Can I get some advice on alignment after slight lift? Think the shop screwed it up

I think this is my most recent one.

 

Excellent alignment to the tech who did it.

 

This help me better clear my 285/75/16 on my OME 2-2.5” lift. Still had to do the pinch weld cut.

I also have SPC UCA if that matters.

 

This was mine time before last.

 

The SPCs make it really easy to get 3˚ caster, I had to do the same thing to clear my 255s from hitting the pinch weld (even after cutting/trimming). Once I got 3˚ caster they cleared no problem

 

I have a similar lift and it helped me clear my body mount after I cut the pinch weld as well. It is a necessary evil to do that sort of modding to these trucks to make it work with larger tires.

Your camber looks ugly and you are probably scrubbing on turns. It should be zero or slightly negative. Rear toe needs correction as well, as dog tracking is likely a little relevant on your ride and you are likely pulling a little due to the higher than desirable thrust angle.

 

Drives perfect and only scrub is full lock backing up slightly. Numbers have changed slightly since then but still generally area. Lifted 3" with LR UCA's on 33's.

 

It's your call if you want to get any further adjustments, but positive camber on any vehicle is not a very desirable thing. Sorry I was looking at your total toe in the rear and mistook it for thrust angle. You are below .10* so you are okay but your left rear side may show some mild feathering wear due to toe in over time.

Your tires in the front are basically angled like this \ / when they should be angled like this / \ or for maximum tire life like this | | (this is an exaggerated example)

Negative cambering provides you with better turning capabilities and most manufacturers set their vehicles up that way from the factory to assist in such. If you look at autocross vehicles they usually run their wheels very butterflied out (another term for negative camber) because it allows them to turn their vehicle basically on rails on the track. Negative camber basically increases mechanical grip via the the hubs angular position which ultimately increases the tires grip due to its mounted angle on the hub.

Here is a visual guide to help describe what I am attempting to explain.

 

^^he is correct, always 0 or slightly negative camber. You probably won't notice the slight positive, but it is not recommended and these cars are setup to be neutral or zero.

Don't pay that much attention to their "range" of acceptable values unless your car is stock, even then, its possible to get a bad alignment that is good by the "range" numbers some shops use.

The first thing you should say is I want caster maxed out. IF they start by doing that and then trying to get the other numbers in range, they will probably get really close as you generally take a small hit on camber when you max out caster (With stock arms).
Most shops don't want to do those adjustments to be honest, they rather wait for a toe and go... but if I ask them to max out caster and they say anything other than that's a good idea or what they were going to do, I go to another shop.

 

here is an example of how much the upper control arms help on my GX (Same front suspension as a 2nd gen tacoma)

first pic is a toyota alignment, after installing the 2.5" lift on stock arms, before shows with stock settings, and after is where Toyota adjusted it to max out caster.
You can see they were able to significantly increase caster to almost the bottom of the acceptable range for a GX, and camber is still reasonable but went slightly positive which is not perfect but still acceptable.



This pic is an aftermarket shop after installing JBA upper control arms. With the extra caster, the camber is back to slightly negative and just how I wanted it.
Notice the notes at the bottom. Ask for Caster max positive, then camber max negative in range.

 

Currently I’m at zero on both. Caster is dead on 3. That was before the last alignment. I don’t have the sheet but I was standing there while he did it watching the computer. Tire wear was even on the last set for their 70k mile life.

 

If your camber is set to zero don't bother touching anything related to camber caster unless you want better handling capabilities.

 

Both of those shops are idiots!!

 

I'm losing my damn mind over here. Been calling shops all day, I keep hearing 'well your caster is pretty much set by the factory, the control arms just adjust the camber mostly' or they can't do it on their machine cause it's set for factory specs. Found a couple spots that offered to give it a shot but the only place I found that really knows what the hell I'm talking about runs $108 to get in the door plus $54 'per needed adjustment' so I'm probably looking at a $200 alignment which is a lot more than I want to pay. Plus it's an hour plus drive each way...

Another question - how is the caster adjustment made? It's all in the control arm cams, or is there another adjustment on these trucks?

 

man where you do live? I need to know so that if I'm ever there and need an alignment I'll know to go to another town lol.

I think you should get @12TRDTacoma on the phone and have him speak to one of these shops haha, this is getting ridiculous. They may be right in that there's only so much they can do with the caster since you have stock upper control arms but they should damn well be able to get you out of negative caster...that's crazy

 

Yeah I'm in Maine, Damariscotta is the town you want to never get an alignment at... Tech told me straight up there's nothing wrong with negative caster as long as it's even on both sides... I just signed up for a couple local 4x4 facebook groups, hoping someone can point me in the right direction.

 

Info in and tell them where I want it set. I don’t care what the factory numbers are I want it set like this for this lift. Factory numbers aren’t doing shit for a lifted truck. Find out the numbers you need for your lift size on a first gen member’s that knows what they’re talking about and it drives correctly. Take those numbers to a shop that will listen and knows wtf they’re doing. You’ll be set up then.

I used a new place last time and the tech didn’t think it was going to work. I told him set it like I said then go drive it. He did and found out that setting was dead on for mine.

 

That's what I do with the 4x4 shop in town that has an alignment rack, I tell them the numbers I want and they make it happen. Granted it's easier with SPCs but they should still be able to get you as close to the specific numbers you want as possible, if they actually try that is

 

Yup, that’s about the only way to get it set up right for your combination. Those guys don’t have a list of what a lifted truck should be set at. It’s up to us to research the forum here for others with the same or similar setup that have tested it out already.

 

I just need to get my rear end sorted out now because the axle is off kilter by about a half inch to one side more than the other, I think it happened after I installed my leaf springs. Hoping it's just as easy as loosening the u-bolts with the frame supported by jack stands (axle on smaller stands) and working it back into place. Makes for a nasty pull on the highway especially if there's strong wind.