1st Alignment done, truck not the same.

So my Taco is stock, except for the 265-75-16s. Tires were due to be rotated and I noticed some tire edge wear, so had the shop check and aligne it... now it drives different.

When going straight the wheel needs held to the left a few degrees, and when you let go of the wheel the truck immediately pulls to the right.

Even with the alignment off, (before they touched it) it didn't do this.

So are these Taco's hard to align? I'm kind of obsessive about my wheel being straight when going straight. SO any help with what's going on with it, would be appreciated before I take it back to be redone/checked.

TIA

 

Post the sheet

 

I'm inclined to say that your new "pull" is likely the result of the tire rotation rather than the alignment.

Whenever I have a strong pull, it turns out to be caused by the tires.

You could have them 'un-rotate' the tires back to the way they were an see if the pull goes away.

 

only way to help you is to see the numbers. uneven tire wear can cause pull. tacomas are not hard to align

 

This is why I'm always nervous about alignments. I've never had one done correctly on any of my Taco's.

My last truck was in the shop three times for it after I installed my 5100's, and it was never right.

 

Only thing ive seen is when someone aligns it with sloppy steering rack bushings, it can shift during alignment which throws all adjustments off. Otherwise no they are easy to align.

 

Well I'll have to do that after work tonight. But every number was in the green based on the print out they gave me.

 

OP, as others have said posting the sheet would be most helpful. "Green and go" is often a bad way to align things, and is generally what crummy shops do. Toyota uses such a broad range of acceptable numbers for the Tacoma that a truck can drive really weird but still be technically "in the green" and an alignment shop will send you on your way -- dealers do this too.

 

^This, and swap the front tires side to side see if the pull goes away. If not it is prob the caster more than likely too low on the pass front.

 

More than likely this if there was a lack of routine tire rotation coupled with possibly an off alignment prior to recent alignment. This resulted in uneven tire wear pattern.. The best fix is to get new tires or move the better more even wear tires to the front.

 

yep, had this problem, now that your tires are worn in a certain direction, the truck will tend to pull, swap the 2 front see if it pulls the other way..

 

Please post your numbers as stated above. Best place to start in my opinion.

 

This is why I specify the settings I want when I go in (0/0/2.5). The "acceptable" ranges don't seem to work well on the Tacoma.

 

My truck drives straight but the tires are toe'd in the front, I hate how even when I find an alignment shop that does it right once the next time it's wrong. I almost feel like if you don't go somewhere and pay for their lifetime alignment they screw it up. Not trying to hijack but is there some cheat sheet someone created that says: lift 2" front with OME 884 your alignment settings should be x?

 

Not really cause even the same truck with the same parts are different. I've aligned vehicles for 15 years and i'll be dead before anyone else touches my vehicles. Tacomas are extremely touchy in my experience, they need to be on the marks. Hell I even do mine with a portable gauge in the garage when I feel it isn't right and can't make it to the family shop(or don't want to go because they will put me to work!) Should be 0 to very slight toe in, 0 to very slight neg camber and around 2.5 to 2.75 deg caster just make sure the pass side caster is around .25 to .5 higher to fight road crown. The numbers I shoot for are .05 toe in, .1 neg camber, 2.5 driver and 2.75 pass caster.

 

There's 6200 miles on the truck and tires, this is the 2nd time they were rotated and 1st time an alignment was done.

Here's the before alignment numbers:



Here's the after:



The pull doesn't seem as bad, but the steering wheel cocked to the left when going straight is driving me crazy.

 

So looks like my caster is emphasizing road crown, which could have me turning the wheel more to the left to keep the car going straight...

Am I on the right path?

 

If the steering wheel isn't straight when the vehicle's going straight on a flat road - take it back - they need to correct that - it'll lead to unintended and potentially dangerous activation of the VSC (stability control) system.

Note that cocked steering wheel is a different problem from a 'pull' in which the vehicle refuses to track straight when you're not exerting continuous pressure on the wheel.

 

Yes I plan on taking it back just want to attempt to tell them what the settings should be.

Thanks I do know the difference between the cocked wheel and the perceived pull.

 

You are correct Sir!