Alignment issue

I have a 2004 Toyota Tacoma sr5 4- wheel drive, 6 cylinder. I havereplaced the rack & pinion, cam & casters and the shop still can't seem to get the alignment correct. After they did the cam and casters they still couldn't get it right and it wore the inside of my tires. I took it back and they said I needed new struts to lift the front end. So they put in a pair of easy struts and still can't get it right. Is there any help for me here? Greatly appreciate some.

 

Welcome to TacomaWorld.

Have you tried taking it to another alignment shop? If not, might want to consider that. Do you have an alignment report from the first visit and the second? Sounds like you should have two sheets. Maybe post them here and let's see some numbers.

 

I will send the numbers to you. I haven't picked up the truck since they put the struts in because it's still not right..

 

These are the alignments at each stage.

 

After cam and caster put in

 

After struts put in. The first one was when the rack was put in.

 

Stock wheels, stock tire size?

 

Yes maybe the easy struts are to short but they still couldn't get it right before the struts

 

okay next question has your truck been hit in the front? both tires leaned in towards the driver side. like it was hit in the passenger side, or maybe you've got some bent suspension parts from someone playing Ivan "Ironman" Stewart in your Toyota.

though I'm still amazed that they made things worse than the beginning.

 

If by "easy struts" they mean Monroe Quick Struts, they are known to be ~1" short vs "stock height". They are a garbage product. Bilstein 4600s with a new OEM coil spring is a MUCH better choice.

 

No accidents

 

The struts they put in are Duralast

 

Ok so what about the tires? You mentioned wear, have they been replaced? Abnormal tire wear can muck with camber a little. Did the alignment tech mention your control arm bushings at all?

Honestly and I know it's not the answer you're looking for - I'd take it to another alignment shop. Look for a reputable local shop and see what they have to say.

How far away is this guy?
https://www.yelp.com/biz/fivestar-servicenter-manchester#location-and-hours

I looked up Jay's shop on yelp, I wouldn't go there.
https://www.yelp.com/biz/jays-auto-and-truck-sales-loudon

 

They just put the weared tires on the back and then did the alignment with the back tires and that is the last one they also stated that the camber was at max adjustment after the struts were put in

 

I'm getting the same story from my alignment guy, that it's my strut bushings. Mine (03 4WD ExtraCab) handles fine, wears tires evenly, but if you let go of the wheel it will drift right slightly. I'm certainly no suspension expert (a bit of an ignoramus actually) but it's looking more and more like it could be anything. I just replaced lower CA's ball joints this weekend and nope, LCA bushings wasn't it but it did need to be done.

In all fairness to the alignment shop, steering/suspension is one of those areas that it could be any number of things and the shotgun approach might actually work (replacing/fixing components until the problem goes away.) By putting an unknown aftermarket part in, you've just added another possibility of what could be wrong, or now added a new problem. I'd go OEM or the Bilstein 4600's, which have a proven test record for stock suspension setups.