You turn the sleeve to make the adjustment... Unless you have some kind of equipment, it is unlikely you will ever get it accurate without them, so you really need to take it to a shop. Tire wear is the main thing that will happen if you don't. Just pony up the bucks, it will be worth it in the long run.

I will eventually, Fellro. I'm okay with it how it is for the time being. There's no drift, and the steering wheel is where it used to be. I only introduced one new variable with my parts, so I'm comfortable with it.

Ryan

I do know people that won't (my father) so I wasn't sure. You can have a vehicle that feels fine, and the toe will be off, it just is that they balanced enough to not feel off, but scuff the tire. I want to get one of the toe gauges so I can set it myself, just haven't gotten there yet. I haven't had much success with trying to measure off of the old part to the new part for many reasons... Part of it being the wear, if you use the old part as a reference, then do you know it is sitting centered, or offset? How well did the parts match on threads to location? Just too many variables to reliably adjust without proper equipment. Might get lucky once in a while, but not every time.
BTW, I forgot to mention, you should put the adjusting sleeves on, I had a case a while back where the sleeve broke, it had probably been heated the last time it was adjusted. By luck it happened when the truck wasn't loaded and running on the road. It happened in the middle of a salvage yard...
For a reference, after that happened, the friend that was using it took a steering assembly, complete from tire to tire, and put that in. All the parts were tight and in good shape, and the truck drove ok, maybe a light pull to the right, but that wasn't that new. Steering wheel was a bit off. It shredded a tire in 500 miles.True, it wasn't a new one, but was probably 1/4 tread left when I started out. I had put a new tire on before I left on the trip, I took it off to save some life on it when I discovered this problem, and put a good used tire on. It was totally smooth by the time I got home on that trip. I wasn't too happy with that friend, as he claimed the alignment was checked and ok...

Hey, I wasn't suggesting to NOT get in the shop, lol... I think I even said it would do until he GOT it there. But in a pinch, close is good.

Ryan, for the sake of those new tires, get it to a shop ASAP!!!

easy there bradley... it's saturday and it's not being driven...

Ryan

Oops almost forgot who I was talking to....

mrfixit said:

Oops almost forgot who I was talking to....

Click to expand...

Exactly, and in this case if he puts off or passes off alignment, he's step'n over dollars to pick up dimes...

Well, like was previously mentioned, even 20 bucks to have it looked at, to make an informed decision, and go from there. In fact, go to the shop that sold you the tires you HAVE... If you spring for the lifetime, You'll be in fat city.