3rd gen Alignment question?

Hey TW,

Just picked up my 2017 Tacoma from my local Toyota dealer.

They performed an alignment but the paperwork showed they used the specs of a 2015 Tacoma pre runner.

Are the specs exactly the same? Same as Identical?

I took it to the Toyota dealer because I thought they would have 2016+ specs and wanted it done right. It's more expensive at the dealer but I figured it would be worth it if they had current specs that other small shops don't have yet.

Can anyone confirm it's the same or even just a little different?

Thanks in advance

 

Factory spec range are as follows..
Camber -0.2 to 1.3
Caster 1.5 to 3.0
Toe -0.04 to 0.13
Not sure if any changed from previous generation. Just check your specs they should be within that range

 

My alignment numbers are:

Camber:
L 0.2
R -0.2
Caster:
L 0.5
R 0.4
Toe:
L 0.00
R 0.05

According to your numbers my caster is off
Is that a big issue?

 

No way your caster is 0.5, it should be at least 2 from the factory, I'd suggest sharing the sheet they gave you.

Spec is identical, not that it matters, its a broad range and most alignment techs aim for optimal balance, not an exact number.

I can align Tacos and Tundras without specs, but I try to ensure I have the right truck selected. That said we don't have 2017 loaded on our machines yet. It's typical for most shops to be out of date a year or so.

 

How big of a lift do you have.

With .5 Castor your steering probably feels very floaty on the highway, and turns very easily in a parking lot.

 

Unless I'm reading this wrong,
I have about a 2.5 to 2.75 inch lift, 5100's with 887 springs 2wd

 

@Teeko Yeah, you are probably close to 3" of lift with the 887's and being 2wd. You'll need aftermarket control arms if you want to get your castor back in Spec. Not saying that they couldn't get more Castor out of your current setup, but if you want to be in the 2*-3* range new UCA will be needed.

Any pics of your truck.

 

Yeah I'll post a few soon, I'll also look into new UCA's.
I figured the dealer would've told me something, like if they had trouble getting it to spec but they didn't mention any complications and called it good to go.

 

There is probably room to raise caster a bit using the front cam however that would raise camber also.. caster is not a wear angle so you wont see any tire wear from it being low.. it does affect stability if your running wider tires you may feel like it wonders or follow the road quite a bit. as other have mentioned the only way to increase your caster it by replacing the uca's

 

Thanks, I'm running 265/75R16's
So far I felt like it drives well but time will tell.
I might wait a few weeks and let the suspension settle some more before attempting to have it adjusted a bit.

 

I Have a similar suspension setup with roughly the same alignment specs, I also don't have uca's yet. I do alignments were I work and have aligned my truck multiple times, when I 1st did the lift I set my alignment up to try to maximize caster the problem is that camber will be high. I personally did not like the look of the tires being camber out from the top, I also did not want to increase outside edge wear on the tires. I realigned the truck and have lower camber to about what you have and caster is similar also, with my 265/70/17 winter tire setup the truck still drives fine around town. It doesn't seem to wonder much, when I put the 285/70/17's on I can instantly feel a difference, I don't drive much and its not unmanageable but I do have to keep my hands on the steering wheel at all times unless its a freshly paved road. If your sticking with the 265's I wouldn't worry to much about it, when ever you have some extra cash get some uca's and realign it, its not a big deal especially if your not having any drivability issues.

 

Thanks for your input, I have some piece of mind now lol
I've driven about 120 miles since alignment and it feels good so far.

I'll update in a few weeks