New Tires + Wheels + 2.5" lift causing alignment problem

As said before, you need to take it back to the alignment shop and have them put it back on the rack. It looks to me that something (like an LCA) has come loose after the alignment. Maybe the shop forgot to torque down the LCA bolts? There are a number of possibilities but one thing is for sure, you need to take it back to the shop.

 

Today will be the (this morning was the 6th time i take it) Later today it will be the 7th. It's becoming embarrassing. I don't think any bolts are lose. My left side caster is at 1.6. I'm going to tell them to pull it back to 1.0 to see if that fixes it. It was at .04 yesterday and it was pulling to the left. and it's pulling to the right today at 1.6. Hopefully 1.0 solves it

 

Sorry about the alignment issues. I have the same setup you have with the addition of LR UCAs. If you BigO can't fix your issue, I would recommend Bear Frame and Alignment in Glendora http://www.yelp.com/biz/bear-frame-and-wheel-glendora?nb=1
Its an awesome old school place, check it out.

 

1.0 is low. The trick is getting them even. I've taken my truck to Big O for an alignment before and the print out was good but it pulled to the right because the steering wheel was not straight. I had to set the toe myself and it drove straight.

 

Do you have the same lift and tire size as me? and maybe a copy of your numbers? that would probably solve the issue lol


My truck is at Big o for the second time today. (luckily I work walking distance from the shop)

 

You do have the 285's and 17" rims. I just looked at your profile. You're in socal too right? which big o tires did you take it to? maybe I can go to that one

 

La Mirada.

We have the same 5100's though I used OME springs to achieve the llift. At the 2.5" setting, it was more like 3.25 inch lift on mine. Fender to wheel hub measurements were almost at 24"

 

I got it back from big o tires last night and it feels better. It still pulls to the right a little but i guess it's better than before. I'll post the new numbers in a bit. I think I will buy the UCA's though, I don't want my tires wearing out so quickly

 

Caster does not wear out the tires. Toe and Camber does. People get the UCA's for more caster adjustments. Depending on which UCA you buy, the caster should already be built in or adjustable.

 

Man I wish I could pick you up and take you to big o tires to explain to them what they have to do lol I'm in orange

 

And camber too. The control arms affect both caster and camber.

 

You might want try Big O La Mirada then. Toe is the easiest to set and Camber and Caster cannot be adjusted without the other. You should be able to get at least +2 caster while keeping your camber at or near zero as your pre-alignment numbers were not bad. Below is what you need to tell them.

Toe = 0
Camber = 0
Caster = Max out postive caster while keeping camber zero.

 

i just read this on another thread about those specific UCA's. Is that accurate? I have a 2.5 lift and was going to get the light racing ones since they're cheaper




"I will cover 2 Brands Camburg, and Total Chaos. There are others like All Pro or DR, but since I have No first hand experience with these I'll let others chime in on them.

Camburg UCA's: from my experience, and from what Camburg has informed me about, were designed to give greater clearance to accommodate larger coil over coils. They are NOT designed to correct alignment issues, caused by the addition of a 3" lift.

Total Chaos: These are UCA's specifically designed to help correct the alignment issue caused by the addition of a 3" lift.

All Pro: Are also designed to correct Alignment issues."



Does that mean I should get the All pro since i don't have a 3in lift? or I should just go to la mirada and get some help from you lol

 

LR's are the cheapest and most adjustable. The rest is basically the uniball advantage as they are stronger than ball joints. They have the caster and camber built in. Unfortunately I would not be able to personally help you in La Mirada but the alignment tech should be somewehat familiar as my truck had been there recently and I gave him clear instructions on how I wanted mine to be set.

 

Okay, here's a picture of my current numbers. You said to tell them to put the caster to +2 on both side or which one? i'm having trouble with the right side

 

Those number are OK, certainly not ideal.
What's up with that thurst angle? It's like your rear axel is slightly crooked. You may want to have that looked at. It could be a screw up on the alignemnt rack I guess.
Your front toes are good. No problem there but that's the easiet to get right.
Looks like the increased the caster on the right wheel. Maybe they are trying to compensate for the pull. It looks a little odd they did it without affecting the cambers hardly at all. You'd think they'd try to coorect the small cross camber while they had everything loosened up.

 

Caster should be as even as possible. How did it drive before you got an alignment?

 

Do you have a local ORW? I live in Temecula and had my alignment done by the local ORW and its running nice and straight. I didn't go the complete 2.5 with the Billies, I did 1.75. There is also a local shop here in Temecula (Best Tire & Wheel) they used to do all the lifts for the Toyota dealership in Carlsbad. I know Temecula is a little drive from OC but I know how frustrating it is...I had a balance issues that was finally fixed by Best Tire.

 

It's really frustrating so I wouldn't mind driving out to Temecula. If they open this saturday I might have to take that drive

 

Before these numbers, it still kept drifting to the right. SO should I go back and tell them to fix the caster so that my truck stops pulling to the right after every little bump? would that solve the issue? you said to put it at +2 right? as in "2.0"?