I took my 2003 in for an alignment yesterday, was told by the shop that they were unable to adjust the camber for the front driver side. Passenger side is apparently ok. Said they need to replace bolts & possibly other hardware on the control arm to correct it.
Searched through the forum but couldn't find exactly what I needed (or I don't understand what's out there ). Mine's a daily driver & don't want my tires wearing out too fast.

On a related question, 4x4parts.com has an upper control arms kit which is supposed to give 3" of front lift. Would these actually add 3" of front lift? Kinda expensive though. https://www.4x4parts.com/nissan/xterra- ... -p-79.html

Thanks, Suresh

I'd take it to a different shop. The upper control arms from AC don't provide any lift, they allow you achieve a factory alignment after you adjust the torsion bars to gain 3" of lift.

I have a PML, running 32" tires. Would this mean that I could need th new UCA's? Or should I try a new alignment shop first?

Try to get an alignment first.
You could have tie rod ends that need to be replaced or something else that's minor to address. UCA replacements are when you want to get even more front end lift than the PML provides and still be able to get to alignment.

Cool, thanks guys. Will try a different shop for the alignment & report back.

So I took the truck to a different shop today & was told the same thing. The first place I took it to was the local Firestone center & the second one was Modern Tire over near where I live. They are not able to adjust back to specs. Apparently there some damage to the driver side that's preventing them from being able to fix it. They say the only way to get it back in alignment is new UCA's and adjusting bolts.

Have a long road trip coming up this weekend & I don't want to do it with the wheels out of alignment. Thinking about it overnight, if I do go with what they are suggesting, will get the old parts to see if there's actually any damage that can be seen & hopefully for spares.

- Suresh

Suresh,
Which UCAs do you have? It's possible that you won't be able to get them to factory specs, but there are modified specs out there (I think Dagger may have them) that can be used to get your truck in alignment.

I have the stock UCA's, unless the previous owner switched them, they are still stock.

Ok..
I can see how it's possible that you could be out of alignment then.
Go to AC (reference that you're part of the NEXterra group and are calling because they sponsor us) and get a set of new, aftermarket, UCAs.

I’ll tell ya, I could be wrong but I don’t think you can align the truck to spec with even just a PML and would be willing to bet you don’t need any new parts. Can you see any damage to the UCA or the bolts? Can you post a picture (you’ll have to resize it to less than 800 pixels ) of the damage?

If you get new, aftermarket UCA they will certainly be unable to get it in spec.
I used to have the “Lift specs” Mike spoke of but lost them because they didn’t help explain anything to any tech I spoke to. They’d just give me a blank stare and then tell me they could not do it.

I found an alignment shop that does commercial truck alignments the old school way; without lasers and all that stuff. Where they eyeball it, adjust, drive it, then adjust, etc. Best alignment since the truck was new and cheapest.