Alignment Advice

Took my new 3rd gen wheeling last week and accidentally hit a pothole going too fast and messed up my alignment. The steering wheel is a little off which is a bummer because I'm only at 800 miles. My question is, should I take it in for a one time alignment and pay the $60 or is there a better alternative? I read that it doesn't usually happen but it could get expensive doing alignments all the time. I read the firestone lifetime alignment isn't great either because they won't honor it if they see you've been offroading.

 

Throw some better shocks on there and ditch those hitachi sport shocks. They aren't worth a damn.

 

It’s $hitty99 at it again bad mouthing Hitachi shocks on Toyota. On what authority do you say “They aren't worth a damn”.
Do you even own them on your truck to say anything bad about them?
Do you have any proof “They aren't worth a damn”?
Any data?
And just FYI, there can be consequences for slander I would advise you to thread carefully.

Moreover, what on earth does the shock have to do with his truck going out of alignment lmaoo!
When a shock fails, a seal may rupture and they leak, an oil leak you can spot or they may have internal damage and loose its dampening action.
You can’t exactly safely maneuver at hwy speeds because you’ll be bouncing all over the road.
Fact.

OP you don’t just loose your alignment from “worthless shocks” that is pure B/S.
You loose it if you hit something hard enough to bend something like a tie-rod end or the jolt loosened something such as a cam bolt.
But if that be the case, you may have also bent a control arm.
Get it checked.

You get a free alignment for the first year, but it may not cover damage from abuse or accident, IDK for sure they’ll deny you, but is worth to try.

Hope that helps
Cheers!

 

Test drive a sport and you'll see. Rides like a damn dump truck.

 

One time alignment and deal with another alignment on as need basis. Tacoma's are usually good about keeping an alignment under normal conditions.

As for the OEM sport shocks/struts, the dealer replaced the rear shocks due to oil leaks and the front struts were replaced because the truck was too bouncy. Pretty poor shocks considering that 99% of my driving is on paved roads.

 

@The hammer disagrees with you. Just throw some dirt on those hitachis, they weren't leaking they were merely crying from not having enough Off Road mileage put on them.

 

Too funny. I took off the warranty replaced struts and shocks the day after the dealer installed them. I now have Bilsteins and it rides much better.

 

I have the lifetime alignment with Firestone and they don't care if you off road it. They told me some people are in there after every off road trip they do.

 

That's a good idea, how much do those run I wonder

 

I test drive them everyday, they’re on my truck and that’s how I know your full of chit.

And just because you don’t like them doesn’t mean “They aren't worth a damn”.
I go off-road, and on road at 80, no problemo, very nice ride.

Hope that helps
Cheers!

 

I think 180.

 

FIRESTONE LIFETIME ALIGNMENT

$189.99

• Inspect steering and suspension system
• Put vehicle on alignment rack, mount and compensate sensors
• Adjust camber, caster, and toe angles
• 12-month / 12,000-mile limited warranty
• Road test vehicle
• Print out initial alignment readings
• Print out final alignment readings to verify alignment is within specification

In addition to everything offered in the Standard Alignment service:

• Provide a Lifetime Warranty* on the alignment, which means we'll set alignment angles on your vehicle every 6,000 miles or whenever needed, free of charge, for as long as you own it.

 

I will definitely get it checked out hopefully tomorrow! I just thought I knocked the alignment out of place, didn't know there could be any serious damage! It was more of a dirt road with a bunch of little bumps that I was speeding through and putting the suspension through some serious work and I hit a pothole. Nothing too major though so I doubt it would be any serious damage. Let's hope for the best though. Thanks for the advice!

 

I have been proven wrong, I read on other threads that the Firestone doesn't honor their lifetime alignment if they see that you offroad(abuse) your truck. Guess not! Thanks for this info

 

Agreed! Seems like a nice ride to me, but have only test driven the OR a few short miles so I can't say forsure which ones better.

 

I had a few thousand miles on a 2.5" Icon with reservoir and it spilt it's guts all over my axle.

I guess that means Icon is shit, too. As is any other shock that's dropped oil: King, Fox, Sway-A-Way, ADS, take note. According to this guy the best shock is one off 120v.

@OP get it looked at: if your steering wheel is out of straight you royally fucked something good.

 

Not good to hear... the truck is brand new and has less than 1k miles on it. I hope its nothing... we'll find out tomorrow I guess.

 

OP you get one free alignment from Toyota in the first year under your warranty. Page 13 I believe. I used it on my lift, I was unaware prior but pleasantly surprised.

 

Threads arent any fun without pictures!
Anyway took my truck to the dealership by my house this morning and they wanted $120 just to take a look at it! Left and took it to my friend and had him take a look and he told me everything looks okay. Went to another dealership and had them align it. Asked them to check u bolts as well because it seems like its a common problem and I hear some rattling when my rear end drops over a speed bump. Not sure if they did it or not, I can hop under there this weekend and double check. Easy for me to do. Got the car back and the alignment was much better but now instead of the wheel being turned to the right in order to go straight, its turned to the left... might leave it but if it bothers me ill drop it off and have them correct it. After all this, I decided I will take it easy with my truck. Not in the financial position to be blowing tons of money on it just yet and plus its brand new. Ill take my dirtbike out when I feel like cruising around the dessert. Thanks for the help everyone! At least it wasnt any serious damage