Alignment numbers

Adjusting my front bilstein 5100 to 1.75 and adding 1 inch rear lift . Double cab With 265 70 17 tires.My friends shop is doing the alignment should I go with the factory alignment suggestion ? or is there other numbers he should set it at . Thanks

 

Camber: 0
Toe: 0
Caster: 2.5+

 

He is on stock UCAs and likely won't see 2.5 degrees.

But try and get as close to 0/0/2.5 as you can.

Don't forget to compensate for road crown.

 

He won't get there but that's where he wants to be ideally. If he wants UCAs to get there or not is up to him. I was told before I did mine that I may or may not need them & after seeing where mine was w/o adjustable UCAs I don't know how anyone gets even close.

 

Truth.

My alignment sucked with OPs settings on stock UCAs. Adjustables with any lift over 1.5", IMHO.

Only downside is it turns the low buck lift into a mid level expense.

 

You can also go a little positive (less than .5*) on the camber in order to get more caster if necessary. For road crown you want about .5* less caster on the left than the right. So 2.0* on the left and 2.5* on the right or 2.5* and 3.0* respectively.

 

Exactly why I kept stock UCAs to save some bucks since so many said there was a chance I would align. I have no idea who thinks nearly a degree of positive camber is acceptable even though it's within allowed tolerance. In the end it cost me more to have it aligned twice plus I did some of the same work twice too.

 

Then you get the guys who say you don't need them unless you go over 3"

 

You don't.

But my truck drove like a shopping cart with 1.75 and stock UCAs while my alignment was as good as it could get with OEM specs.

Gotta get custom numbers with a lift, in spec numbers will drive you nuts.

 

Ok, but you don't "need" an alignment after a lift either.

 

Exactly. I eventually went 3" anyway but anything higher than stock rides like butt butter until you do an adjustable UCA. I got Light Racing which is probably the cheapest option for adjustable & I couldn't be happier w/my ride quality now. Alignment specs are right where I want them.

 

Most important get your camber numbers and sacrifice the caster if your running the stock uppers. Most Tacomas and Tundras with a small lift I can always seem to get the numbers correct on the passenger side but always fail on the driver's side. The result is I have to bring back the passenger side caster to offset the road crown.

 

0 camber is actually almost "out of spec" on these trucks so a little positive camber is ok and gives you room for more caster.

Any idea why the driver side is always different?

 

No idea and it always baffled me. When I do my alignments on the tacoma I bring them back to factory spec for toe and camber then sacrifice the caster so I can get the camber dialed in. Customer is going to sacrifice a little steering feel but the tires won't wear and that the most important thing when I guy has just bought a 40g truck and we installed the lift.

 

These are my results with 6112's at the first setting. Stock UCA. There two pages and it's before and after. Keep in mind that these alignment results are after the lift. The truck drives good and I'm happy with the results. Hope this helps.

 

Caster is lower than I'd prefer. You must have got a 2" lift out of those 6112's?

 

When it came down off the lift it was rite at two inches but it has settled to 1 1/2 of lift. Thanks for your reply. The trucks about level. Only new shocks in the rear .

 

Way too little caster & positive camber for the lose! That's how mine looked before UCAs too. Lots of positive camber and nowhere near enough caster. Those two numbers will get further from ideal the higher you lift until you'll eventually be out of spec but even within spec (like the pictures here) the truck will still drive like ass & I hate positive camber. Looks dumb too.

 

Thanks , I'll get it back in and have them try to dial it in better.

 

That's just my opinion. Don't be surprised if they tell you that that's the best they can do with your hardware. It's likely you are nearly at the end of your adjustment if not already there. Your camber will go positive as they try to dial in caster. Maybe they can do a little bit better but don't be surprised that you will need to add a pair of aftermarket upper control arms to get your alignment where you want it to be.