Post front-end refresh alignment hell

Specs.
2015 pre, 3rd gen TRD O.R. takeoffs for susp, rear AAL's, JBA UCA's, 265/75 r16x8.5 (0 offset)

The other day the truck received a new steering rack, outers and LCA's

It always seemed to slowly lose geometry before refresh, hence the refresh etc.

Post install it rode great, minus insane toe and the steering wheel cocked to 10 o'clock

Got an alignment today and was horrified with the results, they tried and tried. Its a reputable shop thats done previous alignments to my request.

They tell me they couldn't get enough toe and it'd possibly need the inner ties shaved down a qtr inch... prior to install I had no alignment issues save for it slowly working its way out of spec with no real crazy wheeling or anything. So they got the toe decent but had to take from other angles. Cam tabs looked ok.

It feels like a car now in the front, the weird front left camber, they reduced the caster (I had no clue it WAS at 5 until I got the spec sheet which now sits around 3) the driver toe was also around 14. Jesus.

It rubs like hell now on a 45deg angle turn now (never did before... ever)

Everything feels tight and connected, just "weird" and specs dont look to snuff but they said thats all they had to work with. Im not sure if it was down to the guy doing it (the last guy was different naturally)

I'm considering going to a totally diff shop across down that did the 2nd to last one, which was actually decent although theyre old-school and dont have the fancy machine and printouts. They use the dial thing-a-ma-bobs



Im curious if any of you have run into this seemingly road block situation. Did I forget somthing? Do the inners need shaving? (They were certainly fine before, minus geo goin out over time)
Could it be the intermediate shaft slipping causing less angle to work with somehow? Rack was thread counted and wheel tied to center on install

Any tips, thoughts appreciated

Gutting to have all this work done and the alignment be total crap afterward

Really feel that after all the updates on her i should 1000% have better results

 

Did you use all oe parts minus the jbas? All new hardware?

 

Also is the truck lifted or stock?Did you get jbas with built in caster?

 

My gut tells me it’s the alignment tech. Toe isn’t that bad. I run .05 toe in on both sides and you’re barely off that and even where your toe readings are at, there should be no reason caster and camber could not be adjusted correctly.

 

All oe save for the cardone rack, which is the newest one (no time or $$ to search for an oe one)

The jba's are the up to 4" lift, series 7 iirc.

The lift is minor, like 2" tops

 

That was the line of reasoning he was giving me, to get decent toe specs the caster and driver side camber was outta wack. Lesser of evils i reckon

Claimed he was maxing out the toe, no more threads to run in. All the way practically

 

Who installed the steering rack? Likely wasn't centered before install.

 

This was my next question? ^^^

 

Good dude near me, works from his home garage pretty much strictly working on yoters. Tons of installs, fab work etc. Hes installed racks before, spoke to him about it and he said he 'could have' bumped it but the guy is meticulous and highly praised here in cent. Florida- I dont think he did anything incorrect but we are humans afterall

Next course of action is goin to the alignment shop he personally uses and if they cant get her dialed then we'll dialog further

 

Yeah. Get a better alignment tech. Keep us posted.

 

Maybe check your cam eccentrics to see if any ears were flattened. Very common with shops that struggle to adjust lifted toyotas.

Also check the number of threads on each tie rod that are exposed.

 

Speaking of thats what was sent to me immediately when the fella started the rack install, asked if I'd gotten an alignment recently bc the driver side was wacked out, tab spun almost 90deg on the back arm

I specifically asked the alignment tech if they looked bent and he said no to my extreme surprise lol...

I'd previously ordered some DK tabs to be welded in down the road. Looks like that may need bumping up.

I'm praying its the alignment tech. Place I went to is a local chain, far cry from the firestone bs for sure but you never know who you're gonna get sadly. One day could be the alignment chad, next day gomer

I'll get up under it tomorrow in the day and grab some pics

 

Take some pics of all four alignment bolts, and the tie rods where they thread together. Post here.

 

With the outer tie rods disconnected from the spindles, you should have equal turns left and right (like, 1 3/4 turn each way).

If from center there are more turns one way than the other, that means the rack is not centered to the steering wheel.

 

Driver otr



Pass otr





Pass tab rear



Pass tab front



Driver tab rear



Driver tab front




Couldn't get at the other ones good enough w/ yet the skid on

 

Going with rack not centered

 

Yup.

Very important to tie the steering wheel down. Rope, tie straps, bungee cords, etc. So when you remove the old rack it doesn't turn on you. Lazy mechanics Will say it's not necessary.

 

Seatbelt ftw!

 

True about the rack, he did tie it down to the seat adjustment bar w a tight bungee and counted the threads. It theoretically could have been bumped which he admitted to, this dude is who I'd trust any toyota to after working w him for a year.

Ive got an appt lined up fri for an actual truck alignment shop so we'll go from there

 

It’s the rack. 100%. It’s extremely simple to center it.