You don't need a professional alignment after changing out these parts. Toe is easy to set yourself. The track bar can be adjusted with a measuring tape. Drag link just needs to be adjusted until your steering wheel is straight. These are all adjustments that can be made with simple tools.
Its the last sentence that I'm curious about. What kind of "tolerance issues" could've popped up on a simple bolt-on affair? And, what precisely was done to "make it work"?
I run 40's, and I did require a professional alignment. What you described is do-able, but $80, or so, is a small price to pay to have things done right when small tolerances matter.
Ugh...
I'm not sure why that's giving you heartburn man. The small tolerances that you're speaking of just really aren't that hard to measure if you know what you're doing. Like I said, to each their own.
The "know what you're doing" part is where it gets me.
. I can put the stuff on, simple take bolts off, put them on type stuff, but the toe and camber are a little bit beyond my technical capabilities as of now. And seeing I'm closer to 70 than 60 as of my last birthday, it's something that is getting harder to do. Spending $199 to get a lifetime alignment policy doesn't seem too bad to this "getting older" guy.The whole conversation was about changing out the track bar and drag link. You can't adjust the camber on a straight axle. For toe you just clamp a straight edge to each front tire, adjust until the front of the tires are about 1/8" closer in the front than the rear. The track bar just adjusts where the axle sits in relation to the frame. Find a spot on the frame that is consistent on both sides and adjust until the distance from that point to each wheel is the same on both sides. The drag link is the easiest of all of them, just adjust it until your steering wheel is centered. Easy peasy. Caster and thrust angle are really not that hard to measure either, but take a few more tools and a little more know-how.The "know what you're doing" part is where it gets me.
Tie rod. All you need is a 15mm wrench, couple straight edges (angle iron or levels work well), something to clamp them through your wheels (if you have 2 helpers they can just hold them), and a measuring tape.
