Bad Alignment Will Dick Up Your VSC

This is for us newer model fuckers.

Did you know if you throw your alignment out far enough, it will disable your VSC?

I found this out over the past couple days. Yesterday while offroad in wet, muddy conditions I went after a ledge with a little more gas than I usually would. We were basically sledding uphill, so this was the only way things were gonna go.

*Something* caught the driver front wheel hard enough to stop the truck and throw me into the steering wheel. Threw my alignment way out - had to drive home holding the wheel about 70 degrees left turn for straight tracking.

Anyway, on that same trail, I was later making a difficult descent and trying not to roll the truck. In the midst of shifting myself and my passenger around the cab, I knocked the e-brake on. With a little gas there was a "plank* from the rear end and the truck started moving. That's when I noticed I'd bumped the e-brake on. At first I was worried I'd toasted another R+P (I was locked at the time). Later, I noticed the VSC warning light on, leading me to theorize I had instead toasted one of the rear drum brakes and the integral wheel sensor. There were no sounds/signs traction control was trying to act on any of the wheels.

So, this afternoon, take the truck to have it aligned so I can kill one bird. Ended up getting two with one stone. After correcting my alignment, I no longer have a VSC warning.

This leads me to theorize either:

- The VSC system wheel sensors actually measure angular velocity relative to the truck and one another, not just rotational.

or

- My toe was so far out it was actually causing a big enough rotational velocity difference for the computer to notice it and fire up the light.

I didn't immediately think they were related, but apparently the VSC gets super unhappy if your alignment is too far out and shuts down. Good to know.