Shop messes up alignment

Took my Tacoma to tire shop to have two tires that I bought mounded and an alignment they told me it was done I went back to pick it up and wife drove at home I got into the truck to drive it to a meeting I had to go to. And could tell the alignment was never done it's still pulled to one side I had put spacers on the front strut so I knew the alignment was out. took it back they put it up on the rack and said they would check it they couldn't get it adjusted they couldn't even move the adjustments so they said I had to bring it back when a mechanic was there because this was on a Sunday so I asked well who was working on my truck they said a tire tech. so I took it back parked it right in front of the alignment Bay the next Tuesday when they said the mechanic would be in in the morning before they opened in the parking lot and they called me up around 10:30 said that they couldn't do the alignment they had it on the rack and they spent an hour on it and they couldn't get it aligned and they're refunding my money I have a dash cam in my truck and every time you turn the key on it records so I checked my dash cam the truck was never moved from the spot I parked it in I called them up and I asked them to tell me more information about why they couldn't align it and the service manager said yeah my technician had it up on the rack and they said that they could not align it they couldn't get the adjustments to move they were seized. this is a 2020 Toyota Tacoma and it was from Arizona so there was no rust or corrosion. I talked to the district manager and they told me that he's sorry to hear that and he started they lied to me to take it to another one of their shops and have it online so the next Sunday I took it in to another alignment shop and when it was up on the rack I found what they did to the adjustment tabs. So the district manager told me to take it to the dealer and have them give an estimate on fixing it. dealer said that they would have to replace the whole frame to repair that. I was recommended to take it to a body shop to have it repaired body shop bent the tabs back over and put a weld behind the tabs. Then the body shop called me up and said that the a arms would have to be replaced which I don't understand why but they said that the bushings were damaged this thing only has 60,000 miles on it never been off road. I'm not an idiot I know how these control arms are so I told them well if you can get the money out of the company then change them out but I want the old parts so I'm waiting tomorrow I'm picking up the truck they say it's going to be done I'll have an update

 

the shop owes you a new frame if they concluded that's the only way to fix it. that's on them. i'd file a claim with your insurance and they can file a lawsuit against the shop. or you could contact a lawyer and help you file a lawsuit. that's really the only way to get them to pay otherwise they will just keep giving you the runaround.

 

Paragraphs, please.

 

Thet folded over/broke off the cam tabs? The fuck? I'd be champing on the bit for a new frame on their dime if thats the case.

 

Get the aftermarket ones welded on. Problem solved. There’s a thread around here with the info.

https://www.chaosfab.com/product/20...-Lower-Control-Arm-Cam-Tab-Gussets-59860-10FJ

 

It was not a dealer that did the damage the shop told me to take it to the dealer to get estimate

 

Your cam bolts are seized. Is this far less likely in AZ...absolutely....still happens to them all the time the way they are designed.

Techs found this out and tried to get them loose and it happened to flatten the tabs....the whole lobe probably started rotating as it is internally seized up.

This is also incredibly common. They can be bent back out, reinforced with welds, or you can have beefier aftermarket tabs welded on.

You need new LCAs as they will have to sawzall the OEM arms out...the bolts are seized into the LCA bushings. Yeah it sucks, but again...this is very common on Toyota trucks.

When you added spacers you should have loosened them and retightened with weight of truck on the ground so to not bind the bushings....had you done that you probably would have also found them potentially not loosening.

 

Did you get a printout?

At minimum they should have set the toe so your tires don't wear. If they didn't, you will probably get about 5000 mile out of those tires.

 

Unfortunately they do not owe a brand new frame. It’s looks like you have a 2016 so they owe you an eight year old frame or a repair that makes you whole. The weld on tabs that a few have mentioned are probably the best way to fix imo. Many have used those with zero issues as they’re stronger than the oe tabs. Good luck.

 

If it was mine...i would repair those tabs..

 

That won't happen. There is no way he is getting a new frame. Lawyers are not scary threats and they are not free unless you have an injury that they can make money off of. They owe him a repair at most. Even that is usually blocked with legalese written into the contract he signed with the shop absolving them of responsibility. His best hope is that the shop does the right thing and fixes the mess, but considering these cams were already frozen, you can't expect the person that found the problem responsible for fixing it. The shop should have stopped when they saw the problem and notifed the customer that they would do what they could, but since they didn't and they made a bad problem worse, they may owe him something.

Insurance may be the way to go if all else fails. That is only if he has comprehensive coverage. The chances of the insurance company going after the shop is pretty slim and won't make any difference to the OP. If he files a claim and they pay it, that is about as far as he goes.

 

Its not the shops fault, your cams are seized... and the stock tabs suck... Get new arms, new weld on tabs, new cam bolts, fix it right and move on... Agree that it sucks, but it is really a toyota design issue. Sounds to me like the shop is being totally fair with you. Making the shop that tried to work on your truck (that obviously had issues) fix all that really isn't fair.

 

This is a comedy of errors from literally everyone involved.

1. The eccentric bolts were seized, making it hard to align.
2. The shop bent the cam tabs while trying to get the bolt out. They shouldn't have but it happens and those tabs are notoriously bad (that's why TC make cam tab gussets).
3. The dealer thinks you need a whole new frame to fix the cam tab gussets which is just lazy.
4. The body shop welded a bead to reinforce your cam tab gussets but when doing so over-heated the LCA bushing which is rubberized, melting it. Now you need a new LCA. This is pretty common.

This is classic Tacoma bullshit. I think you'll have a hard time getting anyone to take any ownership for any single issue on any of these things. It's possible that it wasn't the body shop that destroyed your LCA bushing and that the alignment shop introduced some play by overtightening or you did when you mounted the spacer but from the picture it looks like it was overheated to me.

 

New cam tabs and cam bolt eliminators will solve your problems with alignment and you most probably will never need an alignment again. For the LCA bushing if it's done, most people will just buy a new LCA instead of changing the bushing. They can be a bear to remove sometimes.