Lifted GMC Truck Alignment goes full nightmare. The Bad, The Bad, and The Ugly!

If you've paid any attention to our channel here you know we do a LOT of custom alignment and suspension work. Easily one of the things we are most known for and generally regarded as the premiere suspension and alignment shop in Central Ohio. Lowered cars and trucks, track beasts, drag racing monsters, and in this case lifted trucks are very much a part of our business. Most of the time they go smoothly and we can hand the customer back their keys feeling satisfied, unfortunately that leaves SOME times that... nightmares happen.
Part of doing a proper alignment on a modified vehicle is understand what has been changed and what needs to be adjusted to hit the "values" you are looking for. There are three basic pieces to any alignment whether it's a normal passenger car alignment, to a drag racing alignment, or a lifted truck alignment. Those 3 components are Caster, Camber, and Toe and all of them can not only effect not only how the vehicle drives down the road but also how it uses up tires. Uneven wear is a dead give away something is wrong. Also, if the tops of your tires are several degrees off from the bottoms of your tires, there's something wrong.
Enter our new challenge, a lifted GMC 1500 4x4 pickup truck that not only handled terribly but also was eating front tires quickly. Now first step is a visual inspection and you can quickly tell there's a camber issue with the front tires. But was that due to bad parts? Damage? Improper installation? Well we dive in... and quickly end up in the very very deep end.

[@LucoreAuto]

Well.... ya can't win 'em all!

[@2enjoihsu]

This guy sounds like every mechanic I’ve ever talked to.

[@jimmyrosa2030]

great videos. I wonder what the customer had done after hearing the news.

[@oscarcastro6203]

Man you had me laughing with this one!

[@donalddooley4737]

Almost reminds me of my Jeep and getting it back to square with the world

[@LucoreAuto]

What happened and how did you fix it?

[@andyb9072]

Keep us posted on this one

[@LucoreAuto]

We certainly will. Should know more in a day or so

[@rogerchevelle8543]

Love the channel and the Honesty.😄

[@jonathanb9429]

What about the negative camber on the driver side? Is the frame bent over there too?

[@totalyep]

Great stuff. Love the tech discussions.

[@LucoreAuto]

Glad you enjoyed it, we'll keep it coming!

[@hazynpeterson4083]

cut it, TIG it , bolt it new....measure to .01"

[@Scott68B]

Nice troubleshooting skills! Not good news for the customer but it is a salvage vehicle. Enjoyed the video!!

[@LucoreAuto]

More than anything that's the most useful skill we have and provide. Not always about just turning wrenches, a lot of the time it's about finding out WHY

[@southstreetbarbecue7875]

Better to find out the truth and make an informed decision than to have someone just try to Magyver something into looking ok for a while. Great video, thanks!

[@rodneyf.9595]

Thanks brother , home with the flu , funny how I do work in my shop like this sick at home and watching you work but man I enjoy y'all thank you for the video and much appreciated by another tech . 👍

[@LucoreAuto]

Sorry to hear you are sick, hopefully just a quick down time and you can get back in the garage! It IS kind of funny when we relax after work... doing the things we do AT work 😉 Thankd for watching!

[@MikeSmith-nu9wt]

😂 same here , no strength in my shoulders , can't work , my bucket truck is in my shop , steers terrible , trying to figure out if I'm just used to rack & pinion nowadays or if I did something wrong , alignment shops couldn't figure it out , ripped one set of control arms out in 7 months..heavy bucket truck , never crashed though .

[@mry82]

CSI: Lucore.

[@LucoreAuto]

Lol!

[@thatdudeinorange2297]

An honest garage tells you whats really wrong and if its doable fixing it. Dont know about lift kits, but spacers hardly ever improve the handling.

[@LucoreAuto]

More than anything that's probably the most important service we offer. Especially with all the other businesses we help, even if we don't do the repairs ourselves we can point to what needs done and why.

[@rodney1818]

A 2010 Dodge Charger is the same way you can take the upper control arm off of one side and put it right on the other

[@cyane1577]

As the customer I'd say "It's salvaged. I'll sell it & get something else. Thank you for your time & telling me the truth. I'll be sure to give you my business in the future.".

[@mattrider9230]

looks like the rear axle is a couple inches lower on the right hand side as well.

[@bdd1469]

Nothing a few hrs on a frame rack won't fix, but I thought you said it had the same negative camber on both sides? Without knowing lift height or that the frame was tweaked I was thinking that amount of lift may require taller knuckles or aftermarket upper arms to get the geometry back .

[@huppscustom]

Why is drivers side negative camber though?

[@LucoreAuto]

Both drivers side AND passenger side were about 3.5 degrees negative 😒

[@rodney1818]

Okay just kidding so don't beat me up over it. Cut the upper a arm mounts off and extend them

[@LucoreAuto]

There are a few "fixes" that could be used... most aren't exactly correct 😉

[@rodney1818]

@@LucoreAuto I've been watching Fab rats lately so all things are possible

[@bm9860sts]

Holy crap what a mess🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️

[@hailrazr786]

somebody polished a turd and sent it

[@LucoreAuto]

Yeahhhhhh there's always a risk in used car purchases, even bigger risk buying "rebuilt" salvage titles 😞

[@hailrazr786]

@@LucoreAuto let us know what the customer says

[@Whopoopedinmypants]

So when a total loss vehicle in your state is refurbished does it have to go through an inspection process?

[@64bille]

Hope you let us know what the customer decides to do with it. Especially if he wants it fixed. It is a nice looking truck.

[@LucoreAuto]

We will definitely keep everyone posted, this was just filmed on Friday so decisions are still being made.

[@bobbysmith8120]

OMG you buy junk you have junk 😉 great explanation of the good the Bad the Ugly 👏👏👍👍🇺🇸

[@LucoreAuto]

Not a whole lot of Good on this one unfortunately, whomever "repaired" this thing certainly skipped a step or 3 now the new owner is stuck with it 😞

[@lawhornracing6921]

Regardless of what the customer decides and from a business perspective what would you charge the customer? Anything at all? An inspection fee? Just curious

[@LucoreAuto]

At this point it's basically just a 1 hour diag/inspection fee. The repair has a few options, none of which are cheap and still unsure what the customer is going to want to do. We advise, they decide.

[@johnnylom9915]

Good diagnostics but I would never buy a wreck.

[@LucoreAuto]

It's certainly a gamble, in this case.... yikes. A HUGE portion of what we do is diagnostics, not so much what is wrong but WHY

[@jimthompsonjr4451]

But hey he looks cool rolling down the highway right ????? Man that’s a doozy.

[@Wallhanger609]

So what did the customer end up deciding to do?? U can’t leave us hanging like that lol

[@LucoreAuto]

Lol we'll let you know, this was just from Friday Rich working while I was at PRI 😀

[@acch24]

Thats a true shit box

[@robertdean6222]

Perhaps the insurance company should have totaled the truck?

[@throttlewatch4614]

Your like the doctor with the positive pregnancy test, this is going to cost you a lot of money for a long time. I hope that guy gets some resolve from the seller

[@frediefarmer]

👍🏽🇺🇸👍🏽

[@LucoreAuto]

Thank you Sir!

[@peterkovacs8654]

Sometimes you become the angel of death when you hafta inform a customer of whatever you find diagnosing their vehicles, serious, critical or terminal, not fun. The truth will set you free, and break your heart, and your wallet, sorry