T5 Suspension & Steering — practice test

High-yield T5 topics

The material that shows up year after year. If you're short on time, start here.

• Wear pattern to root cause, cold. Toe error = feathered/sawtooth across the tread. Camber error = smooth wear on ONE edge. Worn shocks = cupping and scalloping. Over-inflation = center rib. Under-inflation = both shoulders. They will hand you a pattern and four causes, and three of them are plausible parts that produce a different pattern.
• Caster vs SAI vs camber, from the right viewing angle. Caster is the fore/aft tilt of the steering axis viewed from the SIDE - it buys directional stability and return-to-center. SAI (kingpin inclination) is the inward tilt viewed from the FRONT. Camber is wheel tilt from vertical viewed from the front. Unequal caster side to side pulls; insufficient caster wanders. SAI and camber together set scrub radius, and SAI is non-adjustable - a bad reading means bent or damaged parts.
• Thrust angle and torque rods. Thrust angle is measured off the vehicle geometric centerline, not the front axle. A cocked drive axle dog-tracks and puts the steering wheel off-center, and you square it with the torque/radius rods - not by chasing front-end alignment. Same family: a sheared leaf-spring center bolt lets the axle shift even with the U-bolts still clamped.
• Hub-piloted vs stud-piloted wheels. Hub-piloted centers on machined pilot pads with one two-piece flanged nut per stud and a flat clamping face. Stud-piloted centers on the tapered/ball nut seats with inner and outer cap nuts. Know the torque sequence, the re-torque interval, and why a dry or over-lubed stud gives you false clamp load and fatigued studs.
• Power steering hydraulic testing. Pressure gauge with a shutoff valve in the pressure line: closing the valve dead-heads the pump and reads relief (cutoff) pressure - and you hold it no more than a few seconds or you cook the fluid. Whine plus foamy fluid points to air drawn in on the SUCTION side (loose clamp, cracked inlet hose, low level), not the pressure side. Hard steering checks go fluid, belt, pump pressure BEFORE you suspect the gear.
• Integral gear adjustment order and dual-gear systems. Worm bearing preload FIRST, then sector (over-center) lash with the gear centered - reverse the order and your lash reading is a lie. Over-tight sector lash gives a hard spot exactly at center. And on heavy front axles, the slave gear or assist cylinder SHARES the load; it is not an emergency backup.

Where techs lose points on T5

Good technicians miss these — not from lack of skill, but because the question is built to catch them.

• Frame repair rules. Never weld or torch on the bottom flange, never drill the flange - the flange carries the bending load and a hole or a heat-affected zone there is a crack starter. Web holes only, per manufacturer spec, and heat-treated rails generally must not be heated at all. Grade 8 bolts and huck fasteners are not interchangeable with whatever is in the drawer. This section is small, easy points, and almost nobody studies it.
• Dual tire mismatch vs alignment. Duals scrubbing hot on one wheel position with equal inflation is a DIAMETER/circumference mismatch - the big tire drags the small one. It is not a bent torque rod (that misaligns the whole axle) and not a bearing (that wobbles). The answer sheet loves offering you an alignment cause for a tire-matching problem.
• Wheel bearing setting method. On an end-play type non-driven front bearing you torque while rotating to seat, then BACK OFF and set a small measured end-play - commonly around 0.001 to 0.005 in - with a dial indicator, then lock it. Leaving the nut torqued down 'nice and tight' with zero clearance preloads and destroys the bearing. Adjusting-nut torque specs are seating specs, not final specs.
• Free play vs effort. Anything hydraulic - restricted return filter, low fluid, weak pump, aerated fluid - changes steering EFFORT and noise. It does not create mechanical free play. Free play comes from lash: worn tie-rod and drag-link ends, excessive sector lash, loose steering-shaft U-joints, worn kingpins. When a question asks about play and offers a hydraulic answer, that answer is the bait.

A study plan that works for T5

Roughly two weeks of real preparation, in the order that actually builds on itself.

1. Days 1-4: Steering, because it is the biggest slice. Drill the gear (recirculating ball worm preload then sector lash), pump testing procedure and relief pressure, and linkage diagnosis. Then do the physical part: go jack a front axle under the spring, rock a tire at 12 and 6 for kingpin play, then at 3 and 9 for tie-rod play, and feel the difference. You will never miss that question again.
2. Days 5-7: Suspension and alignment together, because they bleed into each other. Leaf spring inspection points (center bolt, hangers, shackle pins/bushings, U-bolts), air ride (height control valve, linkage adjustment, bags and lines), and Hendrickson walking beam (center trunnion bushing vs end bushings). Then caster/camber/toe/SAI/thrust angle, and force yourself to say out loud which view each angle is measured from.
3. Days 8-9: Wheels, tires, and the frame section everyone skips. Hub-piloted vs stud-piloted, torque sequence and re-torque, bearing end-play procedure, dual matching, tire wear patterns. Then one focused pass on frame rules - flange vs web, heat-treated rails, approved fastener repairs. Two hours here is the cheapest passing points on the whole test.
4. Days 10-12: Practice tests only, and grade the way the test thinks. For every miss, write down not just the right answer but WHY the one you picked was wrong - it will almost always be a real part that causes a real symptom, just not the one asked about. Get comfortable with Tech A/Tech B (both are usually right when each statement independently checks out) and read every EXCEPT and MOST LIKELY question twice.

Sample T5 questions

Straight from the bank — answers highlighted, with the explanation underneath.