1st gen alignment

i noticed on other threads that alignment should be 0 camber, 0 toe and 2.4 caster. but i only see it on the 2nd gens. i'll have an alignment soon, will these apply for 1st gens too? i installed 5100's set on 1.75.

 

Just put it to factory spec as long as you don't have CRAZY suspension modifications. You will get the best ride and tire wear at factory spec.

 

The short answer is that those numbers (0, 0, and 2.4) also apply to 1st Gen Tacomas.

My experience is that how good the tech the runs the alignment equipment is will have an impact on the results you get. The "specs" mentioned by Tacorunner87 are way to broad in my experience. The closer you get to 0 toe and 0 camber the better the tire wear will be in the long run. If you allow the alignment place to set it "good enough", you may or may not be happy with the results. If you go into this with expressed expectations, you are more likely to leave with numbers close to as good as is possible on your truck.

I describe it this way because you probably will not be able to attain a caster number of 2.4. When you added lift (even if it is less that 2") you compromised some of the adjustability built into your truck. The good news is, a caster number higher the 2.0 simply makes it drive better and doesn't impact tire wear to the degree that toe and camber do. I am sure you came across some discussions of this in your research.

 

thanks digiratus! on the paper that they gave me when i did my first alignment, the Caster Min and Max are 0.2deg to 1.7deg. mine came in at 1.3deg on the left and 1.6deg.on the right. but i do have a slight wandering. so do i ask them if they can set it to 2.0 to 2.4deg even if it's over the factory specs on paper?

 

no toe in at all? is that normal for ifs? ..i'd think some toe would keep it from wandering.

 

A wander at high speeds is usually caused by low caster, though +1.3 degrees setting is not horrible. And it is certainly within the minimum specification.

"Wander Tolerance" (a new category I just coined ) is a funny thing. Not everyone will agree on how good the truck drives when the caster is below the optimal (2.4 degrees). There are probably many factors that play a roll in what we can each tolerate. Expectation is likely a big part of it. This might explain why companies like Total Chaos and Camburg and Light Racing are able to sell aftermarket UCAs to some of us non-racers.

btw: What were the other numbers in your first report for toe and camber. Were they able to hit 0 degrees on both?

 

thanks for reply. Camber is 0.8deg on the left and -0.7 on the right. toe is 0.5 left and 0.20 right. they are in the specified limits but i'll surely ask them to try and set it to 0deg or as close as the can set it.

 

Those toe numbers are definitely not within the specs I have. Here are the spec ranges I have:

Camber -0.65* to 0.85*
Caster 1.28* to 2.78*
Toe -0.08* to 0.12*

* = degrees

The specs your shop is using don't see to jjve.

The first time I had my alignment checked after the lift, I got the less experienced technician at that shop. When I was vocal about asking for a recheck and stating some expectations, they scheduled their more experienced guy. He did improve on the the toe (0.01 left and 0.00 right) and the camber (0.00 left and -0.02 right) but was unable to get the caster within spec (1.15 left and 1.08 right). I would add that I am at ~2.5" of lift in the front and is the likely root cause of the caster result.

It might be worthwhile to see if your shop can improve your toe and camber numbers (for tire wear reasons) while maintaining or improving the 1.3/1.6 caster.

 

woah! i know there's something weird on the specs that they have... i'll have the alignment checked out again. thanks!