alignment specs

Coming here because i need some updated info.
Need to get my tacoma re aligned. Suspension is the following
5100’s,OME885’s total chaos uca’s

What should the ideal alignment specs be? Last got an alignment when i lifted the truck back in 2020 and i told my guy to set the specs as follows which is what I got in one of the threads on here

0° toe
0° camber
2.5°ish caster or as close to 3 as can get it.

When i picked the truck up i didn’t get an alignment sheet so i have no idea what he set it to but the issue i have had ever since is when driving my steering wheel is off centered and is to the left a decent amount in order to go straight. .

So my question is what should my specs be when i get it aligned again?? Is what i posted accurate? or is there something that’s wrong/ could be better

 

Regardless of the desired specs I think the real question is what was actually done. Make sure you always get the data sheet from the shop and be willing to go somewhere else if the first place cant get it done properly. Every shop in town seems set up to do alignments but few seem to do them well.

 

i definitely agree with this.. and any shop doing an alignment who gives your truck back with a cocked steering wheel should be off your list forevermore. and always get the final readout.

generally speaking the spec range is something like:
toe: 0.02-0.05 toe-in per side. 0.0 is too low and gets a floaty feeling with poor self-centering of the wheel
camber 0.0 both
caster: this depends on many things and there are threads about it. but if your tires don't rub or contact anything then set it how you like the drive feel: 2.5deg or more, up to about 5.0 for aftermarket UCAs. most around here adjust caster to clear the tires from rubbing. but if that's no issue then you can set it for your driving preferences.

any decent tech will always center the steering wheel as part of the alignment process and if they don't then you're seeing how much they care about the job.

 

Thanks. And again like i said the truck was aligned when after i lifted it 2 years ago. The wheel wasn’t this bad when i got it back from
the shop but it deff was off. It progressively got worse with potholes and driving here in upstate ny. Just looking to get it realigned by my tech at toyota and wanted to know what proper specs i should tell him to align it to as obviously you don’t lift it to factory toyota specs.

 

oh yeah for sure. When i got it aligned after I installed my lift i said to my friend watch i bet i won’t get a spec sheet print out.
Needless to say when i went to pick the truck up i didn’t get it! Guess after it getting worse in the last 2 years i became so use to it. Driving my buddy’s freshly aligned 2 runner made me realize mine is seriously fucked up haha.
Although driving down the road it’s not too bad it does pull to the right. No vibrations or anything with the steering wheel.

 

Also forgot to add i have 285/70/17 tires with the trd pro 4 runner wheels.. Have no problem with rubbing the cab mount currently.

Just wanted to give my tech specs to aim for alignment

 

Monday bump

 

As a Red seal Mechanic currently in the business of lifts and suspension work,
A.) as previously mentioned the steering wheel being off centre is for sure the mechanic not caring/not being good at alignments
B.) for the best drive I personally found around
-0.3* of camber for both sides

-Caster as close to or higher than 3* as possible( where I live you need about .4-.5* caster split to compensate for road crown
- total Toe in (positive) somewhere between 0.04"-0.12"... usually my toe setting depends on the tires

A good alignment tech knows what the roads are like, what the truck will be used for and should be able to set your truck up properly... if you live in a very turn heavy environment I would get your camber set just a little negative but I personally find Tacoma's to have stiff steering wheels and to naturally wander so I personally prefer to set camber positive.

 

Thanks for the response! Yeah i heard from
others that the guy i orig got to doesn’t take the time to dial it in as good as it should be.
The wheel was off center a tad when i got it but over the last 2 years got worse.
The guy who i’m going to at toyota has aligned my buddy’s 4 runner he just lifted and a few other guys. I just wasn’t sure if i should give him specs. or just assume he knows the specs a lifted truck should be set to

 

When I was an apprentice I was taught the specs are guidelines but depending on your truck use you should compensate/ modify your target spec. for example if it was just purely a city car that rarely saw highway or straight roads a lower caster setting and negative camber would be more ideal for them as when you corner and your weight shifts the tire would flatten around the corner where as if it were a truck that hauled alot I would make camber more positive for stability and ease of steering. Alignments are very much a preference for how one wants the vehicle to drive and it's use... alignment specs are a big hard to explain over the web and not live but, if your buddy did well on other lifts he knows this

 

Spoke to my tech just now and made an appointment for thursday.
Told him my wheel is all jacked up and he said no worries he will get it straight. told him caster around 3 ish and he said yeah that sounds about right and he will take care of it.

Don’t really want to tell him how he should do his job as he clearly knows what he’s doing and knows way more then i do haha. My buddy said his truck drives good and is straight and all of that so must be good

 

Sounds like a solid tech, i'd let him be. let us know how it goes after. Like how it handles and such and anything you would change and possible post an alignment sheet if you get one. Maybe we can turn this thread into a recommended alignment specs page for different uses or something

 

yeah idk if the alignment will turn into that haha. who knows. prob get an alignment sheet and post it and people will respond saying oh yeah take that back haha.
i’m also sure everyone has their preference in specs and nothing is really perfect. As long as my steering wheel is fixed and my truck drives straight i will be happy hah

 

Just finished getting the truck aligned.
Tech said he couldn’t get the driver side camber in spec so he matched the passenger side and got the steering wheel straight

 

Make sense, how's it Drive? And just for curiosité do you have the alignment print out?

 

it drives good. i think as the result of the alignment i have a little bit more rubbing seeing i have 285’s
here’s the print out.

 

With new alignment specs = new rubbing issues on the plastics. Gotta love it

 

Yikes, thats no good. If only they added another 2 inches around in the wheel opening

 

coming back here because i got a question.
Since my tech lowered my caster to be in spec i rub so much more on my cab mount. i asked if he could raise my caster since it was perfect before.
He said can do whatever i want but 3° isn’t in spec reason he set it to 2.5

Having him set the caster more to 3°+ will move the wheel further away from
the cab mount correct? I stressed to him about #’s because i am lifted and not stock suspension and seemed he was aiming to align the truck to stock specs.
We don’t really have an off-road shop around here that knows a thing or two about lifts. I k ow him from working on toyota and he has worked on a few friends lifted toyota’s in the past.

I spoke to the tech and he told me to call up toyota again and make an apt for him to change it.
I just honestly don’t want to pay another $130 again because who has money like that for such slight adjustments. Maybe if i tell the service advisor they can get me back in and not charge me

 

Bringing you vehicle back is a good thing to do after service if it isn't working right after and you can try but to be honest they may not want to cover it cause your truck isn't stock. In regard to 3* of caster that's fine. When I was taught alignments I was taught to treat the specs more as suggestions cause even with different tires on it can change the whole feel of the alignment and drive along with use of the vehicle and environment it's used. You can tell him it's okay if it's out of spec to you and he can even just spec you an in spec version if he wants. He could probably just fiddle with the front cam bolts as that'll make your camber and caster both go more positive at the same time and prolly into spec. If you were curious this is what I set my truck to but, I drive mostly highway and haul/ tow often and around here you have to compensate for road crown in your alignments