Anyone here an alignment tech? Need Help

That's why I keep saying, they might be loose or monkeyed with.

 

Yes that would be awesome! I love the fact you can get caster like that with these control arms. This new shop I’m taking it too are charging me $100 to do it right. That’s pretty steep for an alignment but these guys are the best in my area and everyone in my local Tacoma group here recommended them.

On a side not I’m absolutely loving this suspension set up! How you liking yours so far?

 

@Mitch65 I've had mine on for about 25k miles and am satisfied with it. Better ride on and off road than the OEM. I am running wheelers 3 leaf AAL in the rear with no overload leaf, and E load (big mistake) 265/75/16 Wildpeaks. The weight of the tires is extremely noticeable immediately in all scenarios, and won't run a 10 ply ever again on a small truck.

When setting up the arms I install the balljoints for maximum caster, and slide them in all the way for as much negative camber as they will allow. Set the lower arm cams for maximum caster then when on the rack I fine tune it to where I want with the cams. Wheel width and offset may effect how much you can slide the balljoint inboard. I have plenty of clearance with 16x8 et0.

$100 for an alignment around here from a competent shop would be considered a bargain!

I left my sheet on my toolbox at work, so on Monday I will grab a picture for you.

 

Thanks again!

 

I ended up bringing toe to .10 after this.

 

Ya that looks like a great alignment. Iv been under my truck about 4 times looking at my suspension and I’m positive nothing is loose or bent so I think the SAI numbers in mine are just a bad reading or something from the machine.

I drove my buddy’s lifted Tacoma and it drives the same as mine so I think the difference I noticed was because of the lift and the tires and that’s just how a lifted Tacoma should drive. This is my first lifted truck ever.

I’ll know more on Tuesday once I get it checked out by a more confidant shop but I’m guess my truck is fine and I got a bad measurement for SAI.

 

YIKES that is a lot of caster! I hear your rack screaming! Don't be surprised if you are replacing your rack and power steering pump on a regular basis. Ball joints and tie rods probably won't be far behind. Why so high? Also why did they go so high with toe? You don't want to be the high end. Glad you go it back to .10. Your tires will thank you.

 

It's a suspension hack; you get an extra 2" of lift when you cut the wheel...on one side anyway.

 

It drives the best (from the few setups ive tried) with it set up this way. The truck wandered so bad when new. Each of my alignment revisions have helped mitigate that more than the prior.

Do you work at a shop and see a lot of failures of those items due to high caster or these trucks specifically?

 

There is some formula for the amount of extra weight you are putting on your suspension for each degree you increase. I'll see if I can dig it up. There is no doubt that it should track so much better with that much caster. You can use a wheel barrow to conceptualize the impact of caster. When you load it up and put all the weight in the front, it is easy to lift, but you are literally chasing it all over the yard. It goes where it wants and steering is real light. Now when you put that weight further back, it tracks so much better, but it kills your back. Basically that extra weight is going to put stress on your suspension parts. Specifically your ball joints, tie rods, and most expensively your steering rack.

You also run into some suspension complications as well. Your suspension is designed to move up and down. When you change the direction of how that moves when turning, it tends not to function properly. You can see this with a stretched out chopper. Of course that is extreme, but it is to give you an idea of what happens. If it rides better now and doesn't rub, run it. If you start to run into issues, you will know what the cause of it is and can decide how you want to proceed. Racks are not cheap or easy replacements, but short of redoing your entire suspension or going back to the way it was, it isn't the end of the world. Something has to be the weakest link.

 

@Sungod Excellent explanation. If I end up running into complications later on, I will drop it down some.

 

Did you ever get your SAI thing checked out? Although I never got a final reading on each side for my SAI, while I was watching the tech do my alignment today I noticed my SAI was in the red (12.8 I think?). I saw this on the Hunter computer screen while he was finishing up toe and tightening things up. The final printout doesn't show SAI, so not sure what the actual final reading is or if it would have changed. Would my JBA UCAs affect the SAI measurement? I feel like its divided in this thread. Some say its a concern, others it isn't.

 

I ended up taking it to an old school well known specialty alignment shop in my area to let a true professional do it. He did it without a computer and has experience with my particular control arms (SPC). I never got a print out but he told me he has been doing alignments the same way for 20+ years. He explained that aftermarket control arms could effect SAI and its not something to worry about because there is no way to adjust it. My trucks drives perfect and track strait as an arrow so I'm happy with it.

 

I agree with your tech. SAI is really nothing to worry about because you can't adjust it. I have seen tech use it as an excuse for their inability to do quality work. They like to blame SAI as their out because it can't be adjusted.

 

Thanks Sungod. I don't even know if my SAI is actually out, but it was towards the end while the tech was tightening everything up and I noticed it on the computer screen being in red. I just got concerned because one poster here said it means things are damaged. Would be hard to believe anything is bent or damaged considering I baby my truck, never hit anything hard, nor do I go off road really. Also, I have JBA UCAs (aftermarket) so wonder if that throws SAI off like OP said? Also, I read another thread on here that said having 6112 suspension setup like I have with the driver side being on the 6th spring notch and the passenger on the 5th notch could throw the reading off too?

 

good to hear, thanks!

 

Would SAI reading be affected by a taco lean spacer, or aftermarket control arms like JBA? If so, it would make sense.

 

I’m not an alignment tech but I would think yes. Go back a read post #18 above ^^

 

I just had mine redone. I have Bilstein lift with non-factory control arms. Experienced tech told me most trucks with aftermarket replacement control arms might show off compared to specs in the books. SAI a bit off, but Caster right on. I wouldn’t worry about SAI or angle differences. Tech showed me everything. No off-roading, nothing bent, all good!