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

I can promise you with 0 caster or negative caster, driving at high speeds on the highway will need a death grip on the steering wheel and constant correction.
I can also assure you I and majority of the 4x4 guys who paid $500 plus all the labor to install upper control arms did so for a very real world reason.
If "caster didn't matter as long as its the same side to side", upper control arms with more caster wouldn't exist.

Going from 2.2 to 5.2 caster on my GX, made it go from feeling twitchy at 70 mph and needing constant correction to super solid and I hardly ever have to correct on a straight highway now.

My tacoma doesn't seem as bad with the 1.8 degrees, but I would like the uppers for it also. I can't really tell 100% becuase I still need to do the tack weld mod

Did you try actually going to toyota and talking to the head tech there? You might be able to talk them into doing it vs the service desk person on the phone.

 

There not as much play in that rear axle housing as you might think. Remember the leaf springs are fixed in place may have a little room at the mounting bolts, the axle pads have a hole where the leaf spring pin sits in, that’s all the play you have. My 2015 rear axle sits about 1/4” to the right. But drives straight and all the numbers are dead on. Good luck with getting your alignment sorted. I need a beer after this craziness.

 

That's what I figured too but I had read a few accounts on here about how it can get slightly tweaked when torquing down the u-bolts so I figured I'd give it a shot. It's weird because before these All Pro leafs I had some Dakars and didn't have this problem. Hopefully it's not an issue with the All Pros themselves, although I guess that's preferable over it being an issue with my frame or something.

 

Oh I'd be more than happy to talk to someone to set them straight. The problem is that in this industry, you can't fix stupid. Either people are willing to learn or just spout off ignorance like these guys are. If they are letting people go without at least advising them that the caster is the equal to a computer chair where the wheels are following instead of leading and it is all dangerous as hell to drive, then that shop should not be in business or needs new management and proper training for the techs.

Automotive is ever changing, but alignment geometry is pretty cut and dry and has just about never changed.

I actually had to do redo my steering column tack weld mod believe it or not. The stupid thing broke at the 2 fat tacks we put on it somehow even though heat penetration was plenty.

What I'm thinking is that since I have polyurethane bushings on my steering rack which allows nearly no slop, the tack weld mod which eliminates the bushing, delrin/ poly bushings on the control arms and uniballs for my control arms is that it is just too much stress on those tacks while turning the wheel at a stop and eventually they just became fatigued and broke.

 

Yep, totally agree. Crazy to me that they could tell me that with a straight face. "I've been an alignment tech for years, trust me I know what I'm talking about".... Right, buddy. I talked to the dealership, they seemed pretty cool about giving it a shot but they can't get to me until the 3rd and their alignment is only $80 but they said this might cost more and I don't want to pay dealership hourly rates unless I have to... Also talked to an old dude up the road who can do it sooner. He's not a lifted truck guy but he def got what I was talking about and said he'd try his best to get it to what I'm looking for, thinking I might try my luck with him I have a suspicion the dealership is just going to set it to factory 1.7 +- .75 and tell me that's all they could get. If I make it up there though (45 min drive) I'll talk to the guy that actually does the alignments and see what he says.

 

Yeah I kind of brushed it off at the time cause he refunded my $ without arguing but it's pretty crazy he would say that. It's like a 5-10 store local chain, thinking I might send them an email about it. I don't like to get anyone in trouble at work but if they're sending people out with vehicles way out of spec and not even giving a heads up that's pretty bad. Going to wait until after they sort out the rim they sliced with the angle grinder though so I don't have to talk to that dude again... Supposed to have something for me tomorrow. Alignment is scheduled for Tues and until then it's minimal driving 50 or under which is easy to do up here. It actually handles better than I would think but I'm not trying to push anything.

 

Yep. Keep the speeds low. It's too difficult to eyeball alignments and toe changes drastically after moving camber caster measurements everytime, so I can't even say to adjust them yourself.

 

OP, dont take it to the random guy, take it to toyota. One of the few things I would actually go to the dealer for when the local shops won't cut it is alignments.
they always quote extra etc.. but if you go and talk to the tech they will likely take care of you.

If you look at the toyota manual for setting alignments, its ridiculously detailed on camber and caster adjustments specific to your car that the techs use.
The local shops are going off the generic stuff and experience, but when their experience is not very good, you just get a generic alignment.
Most of the techs that work at toyota places actually like and work on toyotas of their own, one of them will know what you are talking about.
At least that is my experience, if the local shops around here hadn't seen a million 4runners/tacomas all with the same lift kit, I would have driven the extra distance to toyota.

 

Gahhh. This brings back bad memories.
I have the Firestone lifetime alignment. I have a Firestone I like, where the guy owns a Tacoma and does a good job.
Unfortunately I was caught up with work work and forgot my truck should be aligned before I left that Friday. I never drive the truck anymore. I took it to work and thought I would align it at the firestone near my work.
I thought, "it can't be that bad". It was TERRIBLE. I didn't file a complaint but I should. It's been a month and I kind of forgot about it, but I need to take my truck to the Firestone I usually go to.
I took some pictures, the guy couldn't loosen the tie rod somehow, cut the metal clamps off my rack boot (new rack too) and used a damn combination of pipe wrenches. I couldn't believe it. I told them before that to stop the work since they were struggling, but they said ah well get it. It was atrocious. I think it went vice grip, pipe wrench then those big blue pliers.
Didn't have the appropriate size wrenches. I have to take the boot off and see how the inner tie rod is. They were messing with that.

 

just depends which firestone. The guy at mine firestone aligns our lifted trucks like a G. Says its easier. I am sitting at 4.5+ castor and no issue there. Def need an experienced guy. If you are running things like TC UCA have them set the camber and toe i think to 0 then crank the castor. If they are not doing it in a certain way then all the setting fight each other. I would have to look TC used to include a sheet on the method for doing it.

 

It's redundant to set the toe and camber to zero then crank on caster because it will move everything else.

The proper steps for a full alignment is Caster > Camber > Toe in that order. Of course on these trucks you cannot move Caster or Camber without disturbing the other so you gotta screw with both in unison until you get it right, but if you touch toe before any of the others on any vehicle you are severely wasting your time.

 

I have to go look but TC noted a certain order and castor was last. im not expert just noting what they had stated. ill find the sheet they sent. who knows maybe I have it out of order. =)

 

Pipe wrench what hell, idiots I tell you. You should have grabbed that pipe wrench and knocked both those fools over the head with it.

 

Found a much better shop. $60 alignment too, just a little chain store that seemed pretty good. This seems pretty good, yeah? It would be nice if the camber was a little lower maybe but I didn't want them to muck around too much and lose the caster. Just happy to have it done.

 

Looks alot better, camber isn't perfect but I would call that good enough.

 

Did you get your rear thrust angle sorted out? I'm trying to figure out the best way to get mine straightened out. My truck pulls slightly to the right. I know my caster needs to come down a bit on the left but I'm not sure what if anything can be done to the rear.

 

I haven't, not yet anyway. Had to take care of some other issues with my front end first, still hoping I can fix the rear thrust angle myself by just loosening the u-bolts and tryin to straighten the axle.