Can I drive on this terrible alignment?

2000 Prerunner 2wd w/ bilstien 5100s and OME 880's. I replaced my steering rack and tie rod ends yesterday and just took my truck in for an alignment. this is what I got back...


Assuming I don't drive off the side of the road am I ok to put a couple hundred miles on this while I try to get it sorted out?

The tech just told me 'I couldn't get the caster to move that was the best I could get it...'
Am I right in thinking all he did was adjust the tie rods and he didn't even touch the control arms? I'm kind of confused as to why it would have been so far out to begin with, obviously I screwed the toe up when I switched out the tie rods but that shouldn't have messed up my caster that much, right?

I didn't pay so my options are to go back tomorrow and talk to the manager and see if they have a competent tech at the store, or try to make an appointment somewhere else which is also a crapshoot around here (New Orleans). I would do the dealer for this but the last time I tried to take it to a dealer they weren't happy about the aftermarket suspension and they refused to take anything out of spec when the book spec max caster is only 2.2.

 

Your adjuster may be frozen. Hope they didn’t flatten the cam tabs. Firestone took my caster to about 3.6 - 3.8. YMMV

 

That's pretty good, is that with stock UCA's?
I'm about to pull the tires off and see if they screwed anything up.

 

Well I guess that answers my question whether he even tried to make an adjustment. I guess all that oil is good for something.

What do y’all think am I going to wreck my tires driving it like this for a few days?

 

I ended up with TC cam tab kit, new UCA and LCA’s. It’s the old line, “since I’m in here.”

 

nah, toe looks fine and camber is just barely out of spec. You're not gonna roast em in the short term

 

Ok, thanks

 

Oh yeah that looks real nice

 

I have learned to have the Tie rod lock nuts and Cam Bolts free before going for an Alignment.

The tech will try but they are not going to get them free if the are seized at least the alignment shops around here. They stop at that point with no charge .

Good luck!

 

I'd call that shop and ask for the manager with the only goal of being to get a refund. The "tech" didn't do shit.

 

Yeah I refused to pay when I saw the printout

 

The printout shows the main tire wear of the toe in was corrected, the tech did "do shit". The camber is out of spec still but probably won't wear badly if thee cause isnt wasted parts. The truck must pull to the right due to the caster readinngs but caster is a pull thing not wear thing.

If your reason for returning is just a refund thats screwed up as like you said the parts are frozen. Possibly neglected or just wore out. Thats not the tech's issue he just works for a living. From what you said it looks like he did what was possible with out further expense. Like you would, I'm sure he expects to be compensated for additional needed work. He obviously did what he could, set the toe (what your truck would allow).

Pay to play or drive a wonky truck IMO. Maybe harsh but thats a rather an entitled and ignorant way of being at the cost of maybe the guys job. Mom will and should loan you a few $ to keep your truck safe. At least for the sake of the other drivers around you.

 

Nothing is frozen, you can see from the grease on those nuts the tech never even put a wrench on them. Either he has no idea how to do an alignment or he’s just being lazy and lying about it, either way I don’t have a lot of sympathy

 

Those cam adjusters are always frozen. The tech knew from experience that if he started cranking on them the cam tabs would get flattened and then you'd be yelling at him for that. He did you a favor by not touching them.

If you want the full alignment done, either remove those adjusters and grease them or replace them. Then bring it back.

Any alignment charge around 100$ doesn't include time for the tech to dick around with frozen cam bolts. He didn't put the rust there..

 

So your saying the before and after toe measurements (1st post picture) that changed from TOTAL toe of -.07* to +.019 was falsafied? The only way to get .026 more positive toe is to adjust the tie rod ends (toe setting). OR if you insist nothing was done the only other possibility is your front end is worn beyond safe driving status, than yeah, the tech could have falsely manipulated the numbers. But more than likely you admitting you just didn't understand before posting (it happens) would be what is the case here.

To answer your question of "can I drive on this terible alignment?" I would say yes. Other than the light outer wear the camber may do, the biggest concern of wear, your toe in, has been set. The caster is wack but that can effect left or right pull imbalance. In your trucks case probable pull to the right.

 

Yeah obviously he adjusted the tie rods but that’s not an alignment that’s half an alignment.

There’s nothing wrong with the front end all these parts are new or newish, he just didn’t want to do the job.

Pretty surprised how many of y’all think centering the tie rods and leaving big issues with the caster is an alignment… If stuff is frozen I have no issue breaking it free myself or replacing but I live in the south there’s not a spec of rust on this truck and I replaced all my control arm bushings at 250k miles and not one adjuster bolt was stuck. Then they all went back in with antisieze. I promise ya they’re not frozen.

 

If the adjusters have been replaced and greased then tell them not us.

It's not unreasonable for a tech to shy away from those things because they're usually frozen. Looking at the pics, they don't look new or recently replaced. The tabs on the frame are super weak. If he loosens the lock nut and tries turning them just to see if they're frozen, the tabs get flattened immediately. It's not a very good design

But, the tech could've explained better why he didn't want to touch them.

Again, if this alignment was around 100$ you're going to have to adjust your expectations. He's got about a half hour with your vehicle then he has to move on to other things. And that includes the time to test drive before and after

Communicate with them, tell them what you want, and tell them about the adjusters being fairly new and lubed

The place I take my truck to charges 250-300$ and they're booked out weeks in advance because they do good quality work

 

The shop/tech obviously did a toe-and-go. Didn't touch the cams, as evidenced by the pictures. ANYONE can do a toe and go in their drive way- that's why I said the tech didn't do shit. I am not looking to get into a pissing match, and I am not sure why you're trying to start one with "mom loaning me money" shit. But pack that up and take it back to whatever sub forum you frequent. I do my own alignments cause I know how to, and I don't trust techs to do a complete and satisfactory job.

You can call the tech not touching the cams "nice / experience of bending tabs" all you want, but for the tech to say they weren't able to adjust the camber/caster, and NOT have put a wrench on the cams is just pure laziness. THAT'S why the OP should request their money back. Not because they couldn't, but because they didn't even try.