignment & I have to get an allignment anyway after I install the ball joints. I want to buy the cam kit some where else than that store & then take it to them to install if needed after I crank my torsion bars...

Brenton

 

you can never tell what set of cam blocks you need till you find out HOW far the truck is off there is tons of different degree's. check around call places. alot of places that wanted to do my alignment also wanted $150 just for the blocks i kept calling around and found a place that charged $60 for both. and the whole alignment came out to be like $115. whick i need to get it done agian been over year and half and its out agian

 

Sry to bring this thread back up, but is there no places that you can find a cam kit for our trucks online?

Brenton

 

whats the piont every alignment shop has them in stock..and if you dont know how far your off how are you supposed to know what to buy....

 

Ok...

I bought upper control arms right?

Well the stock Ford bolts that goes throught the arms have like a big square on them.

The guy said that once they are removed that the can't be replaces/re-alligned.

He said that I just need to get a cam kit so that he can adjust the tires and what not.

The new cam kit comes w/ 4 new bolts that have a circular head to them so that he can allign them.

He nor does anyone else have them & they said that if I order them that they have to put them in, so screw that...

Brenton

 

that guy is a moron...

 

Any other ideas? Anyone?

Brenton

 

I proved that wrong. When I first got my 31's I cranked my torsions completely up. It threw me out of alignment so bad that big-o wanted to make me pay 200+ for a cam kit. After I bought my new 31's I noticed the wear on my old tires was worse then I thought. I took it to ford, and they realligned it perfectly W/O a cam kit.

 

Cass, he has a lift though too, which changes the geometry a bit. Cam kits are pricey Brenton, you won't find 'em below $100 most of the time. I just paid $150 to get my truck aligned with new cams, and it still wasn't perfect 'cause the bent frame. Zach's right though that guy is nuts, but although he's giving you a totally bs reason to buy a cam kit, it sounds like you still need it. Also like Zack said, don't bother installing cams without the alignment machine, it's not something you can just eyeball, that's why they use computers do it.

And for the t-bars, just crank them evenly on each side. You don't have to take the arm off (bs) or even jack the truck up when you do it, just make sure it's even.