Passenger wheel camber off, strut replacement needed?

I went in to get an alignment done on my Tacoma. I mentioned that the passenger wheel is angled in and I had concerns about it. When I went to pick it up after the alignment was done, I was told I needed new struts because the wheel had worn more on the outer edge and had bumps you could feel. I again mentioned that the wheel is cambered in a positive angle and that’s why I brought it in and I thought the alignment would help on that. They still say it’s the struts and that they’ll give me a great deal on getting new ones installed. If it wasn’t for me having issues with them before constantly trying to push things I don’t need, I wouldn’t question it. Before anyone ask why I keep going, I just go to them for alignments because of the lifetime deal they have.

 

Struts don't determine camber on these trucks, the spring and eccentrics used to adjust the truck affect camber.

Struts on a car will sag and cause camber, but most trucks, excluding ridgelines have coil over shocks.

You need a new shop that is educated in the matter.

Can you upload a picture of the alignment printout?

 

Thanks for the info, I’ll upload the alignment data later today.

 

Here are the sheets I got from the alignment

 

Whom is doing your alignment? (Guessing Firestone)They only adjusted toes, plus why are your tires at 29 psi, with 265/70r17's should be 34-35 psi Looks like you need to find a shop that needs to know how to do alignments.

 

Yeah you guessed it, Firestone. I go there because of the lifetime alignment. I figured since it’s done by a machine they couldn’t mess that up, but I guess I was wrong. I didn’t realize that there was more to it that that, but that explains why I keep asking them about the camber and they said it was another issue. Thanks again for the info.

 

The alignment rack (machine) is only there to give a readout of the pertinent numbers of your truck's suspension. You still need a competent tech to be able to set the parameters correctly. One of the biggest problems with lousy shops like your Firestone dealer is that there is a range of each alignment spec that the manufacturer considers to be "in spec" and you can have one side be at one end of the range for camber, the other side be at the other end and it'll still all be "in the green" on the monitor and way too many low end techs will just point to the fact that it's in the green and tell you that it's good. The same applies to caster especially. You could have both sides in the green and still have the truck pull hard to one side or the other. You can see that all these guys did is what the refer to in the industry as a "toe and go" - set the toe in and nothing else, which is probably what they're told to do on the suckers that paid for the worthless lifetime alignment (sorry). You need to chalk that lifetime alignment up to experience and find yourself a real alignment shop that knows what they're doing and will work to get all the parameter not just within spec, but optimally set for how you drive. Once you break it down to one item at a time, alignment is not that hard to understand and the more you know going in, the less likely that you'll be taken advantage of in the future.

 

Thanks for the info, I wish I would have found this years ago. I think this is the second car I’ve got alignment on. Worse part is, I took it to the dealership before I got the lifetime alignment and they did the same thing. I even mentioned the camber and they said that how Tacoma are supposed to be…

 

These trucks don't have struts. Camber and Caster is adjusted with the lower control arm. There is a possibility that your bolts are stuck inside the bushings and they are unable to adjust the camber but they should have told you that if it was the case.

 

Yeah looking online, before I posted I figured that out, but wanted to be sure. I doubt they did more than put it on the machine to get the green line. Honestly I’m more upset about the dealership not fixing it when I mentioned it since that was the first place I took it to last year and you’d think they’d at least do it right.

 

Technically it isn't "broke" if it is within recommended specs. At it looks like you fall within allowable specs.

 

Many people run their tires around 30psi. That's not the issue.

 

It's still a pretty shitty alignment.

 

There are many good post here, I have been doing alignments for 40 plus years. If the top portion of the tire is pointed inward that is negative camber, if pointed outward at the top it is positive camber, just so you know.
I set my taco up > caster left front PLUS 3 degrees, right front PLUS 3.75 degrees to compensate for the road crown. camber both sides plus .+45 degrees. toe I set to zero.. AS one post said the techs today set everything up in the [green.] Sure that is in specs but the truck may pull and or even wear tires.. They have no idea what is going on. IF you think something is bent have a good shop also ck the IA [included angle & SAI steering angle. This will ck for a bent knuckle [spindle] or control arm. Also struts or shocks will not cause this problem as one post said. A broken spring will effect the alignment because of the riding height...good luck..