Wisconsin Tacomas and bad financial advice

Two questions for the group.

Had a front end alignment done at the dealer in Madison 40 miles away. Soon as I got on I90 headed for home, immediately noticed that the steering wheel was no longer centered which is bothersome to me. Made another appointment and brought it back to the dealer. Service writer then explains to me the reason that the steering wheel was off center. "Even though your truck is only six years old the bolts that have to be loosened to do the alignment are quite rusted and must be heated first. After the alignment is done and the bolts cool it can cause the steering wheel to move off center". I have never done a front end alignment but it sounded like BS to me. Fact or fiction?

About to to have transmission fluid & filter changed. Have read various, not good, dealer experiences about this in the 3rd gen forum. Before I go back to the dealer and they blow more sunshine up my butt, what is the bottom line truth on having this service performed?

 

My steering wheel is off.
The shops answer was one of the bolts or plates were seized.
They said if they lined the steering wheel up they were concerned the truck would want to wander.

My relationship with the dealer ends when they hand me the keys.

 

The steering wheel story is bullshit. The steering wheel can change by adjusting the tie rods, especially if they make all of the adjustment on one side.

I have a local shop that I've had do the trans service before. Not sure I'd have my dealer do it, some of their techs aren't very good and the service writers don't seem to care if jobs are half-assed, which grinds me at their prices.

 

Next time I'm going to try Arrow Alignment....a place that focuses on......alignments.

 

Some fact, some fiction, 100% lazy tech, 110% shitty service writer. When you get your email survey from Toyota about the service, light that dealer up like you're clearing an LZ from the hot seat

Find a better shop.

The dealership *should* be the best place for the transmission service

Unfortunately, scumbag techs are everywhere these days. Good thing is a dealership transmission service is warrantied automatically by Toyota. So if something happens.... Let them have it in your email survey




Those service emails surveys are how dealerships get their yearly bonuses from Toyota. Anything less than a 10/10 requires review. So light them up. Let them have it. Absolutely bbq them if they're being shady.

 

I get confused looking at which way to move what by the shape of the UCA/LCA. The tabs look to be eccentric, so moving one adjustment out, is actually pulling it in.
For tie-rods and the off centered steering wheel....
Can one make sure wheels are straight...disconnect outer tie rods from the wheels, center the steering wheel, then adjust tie rods to get them to reach the wheel and reattach?
Or is it not that simple

 

May not be 100% accurate, but that's how I used to do the race car.

 

It's way easier than that. They use a steering wheel lock and then do all the laser adjustments. Frankly, any alignment Tech that can't make a steering wheel straight is either lazy AF or working with a wrecked car.

 

I'm not an expert but I call bullshit.
Service writers, ,, wouldn't trust them any further than I can throw um.
Why shops can't get help,, that's another campfire discussion.

 

My brother was an ASE certified mechanic. He mostly ran his own shops but a few times he worked at dealerships. A couple of them were so crooked and incompetent that he eventually swore off working at dealerships, even though some were pretty decent.
20 years ago, the Lincoln dealer in Madison was the worst in his opinion. I also had a neighbor that worked for the state DOT in dealer compliance. He filled me in on the worst offenders, lol

 

I only cosplay as a technician, but this ^^^ is 100% correct. I can operate an alignment rack and I'm no rocket surgeon, but on Tacos it is really that easy with the proper machine. Heck, if you have a flat garage floor you can do it with string and a tape measure. The very first step of the job is making the wheel straight before you begin, if it ain't straight your tech is lazy or something else is wrong (which could be the case as well so don't discount that theory - if your LCA cams are frozen they probably did the best they could but at least they should tell you that was the cause not some BS story).

 

100% BS! If they did heat the hardware up to loosen I doubt they would have touched the alignment until after it was cooled off and if they didn’t it would have been cooled off long before you left the shop, also if that was the case how could they charge you for an alignment knowing it would be off after you left.

 

Also, and this goes for everybody

Always demand to see a bar graph printout of the before and after when getting an alignment.

Request it right off the bat, because once they've de racked the car, you can't get one.

Always request the bar graph.

Bar.

Graph.


Not the chinsy numbers matrix.

High ink, high vis bar graph.

That's what it's called in every alignment computer ever. Bar graph.

Get it.

 

Say it. Don't spray it.

 

He wouldn't have said it so many times if it wasn't important.

 

I know. Just ruffling some feathers.

I use to align my 1st gen by eye because I didn't care that much.
When it came time to get new tires and an actual alignment....it was surprisingly close.

 

Printers have incredibly good eyes when it comes to seeing thing that are either straight or a little out of whack.

 

It's a curse.

 

So no pie charts?