Pay an expert. Alignment bliss achieved.

I’ve never been happy with the alignment on my truck. It came from the factory with the wheels toed-outwards which caused the truck to wander. Toyota corrected this under warranty within the 1st couple weeks I owned the truck.

Once they were done, I still felt the steering was sort of vague and the truck pulled to the right, ever so slightly. On two subsequent visits to my dealer I asked them to check the alignment, which they did for free. They told me “all in spec”, and the typical “cars and trucks will pull right due to the crown of the road”.

Anyways.......fast forward to now. I have a huge trip planned this summer, which will see about 21 days of driving this truck, with quite a bit of highway travel in there. I didn’t want to scrub my tires off, or be endlessly annoyed by the slight tug to the right the whole time, so I said “fuck it” and decided I wanted to pay for a proper alignment at a dedicated alignment and frame shop (not a tire shop).

I got the truck back, and it’s night and day. The steering is solid, and the truck drives straight as an arrow. I wish I had done this two years ago.

I spoke with the tech at the shop and he told me the rear axle was slightly canted throwing off the thrust angle. Also, the front wheels were still slightly toed-out, and the caster was not correct on the front wheels. I was surprised to learn that ideally, where I live, you do not want the same caster setting on each front wheel. The casters are set differently left-to-right to account for the crown of the road, and prevent the tendency of the vehicle to “fall off the crown”. In some parts, the crown is less extreme, and they would apply different settings to achieve a different compromise.

I was also happy to see them torquing the rear axle leaf-spring bolts with a torque wrench as well. No counting “ugga-duggas”.

In short, the “free” check and adjustment at my Toyota dealer was not worth the hassle. All the free service gave me was a couple years of annoyance.

In the end, I paid a couple hundred bucks to have a newish truck properly aligned. Money well spent. Sometimes you just gotta fork over.

 

Or get yourself a hunter. A good shop is hard to find. And even then... I don’t trust people with fasteners.

 

I go to the small mom and pop shops. Where they let me in the back next to the machine and we shoot the shit while they adjust it. I helped the tech set my caster last time I got an alignment. Dudes were solid.

 

Road crown is usually compensated for by slightly more camber on the driver-side.
Usually 0.25 degree; enough to compensate but won't cause a pull on a flat road; 0.50 or greater will.

 

When it comes to alignment, I completely agree. I learned this lesson when I bought a lifetime alignment from Firestone 10 years back.

Also agree that a good shop is hard to find

 

I questioned this as well, but it was caster they adjusted. Whatever the method, the result is perfect.

 

Usually...
You can do it with caster I guess.
The side with more caster will tend to toe in more causing a pull to the side with less caster.

Proof's in the pudding...glad you finally got it sorted.

 

Thanks. It’s amazing how much nicer the drive is now.

 

He was Jammin with your cross caster/caster lead.

 

Congrats, I bit that bullet a few months ago. Had the lifetime firestone alignment, and used it probably 5 or 6 times trying to actually get an alignment that didn't feel awful. Plus they ruined my cam tabs in the process.

These good alignment shops are h-a-r-d to find these days...

Be well and safe travels on your trip.

 

They're easier to find if you look for a collision alignment shop.

 

This is so true. Found a guy at a local shop, they do everything from cars to semi's. Leveling a vehicle puts everything in an extend position, getting things as right as you can makes a big difference in ride and handling. The angles will never be stock, until you goto a bracket lift.

 

I think you meant to say caster instead of camber here and got the differential reversed. The vehicle tends to pull toward the side with a lower degree of caster, which is why you typically run .25-0.5 degrees less on the driver side. Putting higher caster on the driver's side will cause you to pull right especially on a crowned road.

 

No...
Keep reading.

 

Huh that was always my understanding too, teach me wise one.

 

and it's also true that the 'split caster' alignment is not as common as it used to be. i used to run that crap like everyone else who simply gets whatever alignment they get. now i wouldn't touch it. and yes it's caster for road crown compensation, not camber.

 

Well at least I opened the old caster vs camber debate. Who knew?

What I know is my truck is tracking great and the people who helped me out did a great job after a few failed attempts for free help at the dealer.

 

Caster before camber, you're gonna stammer. Camber before caster, you'll die faster.



That's what ole gram mammy taught me.

 

I need to fix my rear axle too...ever since I put my Expos on awhile back I've had a right side pull and my last alignment sheet showed it in the rear numbers. Must have skewed the axle when I bolted it up. Had a friend driving behind me recently tell me my truck looks like its 'crabbing' to the right going down the road lol.

I agree a good alignment shop is worth the money especially if you have aftermarket suspension/lift. I have a Firestone lifetime package that I don't use at all anymore because most of them don't know how to do anything other than stock alignment numbers.

Have an offroad shop a few miles from me that does alignments and will give you the exact numbers you request. $125 and worth it every time. Although...they didn't offer to fix my rear axle lol. But I can do that in my driveway.

 

Preach it brother.

I've posted advice like this many times, but too many get hung up on 'lifetime alignments' and 'all the lights were green'. You don't even know if the machine is properly calibrated, much less if the tech actually pays great attention to details like balancing out the numbers side to side.

Lessons learned in the autox years. People snicker when you tell them to take a new sports vehicle to a dedicated alignment shop, ask for specific numbers and to ballast your car as you will run it during the alignment.

The snickering ends when they drive it afterwards, and realize how pig sloppy the factory 'spec range' really was.