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Wandering Issue - Caster?

Discussion in '2nd Gen. Tacomas (2005-2015)' started by DaleRS, May 25, 2023.

  1. May 25, 2023 at 4:27 PM
    #1
    DaleRS

    DaleRS [OP] Well-Known Member

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    Dale
    Cleveland, Ohio
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    Hey everyone!

    I'd like to think I did my due diligence of researching this before making this thread. I have read through many different threads between second and third gens at this point.

    I recently replaced my front and rear shocks with that of third-gen take-offs and decided to have an alignment done as a precaution, as well as I felt it was necessary, the truck had a wandering effect that was only getting worse. I had the truck aligned, and like an idiot I forgot to ask for the sheet showing the before and after, my fault. The truck feels worse now than it did before, all over the highway. Checked the tires as I know that had been an issue in the past for myself with wandering; they were overinflated, so I adjusted that back to around 30 PSI.

    This leads to the purpose of my thread, I'm going to have my truck realigned at the dealership near my house, they have done me well in the past on service so I'm hoping they'll be decent at alignments. I do not have any dedicated alignment shops anywhere near me.

    A lot of people are stating that increasing the caster will decrease the road wandering effect, which is great information, and seems like the next logical move is to prove the alignment before I start diagnosing worn-out suspension components. I'm seeing values stated from +2-3 degrees are considered "desirable". Here is my question, what is I guess possible with stock UCA and LCA? I totally understand that this differs from truck to truck. I'm really asking what I should be shooting for so I can tell them what to try and get on the alignment. Almost all of the threads I have read through are about people who have replaced UCA with adjustable ones that have also lifted their vehicle, so I don't really see those caster degrees as being necessarily "achievable", but I could be wrong!

    Any help is greatly appreciated.

    For reference, my tires are Cooper AT3 4S, 245/75R16 @ 30 psi.
     
  2. May 26, 2023 at 1:28 PM
    #2
    TacoTuesday1

    TacoTuesday1 Well-Known Member

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    who aligned your truck?

    without a free printout spec sheet that’s supposed to be provided with any alignment, it’s not possible to assess.

    wandering is either a worn component, tire issue (have never seen this actually happen), or incorrect alignment (likely, if it was done by $12/hr Kyle, which is prevalent)
     
    DaleRS[OP] likes this.
  3. May 26, 2023 at 2:43 PM
    #3
    DaleRS

    DaleRS [OP] Well-Known Member

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    I had it aligned at Goodyear.

    I forgot to ask for the alignment sheet, I normally get one but it slipped my mind - I'm still kicking myself over it. I'll just pay to have another alignment done elsewhere.

    I'm scheduled to get another alignment done at the Toyota Dealership near me. I'll see what happens and go from there. I don't want to start replacing parts until I can definitively prove what is causing it.

    I'm only at 106k and my balljoints and tie rods had no play in them that I could see about a week ago when I inspected them.

    Thanks for the reply.
     
    Merling likes this.
  4. May 26, 2023 at 3:32 PM
    #4
    gotoman1969

    gotoman1969 Well-Known Member

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    San Antonio, TX United States
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    3" ToyTec coilovers, JBA UCA's, Bilstein 5100's
    If I remember correctly the caster specs for the 2nd gen are approx 1.2-2.4 +\- . Personally I’d ask to have the caster set as close to the high end as possible and camber and toe at 0. If the tech is any good he should be able to do this with no issues on a stock height truck with oe upper/lower ucas.
     
    DaleRS[OP] likes this.
  5. May 26, 2023 at 3:36 PM
    #5
    Grey 2015

    Grey 2015 Well-Known Member

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    Loxahatchee Florida
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    Good luck getting it properly done at a Toyota Stealership. This was my wife’s 2019 4Runner with less than 50,000 we took it in for an oil change and they said it needed an alignment long story short they said they couldn’t get it right and this is how they left it.IMG_4385.jpgLet me add this....this was at a buddy of a buddies tire shop when I took it to get tires. Took him all of 2 minutes to get the alignment right. Fuck the incompatent rip off dealerships.
     
    Last edited: May 26, 2023
    DaleRS[QUOTED][OP] likes this.
  6. May 26, 2023 at 6:18 PM
    #6
    TacoTuesday1

    TacoTuesday1 Well-Known Member

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    rhetorical question you probably know the answer to

    are the best of the best at “Goodyear” and Toyota
    how much do you care about your truck
    who do you want doing the work

    The front alignment is more complicated. It involves trial and error on the machine. Check, adjust, recheck (caster sweep) and repeat until done. And possibly enabling the extra setting for this suspension that comes standard on $10k+ Hunter laser alignment machines. As well as the standard quality check road test.

    which does not apply if the person doing the work is a sack of potatoes wearing a Red Kap shirt

    if it were me and I couldn’t use the machine, or find a competent person, I’d look at investing in tools to mess with caster and camber.
    Toe is easy and only part of the equation.
    Tools to level and lock steering wheel.

    toe can be set with a shoestring or a sewing string. There’s many ways to do it. Including driving up onto two pieces of linoleum (each front tire) with grease sandwiched between them to act as swivel plates, making a square around the vehicle using jackstands, placing them evenly by distance to the center caps, and measuring toe angle from the string to each side of the tire. But toe is only part of the equation and doesn’t address camber and caster being adjustable on these trucks. Each one affects the other.

    what’s more, is the factory cam tabs are weak and prone to folding over flat especially if adjusted loaded and if there’s resistance like them being hard to move (Hunter machines have a setting and lift that allow for unloaded adjustment)
     
    Last edited: May 26, 2023
    DaleRS[OP] likes this.

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