Alignment Issue

could also be a sticky caliper. No alignment check is going to reveal that

 

Those things are hardly accurate. I worked for West Herr and the one we had in our Toyota store would always display wrong. You could do an alignment on a customers car and it be perfect, run it back through the one in the lane and it would show that it’s off. They ended up testing some new ones in all the dealerships but never decided to buy them

 

Before you go get another alignment swap the tires on the front side to side. It will probably save you some cash. Some tires will develope a higher rolling resistance and this can cause the truck to pull. If you swap them and the pull stops your good to go. If it pulls the opposite direction you could move them to the back to hide the pull. If the rolling resistance is bad enough moving the tire to the back may not hide it so you may end up buying a tire.

 

Agree, I got the printout from one of those showing my alignment was off, so I paid them to align it. I got the before and after specs from the alignment rack when I picked the truck up, but I didn't read it until I got home. Turns out it was already in spec when they started. Called them up and told them they owed me an alignment.

OP, I would try the tire swap thing.

 

Alright - I finally got my alignment and tire swap done. I should have probably done the tires first to test those but the shop was busy Friday so had to make an appointment for Monday.

Here are the initial Specs

Left Caster - 2.12 Right Caster 2.43
Left Camber .23 Right Camber .09
Left Toe - .27 Right Toe - -.28

Final Specs

Left Caster - 2.66 Right Caster 2.6
Left Camber - .05 Right Camber .04
Left Toe - .04 Right Toe .09

My initial short, slow test drive indicated improvement. I will know more tomorrow after a 5 hour highway drive.

What do you guys think of the specs? Thanks for all of the help.

 

Sorry to read about your problems. I had an alignment done by my dealership after getting new wheels and tires installed. A bit of "just in case". Well, the truck drives straight but the steering wheel isn't centered to do that -- just a slight right turn lean. Not sure if that maybe is part of your challenges. I'm trying to decide whether to go back to the dealership or try a 4x4 shop and tell them what the issue is. Best of luck to you.

 

Your initial alignment caster numbers are better than your final numbers. You should always have .5 less caster on the driver's side than on the passenger's side to offset road crown.

I'm thinking the tire swap is the reason the truck drives better.

 

Go back. The steering wheel should be dead center when the alignment is performed correctly.

 

I’m thinking it’s a little bit of both.