New lift, more problems

Got my 2011 taco dbl cab TRD sport an OME lift kit with rear leaf spring pack. Put on the front, got everything off the back except the driver side leaf pack eye bolt which was seized in placed. Wasn't comfortable cutting it myself with my current equipment so I paid someone to do it and they said they could put the leaf packs too while they're at it (small town local shop, very nice guy who always helps me out) and charged me 200 with an oil change when the dealership tried telling me 700. Went back to the dealership for an alignment, since they're pretty much the only place within an hour from me, and they told me 2 things:

Rear thrust is off center, to fix that I need to remove everything, attach the leaf springs to the dropped axle with NEW u bolts and then mount the leaf springs. Does anyone have insight on this?

Next thing was about the alignment, said they aligned everything except the front driver side. Some of those bolts on the lca were also seized and need to be cut and replaced. Gave me a quote for fixing that along with another alignment, and then proceeded to charge me for this alignment. The quote is ~$1200. How bad can this be?

Here's the quote and the parts list



And here's what the alignment is, sorry it's not color but everything showed green except the arrow: I'm not sure how to read this anyway

 

Control arms aren’t cheap.

 

Did you use the old u bolts when you lifted your truck ?

 

They ripped u
Shouldn’t have charged for alignment if they couldnt do the job right
Gotta fine someone else next time I wouldn’t go back unless they do it for free once u have issues taken care off

 

Is going with aftermarket parts an option?
If so, it can be done A LOT cheaper.

If you want OEM parts, it’s going to be expensive.
As you have found out.

 

Yes. I had the same thing happen at my shop except a wheel bearing. No charge until I got it fixed.

 

$1,200.00 sounds outrageous to me. New U-bolts are $80.00 and I can't see the front lower control arm bolts being more than $30.00
I have a local shop in my area that does good alignments and they charge $65.00
It might be worth a hour drive to a different reputable small shop.

Side note; I installed add-a-leaf on my Tacoma now you got me wondering about my thrust angle
I did notice there was some movement on the center pin so I started eyeballing and tape measuring to points on the frame. It wasn't that much movement on the pin but out at the tires

 

Dealership is $140 an hour for labor. Also you do need new eccentrics & LCAs. That’s typical when you install a lift. Get the rear fixed or you’ll have problems there too

 

The new u bolts that came with the lift. Called wheelers and they said I should be fine with the same u bolts just torque again at 50mi and again at 500.

 

That's what I'm saying. not going back there. There's a place about an hour 15 away I'm gonna have them look.

 

Yeah definitely not going to them for future work. The lift kit is about the limit of my mechanical abilities without help. Gonna take it somewhere else to see what the problem was and figure out after market parts from there.

 

I don't really feel any difference yet but I'm sure I'll find out soon after driving a bit.

 

Lift is a ~2 in and I've seen you don't need those parts if they're under 3". And for the rear, what kinda of problems?

 

That one reading that's not green, well it's not like a mile off. If it runs down the road straight and not pulling left or right then no immediate urgency anyways.
I don't get where new bushings are required because the bolts are rusty crusty, less they plan on ruining them by hot wrench torch off, then there are other ways they could do it.
How many miles on this beast?

 

I put the same lift on my wife's 2013 and it didn't require anything but alignment. One of our specs was out a tiny bit but the shop said we wouldn't notice it drivability wise and if I rotate tires every 5k I wouldn't see abnormal wear on them. They were correct.

 

Theres about 80k now. It sat for a while before I bought it 2 years ago with 60k. They mentioned cutting and drilling out. So I assume they are planning something like u said.

 

For what it's worth, getting that lift kit on is a decent accomplishment Nav.
I think don't sweat it for now and get a couple of other reputable shops to have a look. Maybe even that fella that helped with the rear u bolts.
Hope everything works out well for you and don't have to mortgage the house for truck repairs.
Welcome to Tacoma World

 

Thanks I appreciate it. I know my truck is gaining some years on it but I enjoy the reward of "I made it better"... gonna take it to another place. I'm doing research and the control arms both upper and lower are getting pretty ugly looking. With the research and suggestions I might just buy a control arm kit with new cam bolt, cut those seized #$%&ing bolts and replace em altogether. Then it can be aligned correctly.

I think what I'm understanding is it's alot of work to "fix" the originals hence why the quote is so expensive, when I can just cut and replace. No dealing with the bushings and trying to fix rusty crapp. Tell me if I'm wrong?

Here's my taco

 

Might be a good time to get a u- bolt flip kit , if you didnt already get one.....