wheel travel/camber question

[gus310]

hey guys, new here from central ma, been doing a lot of lurking since i got my 97 ecsb about 5 weeks ago. shes the one in my profile pic, lifted 3" (drop bracket) suspension and 3" body with 285's. traded my 95 wrangler for it, even swap. i also had a 97 2 door tahoe a few years back that was cranked a bit with 2" blocks and 285's.

anyhow, my question is this, my tahoe with the bigger tires and gas prices nearing $5/gal was killing me, so i put 265's back on it and cranked the tortion bars back down a bit so it didnt look so bad. i dont recall the camber being thrown out of whack much if at all. however, the drop bracket lift kit on the ecsb appears to have a different control arm with it, and when i move the front up or down at all, the camber drastically changes. now i realize that i can adjust it with the eccentrics on the uca's, but my buddy driving behind me said that when i drive normally on a paved road, all the dips and bumps in the road make it change camber drastically as well! in fact i hung my head out the window on the way home tonight and saw what he meant. the tire moves like an old ford with the twin traction beams in the front! what gives? is it the aftermarket control arms? is it cranked too high?

im looking to take the body lift out bc ive never been a fan of them, and the chevys already show enough frame hanging underneath, but im also looking for the best gas mileage i can, which means ill be putting 265's on her soon. but id really like to figure out this camber issue. my balljoints are fine, steering is tight, and i was told it looks like my tire is going to fall off when im driving it, and upon further inspection, its not a far fetched description. any help would be great.

also, ive noticed the issue to the point where after i was playing with the height and got the camber right i realize that when i back up, the weight shift on teh truck will change the camber as she sits in the driveway.

 

[badazzbulldog]

hey man i just did the adjustments on my 3500 and had it perfect but when i drove it and came back and parked it both sides leaned in at the top so i went to the alignment shop up the street from me and my buddy that runs the place explained to me that when you park certain ways the weight shifts so if the camber is over adjusted it will lean out at the upper part of tire making it look like it is gonna come off the best way to get it right is the alignment machine i thought mine was close and looked right but on the rack it showed it was out a few degrees

 

[gus310]

Im guessing you backed it into a spot and the tops of the tires were leaning in? Mine does the same. Do you still run stock upper control arms?

Is this a common trait in these chevys? I've always noticed it on older fords with ttb, like I said, but not on these trucks.

 

[badazzbulldog]

ya stock arms and backing in they lean in and its the way they work from what the shop told me as long as its set by a machine your good

 

[gus310]

Is it exaggerated by a lift or anything?

 

[badazzbulldog]

its from cranking the torsion bars up

 

[gus310]

I guess ill have to drop it back down and adjust the camber back to normal. I don't like that it acts that way.

 

[WFO4X4]

take it to an alignment shop. it's normal and you're just noticing it more now cause your paying more attention to it. just get it aligned and you'll be good