Steering/Alignment Issues?

I took my almost new Tacoma out to the Pine Barrens a few weeks ago. Once back on the highway I noticed my alignment was out of wack (it was hard to keep the tuck going straight in between the lines, if I turned it one way I'd have to correct the other way to keep it straight) so I immediately took it over to the Pepboys and signed up for the lifetime alignment package.

After maybe 50 miles of driving on the highway I felt it doing the same thing again where I had to turn the wheel one way and then the other every few seconds to keep it going straight. Not as bad as the first time, but just annoying enough where it was too labor intensive for a 4 hour road trip back home.

I went back and had it aligned for the second time at a different Pepboys. They said it was out of alignment but not as bad as the first time. I asked them to double check that nothing was broken, bent, or damaged. They said everything looked fine.

Since then I've only drove maybe 10 miles and on all smooth highway roads. I've noticed it again. No where near as bad as the first or second time, but I feel like I need to turn the wheel often to keep it going straight in between the lines on flat and straight parts on the highway. If I took it back again I'd be willing to bet it needs a minor alignment again, but taking a trip to the shop is starting to get annoying...

Anyone ever have any a similar issue? Anything I should personally inspect to see if I've bent or tweaked something under the front of the truck? Only other thing I can think of is that maybe the truck normally needs a lot of steering/correction on the highway and I'm just not used to it since I just got the truck. It's a TRD Pro if that makes any difference.

 

I'd start by having someone turn the steering wheel with the truck on the ground while inspecting all the moving parts for slop and play. I'd look to make sure whole rack isn't shifting at the mounts first.

 

No it should track straight going down the highway with little correction...not knowing your alignment specs any comments will be base on conjecture.

 

What tire pressure are you running?

 

Do you have the alignment numbers?

It’s not too uncommon for them to adjust the toe only.
If the caster and camber are “with in spec” or “close enough”, some shops will “send it”
They won’t take the extra time to get it as good as it can be.

 

35 PSI all around on the dot. Confirmed with both my tire pressure gauge and the truck's onboard computer and each tire is exactly the same.

I just updated my original post with an attachment of the original report. Their printer wasn't working after the second one but I believe it was similar just not as severe. I will also say that after both alignments everything felt great. It wasn't until after a few trips after that I started to notice the extra effort needed to keep it going straight on the highway.

 

One really big thing with shops. Make sure they are tightening this SHIT out of those cam bolts. At least to toyota torq spec but I would recommend even tighter than that. If not they will lose alignment a bit with the slightest impact or nudge of something.

Also don't waste money at these type shops (pepboys, firestone, etc). They typically do a "toe and go" method of alignment. Try and take it to dealer or a good off road shop that deals with these more and can work alignment numbers better.

 

Move the tires front to back and see what happens. And Pepboys would be the last place I would go for an alignment. Better off with a small independent shop that specializes in alignment.

 

It appears they just adjusted toe. Should I go back and have them adjust camber and caster? It appears that they are within spec but there's a pretty big difference between the left and right... could that be what's causing the constant need to correct to keep it going straight, or since it's within spec that shouldn't be the problem?

 

That's the "toe and go" method these types of places usually do. As long as the rest is technically in spec they won't touch it. So most likely yes, your camber is what's causing the pull. I would take it to a reputable shop with knowledgeable people on the alignment racks.

 

Camber IMO. Caster could be adjusted more with new UCA.

 

"But it's all in the green?" they'll say. Looking at you printout, you have a cross camber (difference side to side) of .7 degrees and cross caster of .4 degrees. Camber pulls to the side more positive and caster pulls to the side more negative. So in your case, you might pull a little to the left because of camber or a little to the right because of caster. This assumes the other angles are not affecting anything, which in your case, they are. When I trained guys on alignments, (i worked for Hunter and Snap On/ John Bean) we asked them to get these cross angles less than .5 degrees so your caster cross angle "should" be ok but is biased to the right and road crown might exaggerate the side to side difference. If those left and right readings where swapped it would be perfect. As for the camber, that is out of the .5 degree tolerance and might pull left. If you make those two camber readings closer together and put the slightly more negative caster angle on the drivers side you'd have a perfect alignment. Oh and make sure the little tabs on either side of the eccentrics (cam adjusters) aren't flattened out by an idiot alignment tech. Seen it many times. One more thing too, the order in which you adjust is critical. You adjust camber/caster first THEN toe. As in you alignment, they went right to toe, and ignored slightly tweaking caster/camber, which is ashamed because it's an easy adjustment on our trucks. Good luck!

 

Please remember when you pay for lifetime anything, the only way the provider can make a profit is by doing the work as fast and infrequently as possible.

As mentioned, use a dedicated front end shop. There’s no shame in asking a shop if they have experience with your model. Yea, they can lie but there are more honest specialty shops than dishonest ones.

 

i like that, right up there with the "Sunshine Treatment" when you leave you car at the dealer all day and it sits in the lot with the hood up. and old time ford mechanic told me that one 50 years ago.

 

Been reading a bunch of these alignment threads. Appreciate your insights. So you are saying that my caster being different is good if adjusting for road crown? Seeing a lot of people saying that over 2 is preferable.
I know you said that by looking at it you can’t tell much but I look at it from the front and don’t see how the outside of my tires aren’t going to wear faster which corresponds with the camber being not that great although within spec. Am I wrong?

Bilstein 5100s set at 1.65 inches of lift. Half inch spacer in the rear. Stock UCAs. Goodyear Duratrac 275/65R18

 

Strange, the final readings show only a little more than half degree positive camber. The picture does look like more positive camber than that though. Those readings just don't correspond with the picture. If you can see it then it probably is pretty extreme. I think possibly did the tech didn't pull the turnplate pins. Or maybe used a different alignment mode which requires a different procedure (like lifting the front end to adjust, which isn't necessary on our trucks)

Your caster is pretty low too. With that kind of lift in the front I wouldn't think you would lose that much range in adjustability so I would think it's still there. You want the reading on the driver's side to be a little less (about .5 degrees) than the other side to compensate for road crown without causing a pull on flat surfaces

 

My money is on loose cam bolts...

 

I’ll check with him about turn plate pins or if there is another reason why the camber might be actually more than the readout is showing.
Where it says vehicle, it says the stock tire size. Could that make a difference if the computer was dialed in to that setting?
Adjustability still there meaning that he should be able to get the caster above 2?

 

Do you mean that the cam bolts were not tightened enough so after I left it loosened it’s self up and moved?
It definitely looked like this right after it was done. from the eyeball test, it looked the same before and after the alignment was done. he said that factory spec wanted some camber.

 

Tire size doesn't change anything assuming they were all at proper pressure.

Yes, adjustability means he should be able to get over 2 degrees caster.

EDIT: Post a pic form the side when you get a chance and what springs do you have and how'd you come up with the 1.65" lift?