Thread: 55.2-59 Porterbuilt Alignment
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Old 10-17-2019, 05:04 PM   #6
joedoh
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Join Date: May 2007
Location: Doodah Kansas
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Re: Porterbuilt Alignment



looking at your pictures, it looks like you are raising it as far as possible, which will arc the upper control arm over center and pull the top of the tire in. in four (five?) words, you shouldnt do that.

there are three important heights with an air ride suspension, laid out, ride height, max height.

laid out is what it sounds like, except it requires a little planning. the air bag should squash completely, the last breath of air out at the point the truck hits the ground. if it doesnt, if there is still space in the bag when its laid out, you will need more air/psi to lift the truck than would be required with a squished bag, because you have to fill the empty volume first, before the truck lifts. the upper control arm usually has some angle to it at this point and will pull the camber negative, because the upper is shorter than the lower.

ride height is a little more arbitrary, but usually is about half travel on a bag. if you have 10" of lift from laid out to max height, ride height will be at about 5". another good way to set ride height is when the lower control arm is just about level. camber will be about zero or slightly negative, because the upper and lower are about level. the spring rate at half travel is relatively soft, so you will want gas charged shocks to damp the oscillations.


max height is alllll the way up, suspension locked mechanically by either the upper arms hitting the frame or bag mounts, or the ball joint at max angle, or the shock topping out. increasing pressure stresses the mechanical interference without giving any more lift. ride is impossibly harsh because the spring rate is super high and the shock cant do its job. camber trends toward negative again because the upper control arm is over center on the arc.


a lot of people look at the half travel ride height and say, no, I need it higher than that. but thats isnt how your suspension is set up, you would need to move the entire suspension down in relation to the frame to have a higher ride height, and then it wouldnt lay out the way you like. and even at 4-5 inches of travel at ride height, you will still clear almost all obstacles and still have another 4-5 inches of height adjustment to clear bigger bumps or make turns if your wheels hit the fenders at full lock. i promise if you try to drive at max height it will ride terrible and you will ruin your tires. porterbuilt knows their stuff,. set the control arms at about level and set your camber there, you will have enough adjustment.

it takes some driving and practice to figure out the sweet spot, I had a channeled mazda that tucked about 3" of tire/wheel at ride height, but could still make all turns outside of sharp 90 degree ones.


good luck!
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