Problems adjusting alignment after lift
 

Put on a 8" lift on my 04 3500 about 2 months ago still having problems getting it to drive right. I uploaded a few pics but i'm having 1 problem that really stumps me. I had it aligned steering wheel straight, axle centered. I swapped to a new track bar and got the axle pretty close to centered but now my steering wheel is 1/2 turn off to the right? I didn't touch any tie rods or pitman arm, I don't get wth? The axle was originally to far to the drivers side, adjusted it today but a bit to much now to close to passenger, but the steering wheel didn't change. I am really confused as to what put my steering wheel off?

Also another issue that poped up with the new track bar is the factory track bar mount is hitting the coil. Only about 1/8" clearance just sitting.

If anyone else has pure performance long arms and track bar, would you happen to know the approx lengths of everything? I am really not sure what needs to be adjusted to cure these problems.

Any help would be great, really want to be able to start driving this thing again :dang: Here's a couple pics to maybe help to.

with that big of a lift you wont ever get it aligned perfect

Umm, I know it will, at 6" I could drive any speed with 100% perfect alignment and no issues. I know it will take time but I will have it again at 8".

And how the hell does a major metal clearance issue have anything to do with lift? A stock truck could have the same issue.....And that's my issue, NOT because I can't get it aligned.

These are my big problems....

To get your steering wheel recentered, you'll need to readjust the drag link. Make sure you have enough threads left on the sleeve so that you're not hanging on by one or two threads. If you don't have enough adjustment, you can have a longer sleeve made from a piece of tubing. You'll just need to figure out how much longer the sleeve needs to be, then thread it, and slot it so the clamps will work properly. If you have a friend who works in a machine shop, it shouldn't take but about 20-30 minutes to make.

As for your coils hitting the track bar mount, look at your coils from the side of the truck. I think you'll find they are in a bit of an arc toward the front of the truck. This is typical with big lifts. The lift will create negative caster( your pinion points higher) which in turn leans your spring cups toward the front of the truck and bows your coils somewhat.
If you have adjustable control arms you can lengthen your lowers and shorten your uppers to bring the pinion back down. Once you go that high, the adjustment that is going to work best is going to be a compromise between pinion angle and caster angle. Too much positive caster will wear your u-joints much quicker although it will handle better. Too much negative caster as you're finding out can make for clearance problems, as well as affect your return to center and steering effort.
I suggest getting your axle centered first, then recenter your steering wheel. Once you get that taken care of then figure your caster and pinion angles out. A bit too much negative caster and you may also find that your front driveshaft feels like it's vibrating. A bit more positive caster should correct that. Last but not least, center the wheels in the wheel well.
The fact that you have long arms will make it much easier to get things dialed in, since you're not dealing with such steep control arm angles.
Hope that helps.