Truck can't get aligned, pulls right

Great news about the frame.

 

Yes I understand..... but 1/16th from the mounting point causes much larger differences in the angle of the axle. I mean if you could see it in person and feel the vibrations you would understand.

Also I bought it in October so it's unsettling and upsetting to discover something the dealership failed to tell you or missed. I looked at the hanger pretty closely and it looks like the rivets may be bent.

 

It pulls to the right very well

 

Oh flat ground or anywhere. Our roads are pretty crowned so a good alignment will still feel like they pull to the right u less your on truly flat ground

 

Yes on a flat good road as well. Most of SC roads are crap so when I do get on a good road I pay attention.

 

I’ve welded in new hangars and swapped different axles in the rear of my Tacoma twice...I’m aware how mounting points work....

If you want to chase and harass a dealer for selling you a 12 year old truck with a leaf spring hanger 1/16” out of square as measured with your tape measure, feel free. I also hear that pissing into the wind is in style now too.

 

I'll go piss in the wind, it's my paraogative, but I came here for constructive help. Not to be harrassed by someone welded a few hangers and swapped a couple axles.

 

Send pictures when you do.

You came in asking for help and ready to lynch the dealer you bought the truck from for selling you a 12 year old truck you deemed not up to your self admitted perfectionist standards. A truck you bought and signed for and had every chance to inspect prior to signing the contract. At no point did you take any advice already posted such as loosening u-bolts or shackles to try and pull the axle forward or backward before re-tightening. I said that 1/16" difference in your factory front spring hangers will make no difference and to look elsewhere for your side to side difference. You seem to have your mind made up though and would probably feel more at home in the third gen section.


Back to regularly scheduled programming...

@eon_blue I'm curious how a new alignment comes back now that you've pulled the axle around to try and square it up more. If your hangers are as square as your seeing, I'd start to lean towards a bent tube or it being a front alignment problem with adjustable control arms being misadjusted badly for caster from side to side and pushing one spindle forward/backwards compared to the other. Having an inch or two difference in wheelbase is pretty big and will cause thrust angle problems.

 

Yea my last alignment showed a bad rear thrust angle but I can't seem to find the print out. I remember it was way off side to side though, cause I brought it up with the tech and just got the 'that can't be adjusted' explanation

I'm hoping when I get a new alignment it will show some improvement now that I've squared the axle up a bit, and maybe any
further contribution to my right side pull can be pin pointed to the front end.

I do have adjustable arms up front but in the normal setting, though I have had the caster maxed out via the lowers for a little while now. Still on the stock LCA bushings too which are likely overdue for a change

 

At least now would bet the ideal time to check/fix it while the frame is off the body. Much easier to take measurements too

 

Well if I get some time in a week or so I hope to have the rear end on the truck

 

Enough with the upsetness, let's keep in topic.

 

My bad

 

Eh it's the webs, we all get a bit cranky. I don't think op really cares, but this is a good thread with good info, and good thread can go down quickly on the TW...

 

Are the center pins intact? I see you measured from them. But did you verify the bottom leafs didnt slide around. My jeep did what you are describing when the center pin broke on one side. Are you 100% sure the leafs are the same length and installed properly? Usually its something stupid simple like this that gets people.

 

I got a lot of great info and help in the first several pages, but there have been a few others coming onboard looking for help with similar issues, so it would be cool for it to stay on track so to speak. Although I am always up for a good BS thread, we have the Lunchtable thread for those shenanigans lol.

 

Yea it's brand new leaf pack(s) in my case, custom Alcans. No sliding issues and the center pins are new/intact, just installed the leafs a couple weeks ago.

I should reiterate I did manage to work the axle into a better place via ratchet strapping both sides in opposite directions in an attempt to even it out. Apparently there was a bit of wiggle room there for me to work with but one tire is still almost an inch more forward than the other. But it's better than the ~2 inch variation I was looking at before.

In the last couple pages a few guys have mentioned having the same issue and it makes me wonder if this was something of a normal occurrence among 1st gens that most people don't notice until they upgrade to a bigger tire size. In one or two cases it sounds like the front hangars were slightly uneven, although from what can tell mine aren't (measuring from center of front bolt to frame drain hole). Same on both sides.

Other than it being a normal tolerance issue from factory, the only thing I haven't really ruled out yet is a slightly bent axle housing which I'll need some free time to verify, maybe this coming week. And would also like to get another alignment print out to see what my rear thrust is looking like now.

 

Yea I stopped reading at page 8 lol. Weird. I would still re-measure the leaf pack, you never know they could have screwed up the assembly or the specs. It just seems odd, I have a 1/2" deep dent in one frame rail right in front of the hangar and the frame is twisted on my truck and the rear axle is centered in the wheel well.

 

Well, I spent a few hours today all over roughly measuring. It looks as though my cab is shifted slightly but in the opposite direction of the rear axle. So if I were to adjust it I believe it would make the thrust angle a little less visible but it wouldn't change it obviously. I also got some x patter measurements of the frame and a couple were just slightly off but the main lower section of the frame was a 1/4 inch difference. I measured from the frame rivets, the last two on the middle section (the lowest secion of the frame) to either side of the trans crossmember. Again this is roughly measured. It seems I may have a number of issues but hopefully this can all be rectified.

I did speak with the GM of the dealership I bought from and he said if I bring it to him they would look at it for me. The problem being they are about 4 hours away so I may just pay a frame shop 100$ to measure for me. Hopefully they go for it. Told em I'm not looking to come after them as I never intended to but, if they could just help a toyota enthusiast out lol.

 

Any indication that it was ever in a wreck on the carfax? Body panels all look original and lined up? Usually if an accident isn't reported to insurance you can bet they used aftermarket body panels to fix it, and those rarely line up 100%. Usually the paint looks different too unless it was done professionally