Front End Floats

Hey Taco World! I am the second owner of a '13 Double cab TRD. It had a bad front end whine when I bought it, turned out to be a wheel bearing. Tires were needing replaced so I put on Yokahama Geolanders, Bilstein shocks, raising the front to level with the back. Looks good!

Now the issue. From day 1 with the steering wheel in the neutral position, it would wander right or left at really any speed. If I am driving into a crosswind, no issues of course. Yes, the truck has been aligned and a very trustworthy and knowledgeable shop has looked for other worn, or bent parts that may be the cause. Nothing. Anyone else have this issue or have an idea what it may be?

 

The specs are good from the alignment but what were they? Is the truck lifted?

 

Yes, what are your alignment numbers and what are you running for tire pressure?

 

JBA UCAs will get you right back to stock feel.

 

I did not get the print out of the alignment. I am not a techie person when it comes to that, sure I could get them though. The float was the same with a set of Kelly tires before. That was with the factory Bilsteins and Kelly tires. I was sure with the new Bilstein's, the adjustable fronts set on the mid lift and with the new Yokahama's it would be better. It isn't. I am running 32 lbs all the way around for pressure.

 

Lack of caster if you are using OE upper control arms still. That's your issue. It's a very common thing for them to need replacing once you get lifted.

 

I’d call and get your alignment numbers and post them. How much lift do you have? When I upgraded my suspension the caster was at the bottom edge of the spec and wandered. Possibly get another alignment where you specify the caster on the high end or UCAs to easily address it ... but this is all theoretical until you know the numbers.

 

If you had the loose or floaty feeling before and after this work it sounds like you are fairly new to the truck what was the previous vehicle? Is their play in the steering wheel before your input moves the wheels.

 

Can we assume you got the alignment after you installed the Bilsteins?

 

There is little to no play in the wheel before input. Yes, alignment was done after the tires and Bilstein's. I have 8 vehicles in the family and have driven a variety of all types of vehicles. If you are recommending upper control arms, are these aftermarket or OEM and why would this be affected?

 

As the suspension droops or lifted the caster angle decreases. The more pos caster the more stable and less "loose" feeling at speed the more neg. caster the better at low speeds and maneuvering. So with the truck lifted it decreased your caster aftermarket control arms allow you to gain this caster back without affecting any other measurement as the caster is built into the arm in most cases. My only other suggestion besides this being a new vehicle and not use to the feel would be a tire issue but you had it with 2 different sets. I have replaced my front end components multiple times and never had any issues. Could be an issue in the rack like with the hydraulics or something I don't know. Hard to diag. or know without actually seeing and feeling for myself.

 

I have bilsteins 5100s, 265/75/16s, coils and an AAL that resulted in 2.5" lift. When I got my truck aligned from a shop I've used for years (trustworthy to me), the truck wandered. I got my numbers and had 0.5 caster. The recommendd range is somewhere around 1-3 (IIRC the 2005 range is 1.2-2.7). Once I added UCAs (dirt king group buy on this site) the caster jumped to 2.9 and it made a world of difference. There are plenty of threads on here where this is discussed in detail, and many with lifts similar to mine found a shop that could get the alignment into spec. For me, the UCA made sense and it helped tremendously. As a sanity check I'd call the shop and see if they have the numbers, post them and you can either rule that out or focus on it.

One more note -- changing the caster moves the wheel forward / back relative to the wheel well. Before my UCAs with the low caster, my tires would rub the front fender as I would reverse as i approached full lock down a hill (steep driveway). After the UCAs the rubbing is gone.

 

I knew I could count on this group to help and help you have, thank you. I never paid too much attention to front end things, out of my league and wanted to trust those that were trained in that area. I will check the numbers from the shop and post or let you know what I have done to fix the issue.

Unrelated, but coming up as I turned 150K the other day, how soon should I be thinking water pump?

 

Help! The shop is ordering caster kits, as they believed them to be damaged. They changed the caster to nearly 1 and the tires now rub in the wheel well. With OE control arms yet am I wasting my time or can it be aligned to track neutral? If so with the factory parts where is a good # on caster to try?

 

I think more information would help ...

• what size tires?
• how much lift?
• what are the current alignment numbers?
• when do the tires rub? all the time or only when you're turning right or left? is it at or near full turn or just barely?
• do they rub in the front of the wheel well? back?

this is probably my ignorance, but I've yet to read about tacoma's needing a caster kit? I would guess maybe the LCA cam bolts are seized and they're replacing them? Or maybe a set set that allows for more adjustmnet? I know the current LCAs can be adjusted ... and my understanding is that with a lift, you're limiting the caster you can get with the stock cams, but this sounds suspicious. What do they expect the caster kit to accomplish?

As for # to try, I'd suggest 2.5 -- top end of the range, but it sounds like in this case they want to get you in range and call it done.

As for OE control arms, my guess is you're spinning your wheels and aftermarket UCAs will help. Most come with roughly 2' delta from OE so you slap on some JBAs or DKs and you're at 3 and then the alignment techs can focus on camber and toe, which is clearly where they're more comfortable.

 

Tires: 275/75, 1 size larger than stock
Lift: 2 1/2"
Alignment: All he said was caster was now at .89, wheel is visibly further back in the wheel well. Did not provide all #'s as they have to get the caster kit in and installed
Rubs at half turn to the left at the back of the wheel well

 

Caster kit?

 

They want to put in caster kits, yes

 

What are they saying is in this kit?

 

Just looked it up. Keeps us posted. I’m curious if the eccentric actually lets them find 2+ degrees of caster.