Need front end aligment specs

[Copland]

Hi.

I'm going to take my hoe to the garage to get the tie rods swapped out. Unfortunatly the garage here in germany does not have the alignment specs for the Tahoe in their computer. So i've been already searching the internet for these specs, but couldn't find anything.

So i hope somebody here can post me the specs i need (toe-in, camber, caster) for a 2003 Tahoe LT 4x4 on stock suspension and wheels.

Thank you for answers....

Greetings
David

 

[91RS]

Do you have 16" or 17" wheels?

Also, if you're chasing down worn steering parts the pitman arm and idler arm are the first thing you should inspect.

 

[Copland]

I've got 17" wheels on it. The reason why i wanna replace the tie rods is, as i inspected the steering linkages before, i noticed that could move and twist the tie rod end bearing very easily and without any resistance. It got about 110k on it. So i got the moog problem solver parts as a replacement. Pitman and idler arms "seems" to be fine by now. So i thought it can't hurt to swap out these tie rods.
Am i right that by replacing just the tie rods, only an alignment of the toe in is necessary? I also recently found these specs of the 2005 model:

http://www.gminsidenews.com/forums/f53/alignment-specs-25531/

Do they work for a 2003 as well?

 

[91RS]

Actually it looks like wheel size didn't matter on a Tahoe, only Avalanche. Here are the specs for your K1500 2003 Tahoe (4x4):

Caster:
L: 3.50° ± 1.00°
R: 4.50° ± 1.00°
Cross Caster (L-R): -1.00° ± 0.50°
Camber: +0.25° ± 0.50°
Cross Camber (L-R): 0.00° ± 0.50°
Total Toe: +0.10° ± 0.20°
Steering Wheel Angle: -1.0° ± 3.5°

If you're never replaced any steering parts before at 110k, I would highly suggest replacing the pitman arm and idler arm as well. I had to replace them on my mom's 05 Tahoe at 70k miles (it really needed it before then I just waited until we put the new tires on).

 

[Copland]

Hey, thanks for the specs. I don't know if the idler and pitman arm had ever been replaced in the past. I just got the hoe for about 2 months. Maybe i should double check them again, but as far as i remember they look fine. But replacing them can't hurt too...
btw: Why does the left and right caster values differs from each other?

 

[91RS]

Caster is not a tire wearing angle. Caster is what makes the steering wheel return to center but mainly keeps the vehicle driving in a straight line going down the road. The vehicle will "pull" to the side with less caster, so there is less caster on the left side because in the US our roads typically crown to the right which would make a vehicle pull right if the caster values where the same. If you were in England or somewhere they drive of the left side of the road those caster values would need to be swapped. Germany doesn't really have crowned roads do they? You may not want to run as big of a caster split as the spec calls for if that is the case. If your alignment shop truely knows about alignments they should be able to decide if the split should be lowered or not. I know most German cars do not have a caster split so that's what I'm going on.

 

[Ronyo]

How do I read this? +0.10° ± 0.20°
is it 0.10 with a tolerance of 0.20
or 0.20 with a tolerance of 0.10