Need help finding PRIOR owner/mechanic

Need yall's help to find owner/builder/whoerver worked on this truck prior to me! TAG WHO WHOEVER MIGHT KNOW THIS TRUCK

*Issue cannot get out of negative camber. Been to 3 alignment shops and couple of lift shops and the issue is its on a 6"in lift but lowered to a 3 or 4"in? Subframe cut too

*Background - I bought the truck in 2017 in OR. My fedex friend so happen to be driving past Toyota Broadway and saw this unloading. I went there after work and bought it. They have no story of the build. I am the 2nd owner. I believe the truck was located in Phily/New Jersey somewhere in the East Coast due to the home location on the dash GPS and couple of receipts sent there. A decal of the exhaust done in New Jersey as well. I do remember it having BDS logo suspension prior to me replacing it so I do believe its a 6in BDS lift kit

*ResoIution - Would like to get more information so my mechanic has a better understanding of whats been done. I've been instructed by some people to reweld the subframe back on and restart from there. If we can avoid that option that'll be great. Its not at a 6 in lift/height right now and I like the height its sitting at right now (3-4in) cause im 5'8". So if the community can help me track its owner or the shops that had worked on this Taco so I can get more info whats been done it would really help to get this back to working order vs burning my tires!

*Orignal Parts when I bought it - Fab Four Vengeance Front/Rear
-Smitty Built Winch
-XDS 18in black wheels
- Rago Fabrication for Ditch/Bar light
-Leitnerdesigns bed rack
-Flow Master Exhaust
-carbon interior wrap
-Fox 2.0 Suspenions

 

I think that unless you can find someone who has a contact with the proper agency in NJ that can run the VIN# (and is willing to do so), its not likely you'll be able to find the previous owner (maybe if you're lucky, you'll find something the PO left behind somewhere inside the truck that has an address or phone # on it).

Best thing might be to simply post up a bunch of pics of all the suspension parts (shocks/springs, brackets, knuckles, etc.). Maybe someone here can spot whether something is bent or out of place under there.
Also a pic of your alignment sheet printout.

FWIW, the drop-down amount on the BDS kit brackets is 4", so that would be the minimum lift height you should have it set up at. If it's less than 4" lift, it's possible things like the camber & caster might not alignable.

 

Shouldn't the previous owners be on the title?

 

If I'm reading it right, he bought the truck from a car dealership, in which case I don't think the PO's title would be available.

 

If you post photos of all your suspension components people will be able to give some input.

 

I think you have an impossible task. Determining prior owner from 7 years ago who could currently be anywhere in the world just ain’t going to happen. How it ended up 3000 miles from original home is also a mystery. I think it was possibly repo’d and sold at auction and that is how it ended up on the west coast. or possibly the owner moved to Or. , sold it and now resides in Timbuktu That of course is just a feeble guess. You ain’t going to find the original owner.
You can post pics here and may get some useful information but diagnosing the problem just from pics is doubtful.
I’d take it to a specialty suspension shop somewhere and ask them if it was their vehicle what would they do to get it right again. Unfortunately this will probably be expensive $$$$ to make it right again.

 

repo isn't the only path here. any normal truck, being traded at a competing dealer, many times will fetch more at auction with less hassle than they can sell off their lot. and given the amount of mods, the dealer/carmax that took it in on trade very well could have chosen to auction it as a form of 'washing their hands' of all the included accessories that it has, for very much the reason that the OP is discovering--very few people perform modifications in a serviceable or reversible way. and admission of accepting it on trade stands far more individual dealer liability instead of auctioning it off and making it some other dealers problem.

i suspect, given the decals and buildout, it was a show truck at some point, which have their own sets of fiasco's-- to get a certain look functionality/reliability generally falls last on the requirement list. it's generally why buying a heavily pre-modified truck is such a headache.

 

I agree with you Soundman, lots of possible reasons it was picked up by a dealer across the country. But I was thinking the truck was barely a year old with probably $10,000 or more in upgrades and mods. Why would anyone put thousands into mods on a new truck and then sell it a couple months later. I assumed couldn’t afford it and the bank took it back , but who knows, it’s a strange one.
I also agree I would never buy a used truck with major mods. I know people who have bought trucks with a bunch of mods and they were nothing but trouble. One guy I know spent 2 years undoing all the F ups of the previous owner and his mods. Finally sold it and it became someone else’s headache.
PS
I see the op hasn’t been back to view this thread since he posted it last Thursday. I think he doesn’t really care

 

It's possible he might've viewed his post while logged out, maybe is just waiting for a lull in responses (sometimes I do that after clearing cookies and I don't log back in right away until I need to post something).

At this point the only thing the OP is complaining of is the camber alignment. He also says it's set up for "3-4 inches lift" (on 4" drop brackets if it's BDS), which if it's set for less lift than the brackets are built for, then that could be his issue. We just don't know. This is why we need OP to come back and post some detailed pics and maybe someone can sort something out for him.
Certainly no guarantees though... However if he posts up and his cam bolts are not turned in very far, then maybe his issue is he simply hasn't found a competent alignment guy yet... If they are turned to near max, then maybe adjustable UCAs can help him).

I always like to give the benefit of the doubt before just outright assuming any truck has "a ton of issues" just because someone bought it already modified.

 

Camber - what is your alignment sheet say?

Could try to Install some adjustable upper control arms like SPC or Dobinson Billet arms and you can likely fix the camber from up top if its running out of adjustment from below. SPC can also be set to 0, .25, 1 or 2 degrees of caster where as the Dobinson has to be either 2 or 3 degrees of caster. Likely don't need much extra caster for a drop bracket type of lift.

Pretty sure the more you lift the more positive camber you get too. Could bump the lift back up a little.

How much Negative camber are you getting? A little is ok ( -.58 to positive 1.3) is generally the best range for a Tacoma.