Alignment at 15k?

I just got my truck (23 OR) back from the 15k service appt at my local dealership. They recommended I get an alignment done due to a bit of uneven wear starting on my stock tires. I've had them rotated every 5k, truck hasn't been off road and pothole smashing has ben minimum since I don't let my wife drive it often. This is my first truck, well that I give a shit about, and I thought it was odd that it already needs an alignment at barely 2 years and 15k miles. I bought it new, love it and haven't had any issues at all. I checked it out after they told me that and I can see a tiny bit of uneven wear on the inside of each tire. Wondering if this is normal or if there is something I should have them take a look at while its under warranty. Any advice is appreciated! Wheels and suspension are all stock and there have been no accidents btw.

 

They are just trying to upsell you some harmless service. Needed? Unless you did something to fuck up the alignment then probably not. Just keep em rotated and you will be fine.

 

Let's see this "uneven wear". If they're recommending an alignment and they don't do alignments, that would be a little concerning they are recommending something they don't make money on.

 

Thanks Buck! Appreciate the advice.

 

Dealer recommended alignment when I took my truck in for my 10,000 miles service and had just under 12K I said okay sure Toyota pays for it. Service writer argued for a few minutes Toyota does not pay for alignment . I asked to see the service manager and Toyota paid for the alignment.

 

They do alignments there. The wear is pretty minor, I had to stick my face in there to see it, but there is some. Truck isn't pulling, there is no unusual noise or vibration that I can tell, but I can see the start of small, uneven wear on the inside of the tires. It is barely noticeable, but it is there. I was curious if 15-20k miles is standard for needing an alignment on a Tacoma that doesn't go off road with a stock setup. All the trucks I have had in the past all had standard street tires so off road tires are new to me. My wife had a wrangler a while back and I don't recall her needing alignments outside of tire replacements.

 

Well, not normal... So, I suppose do what @IPNPULZ did and make it a warranty issue and thank them for the free work.

 

So we have techs that call alignments on every truck, lots of shops push it hard.

Every all terrain has cupping and feathering, its basically normal. Only get alignments if you can visibly see differences inside and out or if the vehicle tracks poorly on the highway.

The worst part is they wont even bother making it perfect when they can it this early, they'll just set it into the spec and call it good, because it already is good.

 

As long as it drives okay to you, I wouldn’t do anything to it. Typically all tires, especially SL rated, show some slight unevenness at the edges.

I am gun shy about alignments in general. I’m skeptical that most shops actually keep their equipment calibrated enough to not make your alignment worse than it already is. So I like to say unless you hit a pothole that knocked it out of spec somehow, leave it alone.

 

If your tires are wearing unevenly more than likely from tire pressure . A alignment is not going to fix the issue on tires that are already uneven . I would wait till u need new tires then do an alignment . I did my alignment around 33k

 

I basically drove my '18 off the lot and to the alignment shop. The factory alignment was not good even though it drove essentially straight. Having your alignment "within spec" is not good enough because there's such a wide range of what "spec" is. It can and will make a huge difference in how your truck drives and how your tires wear if the alignment is done right. I would NEVER have any alignment done by a dealer. Never. You need a specialty alignment shop that understands why you want your camber closer to one end of the spec than the other and why you need your caster as far to one end of the spec as possible. It ain't rocket science but it does take a tech who understands and that is not going to happen at a dealer. I hit a big pot hole on some dirt road somewhere and even though it wasn't pulling, I started seeing wear on the inside of the left front. Took it in to my favorite specialty alignment shop on the west side of L.A. and yep, it was out. Ran that tire on the back for about twenty thousand miles and that pretty much evened out the wear on that tire.

 

OP, I would take the advice of @Bishop84 he knows more about Toyota than most! Also @BLtheP summed it up very well so I would follow the advice of these two guys IMO.

 

I had one done after buying new tires. I'm pretty sure the horrible roads knocked it out of alignment as it's pulling to the right very slightly.

 

Agreed. An independent shop would do better work and it's not expensive (I've seen from $85 to $125 in the San Francisco Bay Area, which is a VERY high cost of living area).

 

Ha. Here in Culver City a good four wheel alignment is up to a buck and a half. Probably could not afford to buy my house today as CC real estate has skyrocketed since I bought. Wheel alignments are still relatively inexpensive even at that price.

 

service manger: sir, could you please touch your toes
gen Xer: sure no problem



service manager: we will see you in 60 days for your next alignment, please pay at the cashier

 

If it helps, all vehicles I’ve owned pull to the right slightly. I think it’s by design, though I have no way to prove it.

 

None of mine do or did, but that's because they've all been properly aligned. My Tacoma tracks dead straight unless there's a huge cross wind or a reverse road crown. They don't have to pull unless you want them to.

 

Dealer here has a thing you drive over when bring in truck for service that checks alignment. Everyone that drives over it needs an alignment. My truck had 12 miles on it when I brought it in the next day after purchase to have some shit fixed. Yep- needs alignment. Every time I go in they tell me I need an alignment. Now I just fuck with them & turn my steering wheel when I drive over it.

 

I wonder what that thing is. If someone did that, I'd make them show me the numbers, something that you surely can't tell from just driving over something.