Keystone State Thread

John is the shop manager, but he's not the owner. Can't remember the owner's name, but he's a big dude with a beard, maybe he's hunting or chopping down trees with Brett Kiesel or something... lol

Way to go, I guess Eibach is just too much awesomeness for their shop!

 

lol... yeah I think he said the spring compressor just melted when he pulled the coils out of the box...

 

What'd they set your alignment to by the way?

 

Don't know the numbers off the top of my head... I have the printout at home. They said they were able to get it "perfect", whatever that means. I am by no means an alignment expert, but this is one of the reasons I didn't get 2+ inches of lift.

 

Gotcha - they told me the same thing, though 'perfect' can be subjective.

I've heard a lot of people on here say you want 0*Camber 0*Toe and 2.5*Caster. But Toyota Alignment Specs say 'perfect' is something like +0.5*Camber +0.02*Toe and +2.0*Caster (approximating - I can't remember exactly), which is around where they set mine to +/- a few tenths. And John also said it was perfect.

End result - I trust him, but we gotta make sure we rotate our tires or else we'll have the inside edges wearing a lot faster than the rest of the tire. I agree with you on no more than 2" though. I'm glad I didn't go further.

 

Good info. Thanks! So assuming that factory Tacoma's roll off of the floor at toyota alignment specs, does that mean that this issue would hold true for pretty much everyone whether they had a lift or not? In other words, wouldn't I have seen wear prior to this point with my old tires (I didn't really look at them yet... they are laying in my garage).

 

sorry i'm a numbers geek (engineer)

 

What type of engineer? So am I...

 

Without getting into it too much...

I think as a part of regular maintenance, you're supposed to rotate them every 5k-10k or so, but the idea is that the tread on stock tires are more like a 'dome' shape if you're looking at the tire from the front of the truck. And the 'more aggressive' tires that we tend to put on, like Grabbers, or BFG KO's, or even like my Cooper's, are more square... so with positive toe and camber, you're really putting more pressure on the outer lugs of the aggressive tires because its a square shape than you would on stock tires because they're rounded.

They put a small amount of toe and camber in so that the truck tracks straight...i always compare it to a skiier who rides on the edges of his ski's as opposed to directly up and down. If they're up and down, the tires (and skis) will wander and will jerk from side to side when you hit an imperfection in the road, but if you have some camber/toe, it'll help to ride straight, even if you hit a pothole or a rock or something.

Long story short - stock tires will wear more evenly because of their shape and non-aggressive pattern - if rotated correctly.

 

Bridge Engineer - I work downtown. what do you do?

 

Mechanical engineer. Lot of component structural analysis. Heavy into finite element analysis if you know about that. Doesn't necessarily transfer into knowledge of alignment issues... So thx for the info!

 

Haha - gotta love finite modeling, I do some here too for analysis/design of curved or skewed bridges. Don't tell me you work at Westinghouse too, like everyone who lives around Cranberry, haha.

 

I work for Conair, its near Fun Fore All (sp?) , North Park Lounge.

 

Bout a mile south of you at Westinghouse.

 

that's awesome. I hear it's a pretty good place to be. I wish i had the skills for engineering.

 

i'll look out for you guys - I live off of Freedom Road

 

two of my college friends work there. graduated from penn state behrend last year

 

Just wanted to say hello to everyone. I've been lurking in the background (wearing out the "search" button!) for a few weeks now researching/reading through tons of posts. I have a 2008 Speedway Blue DC TRD Sport. Currently researching a lift and possibly tires/wheels to go along with it. After much reading, I have decided IF I lift my truck I will be going with the OME 3" kit. Tires and wheels I am much more indecisive on at the moment. REALLY hoping to get things figured out soon thinking I may come across some Black Friday deals.

Anyways, here is my dilemma. I am not willing to go above a 3" lift due to the price (I am a total newb on lifting a truck by the way). With that in mind, I have been looking at tons of trucks with 2.5-3" of lift - some it is noticeable, some not so much. I want the truck to feel and look bigger. If I barely notice the difference, I would not bother spending the money.

All of that brings me to this request: I would love to find some Tacomas around the Pittsburgh area (preferably a little south of the Burgh) with 2.5-3" of lift to check out in person. I am hesitant to spend the money without actually seeing a lifted Tacoma in person. If anyone is willing to show off their truck I'd REALLY appreciate it - would meet you where ever is easy for you. This would really help out as I am getting excited about doing a lift but I'd be devastated if I spent the money and the effort and wasn't "wowed"! Thank you in advance for any responses.

And here is how I am currently sitting:

 

3inch is more than you would expect plus you go with a bigger tire you gain some height too. im at about 2.5 and i have to hop up in to my truck its not as crazy as trying to climb in to a 6inch lift but 2.5-3 is enough to get the mod bug to bite welcome to the addiction. 3 inch should keep you entertained for a while.

 

Hello from Carlisle PA. Right down the road from Harrisburg!