Interesting Alignment Problem After Changing Camber Hardware and LCA Bushings

FYI you don't need fancy equipment to measure camber.

Make sure tire pressures are good.
Bounce the front end of the truck a few times.
Place a 16" long ruler against the rim and measure with an angle gauge (like this one: )

 

Okay I won't touch it. I found a local TacomaWorld guy who works on alignments so I'm going to take it to him in a couple weeks. I got a bunch of tests and papers in school coming up and his shop is over an hour away so I'll have to wait until I have time. I'll keep you guys updated. In the meantime, does anyone know anything about changing inner tie rods and if there's a good aftermarket part? I think I saw a moog one somewhere on here.

I'll have to pick one of these up. I saw it on the home alignment thread and thought it was way too involved for me to do but after this I might have to do it myself since Firestone is the only one with lifetime alignments and my local ones can't seem to take care of my truck.

 

Camber is easy to measure. Toe can be measured with homemade jigs and fishing line. Caster is a PITA to do without an alignment platform.

Deeza Part # TYA638 is good. It has the hex profile forged into half of the tie rod's length. http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/moreinfo.php?pk=4206189&cc=1445515

 

I'll have to try to find a write up for the toe with the home made jigs and fishing lines, the one on this site had this whole process with painting and marking the tire and I'm just like

How does the Deeza part compare to the Moog part?

 

Well, according to the second alignment guy I took it to who actually knows what he's doing it appears my spindle is bent somewhere. This left me with the choice of buying a new spindle or buying the LR UCAs because money is tight right now, I chose the UCAs because one of my driver side cams are also maxed out so hopefully this will get my alignment back to specs. If I can find a used spindle for cheap I'll get it, but for now I'll wait until I have some extra money before buying a new spindle.

 

Don't fall apart yet. Take a deep breath and regroup. Above all be patient. I've been in your exact position where one thing leads to another, and another, and so on, it just seems to never stop.

Do this:

Scroll to the top of this page and click on the solid blue bar that says Forum List, scroll over to the market place section. Everyday a bunch of new stuff is posted. I scored two low mileage sets of LCAs and UCAs cheap. But it comes and goes in waves. Also saw a spindle there sometime back. Sometimes you think nothing will ever appear on that site, and wham, all kinds of parts show up.

Also create a WTB thread here on TW listing the stuff you need. Also try Custom Tacos, Toyota Tech and Canadian Tacoma and others like Expedition Portals as some of the more hard-core guys get rid of their independent front suspensions.

Try car-part.com. I've got some decent stuff there. Its a portal for hundreds of recyclers. Depending on the mood of the place you call that day, some will negotiate price if sales are slow. Many offer warranties. Check there frequently as inventory changes constantly. Make sure you ask plenty of questions about wrecked vehicles, if you know what I mean, and make sure a critical part is warrantied.

There is a place in Denver that dismantles and sells just toyota truck parts. Someone else is going to help to me here with their name.

Ebay. The beauty of this is the ebay and paypay pal cops are working hard to turn the place around. It been many years since I got burned on Eay.

Finally, I noticed the aftermarket guys are producing control arms and a bunch of other stuff for the Tacoma. I have a low opinion of aftermarket parts but many others report good success.

Good luck.

 

HIT UP THE LONG TRAVEL BS THREAD. SOME OF THOSE GUYS MAY HAVE A SPARE SET LAYING AROUND THEY'D BE WILLING TO PART WITH. THIS IS THE REASON I WON'T WASTE MONEY ON A CRAPPY "LIFETIME" ALIGNMENT SHOP. SPEND THE EXTRA CABBAGE AND GO TO A LOCAL TRUSTED SHOP AND TELL THEM WHAT YOU WANT.

 

Thanks man, I will definitely look around for a used spindle, I've tried to look around for recyclers near my area in northern Utah but I was unable to find anything good before. Maybe I'll try looking again. It definitely takes some time to get things in perspective. I'm looking to get the Total Chaos gussets when I get another spindle to replace mine (if that is the real culprit in this situation).

I didn't even think of the Long Travel BS thread! Thanks! And that makes sense, it just gets expensive. Haha

 

Were you able to figure out the problem? I'm having trouble with my alignment too =( I've taken it 6 times to try to get it right. Tonight will be the last and finally one. I'm getting frustrated that no one can fix my issue. People have mentioned that I might need different upper control arms and some people say I don't. I got a 2.5 bilstein 5100 front lift, 285/70/17 Bfg AT tires and 17' rims. I need help tp get the alignment right =(

 

Are both sides of your alignment bad? Only my passenger side was unable to be put back into factory specs. When I first installed my lift, the shop got the alignment back into specs on my stock UCA's. Then I went a while with a bad alignment because my LCA Camber Sleeves seized up and I was unable to adjust my alignment. After I fixed my LCA Camber Sleeves the shop was unable to get the passenger side perfectly back into specs so I assume that I screwed something up when my LCA Camber sleeves were seized.

I recently installed the adjustable Light Racing UCA's and they got it really close but not perfectly in factory specs. My camber is still -0.4 and it's suppose to be +0.3 to +1.2
I'm hopefully getting some used spindles in soon to replace my passenger side to see if that fixes it.

In summary, from what I've experienced so far and from what people have been saying on here:
If you can't get your alignment in specs on both sides right after you installed a lift, chances are you need new UCA's with more caster. If it's only bad on one side before you installed the lift, or after you installed the lift and you were able to get it back in specs and then something happened and now you can't, then something else is going on.

Hope that makes sense. It's kind of a hit or miss when it comes to needing to get new UCA's with a 2.5" lift.

 

So theres no way to determine if your lower LCA is actually bent slightly if its not visible to the naked eye??
Im going through something similar..