Have any of you all had any luck doing…..

My truck was aligned and needed new lbjs and tie rod ends. On the toe rod ends if I measure from the bottom of the hub going both ways marking exactly where my tape was at taking the measurements then count the turns removing the tie rods as I replace them will I not keep my alignment close enough for a month or so when I get my new tires? Is my process an thinking accurate? I would write the measurements an placement of the tape right on the hub

 

When I did my outer tie rods, I counted threads and made sure to put the new ones in the same way but my alignment was still pretty off when it was all said and done. You might get luckier though, hard to say until after you do it. I would plan for possibly needing to get aligned sooner though

 

If not you can pre align it at home. Can try the string method. I've had better luck just eyeballing it.

 

If you're just doing TREs you can check/set the toe at ride height with a tape measure and try to get the same number before/after

 

I just did mine that way and was not far off. I drove it around for a couple weeks before getting alignment. But why not do it all at once?

 

The alignment guy is booked solid and I am getting new tires in 3 weeks. When I changed my LBJs and found the ripped boots on the tie rods one was so rusted I could not get the proper castle nut back on it and I have to take a 3.5 hour trip before he can align it and I am not liking the fact one tie rod is being held just by a nut from ace. Once I get new tires I will have it aligned but paying for 3 alignments in 2 months is crazy.

 

Ahh yea just do it then you can use a tape measure/eyeball if it’s off too much.

 

I rebooted my CV axel as well so hopefully that didnt mess anything up but these tires are shot anyway so dont really care since I am replacing them soon. Just dont wanna mess anything mechanical up.

 

I also did mine that way, was not that far off but of course it was, shown on the alignment rack. I couldn't even really feel much of a difference when driving & my steering wheel surprisingly wasn't even crooked. Maybe I just got lucky?

If you're gonna get new tires I would just wait for the alignment unless yours does end up being enough out of whack to affect how it drives (as in unsafe). Tires are getting replaced anyway so why care about wear. Can also do home/DIY methods too like others have said.

 

My thinking exactly the tires ride like arse anyways. I will never have Toyo’s on this truck again. Loudest worst wearing pressure holding tires I have ever owned

 

If you're getting new tires, you're fine. you wouldn't want to run the new tires with a guess alignment.

DIY Toe alignment:

 

Depends. When I did mine, counted turns and all that jazz. Funny thing, my stock, factory original outer ties had less total threads than the new replacements from Toyota. Wasn't a case of wrong part numbers either - they were just different. Go with others mentioned about the DIY driveway alignment or hold off until you/alignment tech is ready to go.

 

Well my only challenge is I have a moog tie rod on the passenger side so the double measurement from hub to hub is gonna have to be my method. I wont have a lift but if you hit your points as one tire is in the air each time thread counts isnt going to help ill count my turns on the toyota tie rod then on the moog ill look but its just going to be a touch an go situation. It may require several adjustments but it will get it fine for 3 weeks or so.

 

As mentioned above, sometimes there's a couple more threads than the old ones. I've had good luck measuring from the center of the joint to the lock nut.

 

It seems to have worked ok cant feel any puling or vibration but like I said these tires are shot so just need to be careful on wet roads

 

I used this on the moog side as well as measuring hub to hub an it hit 2 turns off

 

Now I am just gonna have to get used to going from 31x10.50’s to 235x75R15s. Its gonna take some getting used to. Dang Michelins have gotten crazy expensive

 

went to 32x1100 x15 and 4:88 ratio with the 2.7 truck loves this gear RATIO

 

Your Alignment goes by the wheels not the tires !!

You can have tires completely bald it does not effect your alignment.

I was told this by the best Shop for Alignment I ever found!

Unless the shop has a very very old alignment rack from the sixties.

 

Thats why I measured the actual hubs not tires for the tie rod ends. I just know that no matter what my tires have worn so bad that I just have to be careful on wet roads until my new tires an alignment are done. I am going back down to the size my truck rolled off the line with well a tad bigger because they dont make 225s anymore at least not to many companies do