Been having an ongoing issue with alignment on my 03 4WD Blazer. It has a significant pull to the left. I originally thought it was due to road crown since I've noticed a difference in the severity of the pull depending on which lane I'm in on a highway. Left lane is a lot worse than the right lane, and it's not quite as bad when on a regular two lane road. There's quite a bit of abnormal wear on the outside edge of the left tire. The right tire doesn't seem to have the same wear patten.

Since I've had the truck I've replaced the outer tie rod ends, lower ball joints, hub bearings, sway bar links, shocks, and the left lower control arm since it was broken. Also, the idler arm was replaced by the dealer I got it from, which was ~1.5 years ago. I had the alignment checked and adjusted after replacing the tie rods and the control arm; they also checked ride height at that time. The alignment was adjusted a third time about eight months ago after I first noticed the abnormal tire wear. I had three different shops do the alignments, so it most likely isn't due to their negligence. Everything seemed fine until recently, the truck is once again pulling to the left and eating the outside edge of that left tire.

Any ideas why this is happening? Should I try replacing the upper ball joints? They have been replaced before at some point, no rivets there. Could control arm bushings have anything to do with it? Obviously the left lower bushings are new since I replaced that control arm, but all the rest are original. Could everything be out of whack since those are new but the rest old? Thanks for any advice.

 

Any ideas on this one?

 

Usually when they align it they check to make sure nothing is bad, take it for another alignment and after you get it back check that the alignment bolts are good and tight. Then it might be worth it for you to throw a couple tack welds on the alignment washers to help keep them in place.

 

Took the truck to a shop for alignment/inspection. They found that the left lower ball joint was worn, wouldn't do the alignment. This is the same ball joint that was brand new a year ago that came installed on the new lower control arm I replaced. I didn't even consider the ball joint to be suspect since it is only a year old. Back then I considered ripping out the joint on the new LCA and replacing it with a Moog, I really wish I had done that now. Is it unheard of for a lower ball joint to go bad in that short amount of time? Obviously it wasn't very good quality, the LCA was a Dorman, ungreasable joint. Any chance I could have made a mistake during installation that could have led to premature failure? I tightened the castle nut to proper spec, don't know how else it could've been my fault. Guess I'll do the uppers while I'm at it.

 

moog or timken only

 

Yep, that's one of the many things I've learned here. I just thought I would get more than 13 months out of that pre-installed joint! Live and learn.

(Actually way less than 13 months now that I think about it. Was having issues about five months after. WTF!)

 

Had a shop do the idler arm and pitman arm
Gave me the truck back with the wheel out almost a 1/4 turn
They booked an alignment a week later

I didnt think either component was bad but it made night and day difference for the dread wandering

SOME shops do not check anything before doing an alignment

 

I am working on the same alignment problem. So far I have replaced everything you have as well as rebuilt the steering box and replaced rag joint. I just replaced the shocks a few days ago so I am going to try another alignment. I have noticed that toe can be set on the left, right and then upon checking the left again it is out.

 

Got a driveway alignment done yesterday. I finally got camber set really close to 0* on the left and maybe .5* on the right. Caster is set at 4-5/8* on both the left and the right. I set it with more caster to help with straight line driving because it feels very squirrely below 3*. Toe was out a little so I set that with the front off the ground. I aligned it off the rear wheels to prevent any dog-tracking and the wheel is straighter than normal but it fees like it's pulling to the right... could just be the road I was on though.
I'm convinced the frame is bent because there is about a half inch difference between measurements from a string which is parallel with the rear tires and the front hubs. In other words there is roughly a 1/2" offest in the frame causing the front to be 1/2" to the right. A terrible repair was made to the drivers door area. So, a short talk with someone who knows something about alignments could help me overcome my problem. The end-link arm on the right is also about 1/2" longer than the one on the left.

So you might want to start looking for evidence of prior damage that is causing your alignment issues.

 

I replaced that worn ball joint I mentioned in post #4, along with the uppers while I was at it. All four ball joints are now Moog. Took the truck back for an alignment, so far a week later things seem okay.

I'm in contact with Dorman, they seem to have no issues with honoring the warranty and giving me some sort of refund.