10k miles, 2 Alignments

Long time reader, first time poster.

Finally bought a Taco after 3 Tundras and could not be happier. Have had a few minor issues but had read about them here, expected them and they do not really bother me.

I am having an issue with the truck’s alignment and have not been able to find any relevant threads. When I bought the truck, just before pandemic lockdown, I thought the alignment was a little bit off, truck seamed to wander and the steering wheel was cocked while driving straight. The first 2500 miles on the truck were mostly around town due to working from home so not very noticeable. When I started commuting again, 60 miles each way, the alignment was clearly off. I took it to Toyota and they checked the alignment at 2900 miles, see first attachment for the before and after measurements. As I suspected, it was toeing out and they straightened the steering wheel. I thought all was good.

As I have been commuting, the truck seemed to fall out of alignment again and the steering wheel was cocked when driving straight. Mid September, I brought the truck in again at 10,900 miles. The service adviser basically scolded me for asking them to check the alignment and told me I probably hit a curb or at the very least potholes and that is why the truck doesn’t drive straight. The report, which she did not want me to even see, shows the toe out again but on the opposite side, see second attachment. They performed the alignment and all seemed good again.

I have put an additional 2,000 miles on since and the wheel is still fairly straight but truck seems to wander again but not as bad as before. I understand an alignment is not a “permanent” fix and will change over time with wear and tear.

My previous Tundras never had this issue. I put 8’ fisher plows on and plowed private roads, driveways and parking lots. Overloaded the bed almost daily. Towed heavy. Had the same commute I have now for 2 years. All while never having a single alignment issue, ever, in almost 300k miles combined. I have not heard of any common or frequent issues regarding Tacoma alignments but hoping someone has a little insight. I love every thing else about the truck but am concerned with looking to put close to 30k miles a year on it.

Thanks in advance and sorry for the long post but I know this is the place to ask.

 

Service manager needs to drive the truck. If he does not, then the General Manager will do. This is the time for all good men to stand up for what's right, and wholesome. LOL. Bust that ass man.
Zim

 

Take it to a different dealer . You have it documented with Toyota . See what they can figure out .

 

Patronize an alignment shop who understands dynamic toe and the relationship of each wheel to the vehicle’s center line because these guys obviously don’t

 

Tried that and second dealer would not touch the alignment because it was considered a workmanship issue.

I think I will have a local mechanic who is very knowledgeable with alignments look it over and see what he thinks. My real concern is how can a truck come out of alignment that quickly, I have never seen anything like it. 8k miles is crazy, I have gone 90k and alignment changed less on tundras.

 

Not normal. Get it checked out. 1M others do not have this problem.

 

If you owned a 2007-2010 tundra (probably newer too) then you know that the alignment is garbage on these trucks so why should you assume the Tacoma would be any different? I had a lifetime alignment for my tundra and it was in every 4-6 months. No lift stock tires and rims. The other thing that pissed me off about alignment on the tundra was that they always used torches to loosen components and ended up with burnt rubber boots and fittings. So... maybe they damaged parts on the first alignment?

 

Hmm. That is a head scratcher. I’d probably start by taking it to a Small local shop you can trust to do a proper alignment. Take your other alignment documentation along and show them what’s going on. See what they have to say.

Since it seems to be a problem from the beginning maybe that points to something being slightly out of spec during manufacturing/assembly. Keep all your receipts and documentation of the problem.

Good luck.

 

I second the workmanship issue. Could be as simple as they didn't tighten cam bolts to proper spec and it fell out of alignment. Their way of guaranteeing a repeat customer .

 

They didn't tighten something up all the way.

 

Granted my truck has a suspension lift, I went to a 4x4 shop and told them the specs I wanted and that's what I got.

 

On my fourth Toyota truck. Other than two coming from factory mid aligned only alignment I have ever done was after a lift. I think they hold pretty well so I would definitely suspect you dealer may not be very competent.

 

They are chasing numbers on a piece of paper. You can literally have good alignment specs yet have a tire staggered more forward or rearward than the other side.

 

I never had any issues with the tundra alignment. I put close to 100k on 3 separate Tundras and wheel was always straight, never pulled to either side and I beat the hell out of them with plowing, towing, heavy loads and a ton of driving on rough dirt roads at 30ish mph. In fairness, I never had the alignments checked because it was never a concern but they never hunted squirrels while going down the highway like this truck.

 

Following. Alignment is the only thing I absolutely hate about my Taco. Let us all know how you fair at an independent shop. I'm cheap and don't want to pay them money only for the same result. Which is an aligned truck, goes straigh on flat level pavement and no input to the steering wheel. But the wheel is canted to the left about 2-3 degrees, just enough that it is visually anoying and if you hold the wheel straight and square the truck will be turning right. Gave Toyota two cracks at it when it was new but they never got it right.

 

Shouldn’t be happening in a brand new truck. Definitely sounds like something wasn’t tightened up properly/to spec or the alignment tech didn’t get the steering wheel set perfectly straight when doing the alignment. Could either pay a local shop with a good rep to do it right, or tell the dealer you want it fixed and tell them you want their best/most experienced alignment tech. Just maintain that paper trail and document each correspondence with the dealer

 

thankfully, mine was perfect from the factory. maybe they fixed it on the 2020s.

 

Some leaning towards the right in acceptable since roads are often crowned in the middle. But I had two alignments in 6 months, that was because of worn components, I checked it and found it was a inner tie rod. I love when obvious stuff is missed.
Most alignment problem my family has had has been worn components, but then again we always have ridiculous mileage for most folks so idk how valuable my experience is.

 

I think I’m going to just take it to the local shop where i know the owner and can have a beer with him while he does the alignment. I checked the obvious stuff, wheel bearings, ball joints, tie rods and everything is tight. Still cannot wrap my head around the toe adjustment falling out of adjustment thought, especially with my commute being mostly highway and almost no off road in 12k miles. Hate having to pay someone to do it when it should be corrected by Toyota but the dealer turns into a total time pit.

Thanks to everyone for the advice and insight and I’ll update after.