Align #'s good, crazy pull to R, not the tires

anyone with experience on this chassis, please offer any info outside the normal box!

17 Taco MT Pro , TRD factory Fox suspension, SPC UCA's for caster, rear Hellwig sway bar, 17x8 FN's on STMaxx 265/65-17. basically all stock except the uca's & wheels/tires.

the first thing to know here is that my alignment was perfect at my current specs for 18 months and the drive was perfect every day. then one day i bang a curb a bit, not a lot, just a bit. i heard some metal on metal from the front in that instant and my left front caster was reduced from 4.7deg to 2.5 deg from the hit. drove for one week like that, a messy drive.

went back to the original alignment shop to put it back. they did get it exactly back to the original numbers, and now it is pulling to the right LIKE CRAZY. before, no pull. now, same numbers, crazy pull. wha? tires rotated several times, no change

before and current numbers, they are the same:
front toe: 0.07 both
camber: ~0
caster L 4.7. R 5.2 (caster split for road crown, was perfect for 18 months)
pressures are good. tire wear is even and correct. tires have been rotated a number of times with no change.

two shops cannot find anything broken. tomorrow we try again and this time I'm telling them to forget the alignment and just find what's broken. no signs of grabbing brakes. the pull to the right is insane AND IT'S GETTING WORSE DAILY.

has anyone had something like this on a Tacoma and what did you figure out? next steps are looking closer at right front brake, steering rack, and front shocks & mounts.

 

I have heard that the STMaxx tires pull to the right though. Could you have bubbled a tire?

 

Are you sure they’re legit numbers? Some shops will just kinda change a little here and there in paperwork.

Frozen alignment cams?

 

read the thread man!

 

I did, you never said that the shops did an inspection of the tires that are known to pull to the right.

 

good question. that was the question i had for the SA at shop#2 when i showed up. he said the Hunter guy just left 15 mins ago for the 6 month calibration check! for what that's worth, but these guys are legit and i do believe my SA.

 

i thought i made that clear but guess not. thanks for the reply anyway. these tires have 35k miles on them, and the first 34.7k of that they were absolutely perfect with zero pull. and now they've been rotated maybe 5 times and zero change.

 

Similar issue here, but I never hit a curb or anything.

Truck pulls to the right. Stock tires, stock everything. Had dealer check alignment and it is fine. Have had tires rotated also no difference

In the far right lane of the highway it pulls hardcore to the right. In the far left lane you would expect it to pull left if it was just road crown - It goes straight as an arrow.

Not sure what is up but no uneven wear on tires. When I swap out for the winter I will probably have an independent shop check alignment.

 

What caused the metal on metal sound you mentioned? Seems odd to get that by hitting a curb.

 

Why would you rotate the tire 5 times in 300 miles?

 

my first shop that originally set the alignment and then corrected it is a car shop. they seemed to reach their limit with this story quickly so i went to shop #2 because they do lots of trucks, work trucks and big trucks. on paper they've seen it all, so if they're going into breakage diagnostic mode tomorrow it may get more info since last visit they were simply correcting the alignment, but there's now more to the story.

if i have to literally disassemble the whole front end and start replacing shit then I'll do it. hoping to keep this simple & cheap obviously.

 

trying to diagnose this damn problem! front back rotation, cross rotation, side side on front... all no change.

 

definitely odd that a light strike, not even sure "strike" is the word here, would cause any issue. this truck has seen rocky trails and stuff and has taken much stronger hits and forces on trails. i got this was just an Achilles heel thing.

assuming the metal sound was the alignment cams or attachment points. it wasn't horrible or loud.

 

Hate to be THAT guy bud, but last resort is always the dealership and have them diagnose it. If they repair it and it fails, at least it's warrantied to not do it again.

 

yes first thing on the list for tomorrow.

my last car had a similar symptom when the right front shock failed. different front end tho. but it does feel like the front right wheel is loose, or weak, and it feels strongly toed out, although it's straight.

 

yeah if we fall flat tomorrow and options are exhausted it's heading to the dealer for some misery.

 

I mean....best case scenario...problem solved

 

wheel hub/bearing assembly? check the wheel for being true?

 

Following.

Similar situation happened to me but I feel like the splines on the steering rack need to be adjusted. My wheel is crooked 10 degrees to the right and goes straight (other than road crown) then when I turn the wheel in line with the steering column I immediately starting pulling left.

Maybe a bent steering knuckle? IDK.

 

Not sure how hard you hit the curb but your spindle may be bent. They seem to be the weak link up front and could cause similar symptoms. Good luck and report back when you find out what's going on.