How to do an Alignment at Home

Got any other pictures? My guess would be a bent spindle. But throw up a few pictures of both sides to compare.

 

The first 2 are the bad side and the other 2 are the driver which seems fine

 

Sorry ignore the last one this is correct lol first 2 are passenger which have negative camber pretty bad and the driver side is the second 2 which seem fine

 

I got an alignment this morning. Took it to the stealer, they only adjusted toe… should I take my ass back down there?

 

i think Firestone does lifetime alignments for $199, either way im going to try this soon

 

Hit or miss if they’ll align a lifted truck. I eventually found one that would align my OME lift, and eventually my Kings. Don’t know if it was because I was grandfathered in with the lifetime alignment.

However, when I eventually went LT up front they pretty much terminated my lifetime alignment

 

What needs to be adjusted to make the steering wheel return to center on its own after a turn?

 

OK thanks

 

Off topic somewhat, but how did your patagonias hold up? I’ve had mine for a couple years but my cam bolts moved constantly while hard wheeling and I ate up the fronts pretty fast. I’ve been running the bald patagonias on the back for about 8 months now with some thread showing waiting for them to hit the point that it sketches me out but they just won’t show wear now that they have been rotated.

They are some awesome performers too I must say and I was impressed at how quiet they were. Definitely will run them again!

 

The patagonias have been great. The truck has been at 9k feet in CO since October, so a lot of driving around in the snow. Very confident with the tires and 4WD. They've been great. I find them really loud and 'rumbly' at very low speeds <10mph and then they smooth out. The noise doesn't bother me so I have no idea if i'd call them quiet.

 

Have you considered getting the All Pro Cam Tab gussets or a Cam Tab delete kit for your truck? If you hard wheel/jump your truck it might be a worthy investment especially if you combine the delete kit with the SPC UCA. Then you can wheel hard and have a good alignment.

https://www.polyperformance.com/app...ota-weld-on-lower-control-arm-cam-tab-gussets

I don't know if this kit will fit a 3rd gen, but I think it will. There's not much difference in 2nd and 3rd gen suspension setups.
https://www.polyperformance.com/pol...5-tacoma-03-09-4runner-gx470-07-09-fj-cruiser

 

I imagine it just depends on who looks at your truck. It very much seemed like a judgement call. They couldn’t show me anything in writing, but I also wasn’t trying to argue with them.

 

Thanks for the info. Was thinking of buying the quick trick alignment kit or making up my own and buying the angle finder. Maybe try old laminate floor for turn tables.
So I think I’ll follow your idea. Don’t like to bring anything to garages.

 

I'm gonna give this a whirl this weekend. Between your DIY post here, and this article: https://ls1tech.com/forums/suspension-brakes/1565421-diy-poor-mans-wheel-alignment.html I've come up with a method to do this. I am using some 12" aluminum plates that I got for cheap on Amazon for the turn plates (with grease in between), and using square aluminum tubing to dial in the camber, caster, and toe. I plan on clamping a 3 foot long piece of square aluminum tubing as high up on the wheel as I can get to measure the toe (using spacers to have it be in contact with the rim on both sides - not the tire), and using approximately a 17" piece of square aluminum tubing for the camber and caster.

I have approximately a 2.5" lift with SPC Uppers and the alignment shop has not been able to get my caster where I want it (approximately 2.5 - 3.0, with the driver's side a couple tenths less) and I want to have either a 0 camber to -.2 camber. I'm going to aim for 0 toe, or ever so slightly toe'd in.

I'm getting new tires on Tuesday and I have uneven wear I've been chasing down on my tires. I'll obviously have to check it again after the tires are installed, but I hope to get it really close beforehand.

 

anybody try this system out on a taco

cut from a 4runner forum

I bought a set of Wheel Toe Alignment plates, a Camber/Caster measuring tool and a Steering Wheel Holder.

Here's what I got:

$37 2 Pack - Wheel Toe Alignment Tool Plate - Comes with 2 Tape Measures - Takes Fast, Accurate Measurements - Provides Accurate Wheel Alignment Measurements - Wheel Alignment Tool for Truck, SUV

Amazon.com - Toe Plates

$15 Toolwiz Universal Adjustable Magnetic Gauge Tool Camber Gauge Wheel Alignment Tool Camber Castor Strut Alignment Pillar for Car Truck RV Auto Tire Repair Automotive Silver

Amazon.com - Camber/Caster tool

$29 SAVEMORE4U18 Steering Wheel Holder Alignment Steering Wheel Lock Tool for Car Truck Van

Amazon.com - Steering Wheel Holder

They all worked as advertised and made the job pretty simple. My steering wheel is now straight, the Camber and Toe are correct, the truck drives straight and the steering feels great. All told, I paid $85.59 for the tools and I can use them on more than just the 4Runner.

There a plenty of videos out there on how to use these tools. The instructions that come with the Toe Plates aren't that great. The only real downside to the Toe adjustment job is that you have to remove the front wheels to use the Toe Plates.

 

I don’t know if anyone has posted anything like this but I found this a reliable way to measure camber when using a digital angle gauge. It’s just a piece of conduit, and it works well because the groove in the angle gauge fits positively onto it magnetically. It’s also dead flat/straight. No bowing.

I find that the angle finder being off in terms of plumb can effect the number given, and the finder being able to nest firmly on the conduit means that you don’t have to worry about its position on flat stock and can focus on holding the conduit plumb and square to the wheel.

 

I have a question about adjusting camber and getting the adjustments to show up without moving the truck...if that's possible.

I started messing around with my alignment yesterday after replacing everything up front (lower control arms with new bushings cams sleeves and bolts, lower ball joints, tie rod ends, yanking uniball upper control arms and repainting, new uniball and bushings). I leveled out the floor with varying height plywood pads because my two car garage slopes to the center. I put pretty thick multi layer folded plastic sheet under the front tires to relieve friction.

With all of that, I could not get the adjustments to translate by turning the wheels lock to lock a handful of times. I'd think I'd gotten some change and drive it down the road and 'whoa man!', things had moved a lot more than I had anticipated. I did learn from this that it takes less than I thought to make changes. Ultimately, because I found that pulling onto my leveling pads was a bit of a pain in the ass, I resorted to driving down to the empty parking lot down the street and tweaking stuff there. I'd make adjustments, do some figure eights and check my progress.

I got things a lot better much more quickly and easily this way, but I'd like to just stay in the garage and wonder what I'm missing here that I can't seem to see the change accurately with my garage set up as is. Anyone got any pointers for me, or a proverbial smack on the forehead for missing something obvious?