Alignment when loaded?

[MaineBumpkin]

Hello All,

In a few month my wife and I will be doing a ~7k mile x-country trip and I plan to get the Jeep serviced just before we leave. I happened across an interesting video from Tsar Trail where a shop in St. George Utah explained the impact of load on toe and camber. It got me thinking I should bring the Jeep in 'loaded' to get an alignment before we leave. They drive a Hummer but I wonder how much impact being loaded has on a JLU? Normally I wouldn't even think about this but I'm guessing 7K miles fully loaded could negatively impact tire wear and fuel economy if the alignment isn't spot on. Between our camper and gear we will be running near max payload for most of those miles. Am I overthinking this or is it a valid consideration? Thanks!

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[Medsker]

I always get an alignment when I'm loaded the way I mostly drive. I carry a lot of extras so I make sure they are in the Jeep and then make sure I have about 3/4 tank of gas. This has always worked for me.

 

[AcesandEights]

It won't impact your SFA in a meaningful way. It impacts IFS.

 

[BroncoHound]

Hello All,

In a few month my wife and I will be doing a ~7k mile x-country trip and I plan to get the Jeep serviced just before we leave. I happened across an interesting video from Tsar Trail where a shop in St. George Utah explained the impact of load on toe and camber. It got me thinking I should bring the Jeep in 'loaded' to get an alignment before we leave. They drive a Hummer but I wonder how much impact being loaded has on a JLU? Normally I wouldn't even think about this but I'm guessing 7K miles fully loaded could negatively impact tire wear and fuel economy if the alignment isn't spot on. Between our camper and gear we will be running near max payload for most of those miles. Am I overthinking this or is it a valid consideration? Thanks!

This isn't a concern for you. Your Jeep has a solid front axle with no camber adjustments and, due to the rigidity of the SFA design, toe isn't impacted nearly as much by weight as an independent front suspension like the Hummer. Your caster will really be the only alignment metric to be affected by heavy loading, and caster doesn't affect tire wear in a meaningful way.

One of the best qualities of the Jeep is it's elegantly simple suspension design. You can perform an alignment with a couple wrenches and a tape measure that is of the same quality as one of those fancy laser adjustment machines. Your chosen tire pressure will be far more of a factor when it comes to long-term tire wear than your suspension alignment (provided nothing is severely worn or damaged).

 

[MaineBumpkin]

Thanks everyone, good info!

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