Thoughts on my alignment?

so i did a 2” lift on the front so far. took it for alignment and this is what i got. i do have from looking at the truck a bunch of positive camber. can anyone give me an idea if this looks ok. sorry if the pic sucks. best i could get. thanks

 

No pic

 

I'd say take it to a good alignment shop next time. These guys are just lazy and obviously don't know what they're doing. But it's also incumbent on you to communicate to them what numbers you need. These are not them.

 

what do good numbers look like so i can tell them. thanks for your reply

 

do you have aftermarket upper control arms? camber and caster are both pretty off; you're probably getting pulled to one direction no?

 

honestly i don’t. stock control arms

 

you should have 0 toe 0 camber and Im pretty sure you can max caster at 2.5ish. most shops will just get it in the green and kick it out which is what im seeing here.

 

take it to an offroad specialist who can do alignments; you'd want 0 camber and even positive caster

 

Assuming you have stock tires:

Ideal camber should be zero or a bit negative if you like to corner or take turns fast.

Ideal caster would be 2.1 positive should be able to get that with the stock UCAs.

 

These are the specs out of the manual. Bit of a window to aim for really.

 

• ome and 885s in front
• stock ucas
• 265/75/16s

With my camber and toe at 0, 1 degree was the most they could get for caster.

 

yes 2657016

 

yap. -0.5* negative camber at ride height (top of tires tilled in) is great for stability when driving aggressively. Positive +2-5* caster is also great at ride height (tendency to snap steering wheel back to center).

Notice how I said "ride height". As your suspension cycles up, or down, these camber and caster values change (hopefully for the better). For A arm trucks your camber should go more negative maybe even -5-7* (tire tuckes into fenders at top) when you compress the suspension which helps a lot in cornering (the side that compresses in a turn). Also you will gain more positive +caster as you compress the suspension which helps keep steering tight and not want to "wander" (good thing). When your suspension drops out you will also have more negative camber - (good thing) yet your caster will do the opposite of what it does on compression and go into the "negative" (loose steering, less stable). Unfortunately, no way around this due to how A arms cycle and basic laws of geometry.

My point is: when you bros "lift" your truck, you might not have all the great benefits of camber/caster change as you compress or droop your suspensions as toyota intended. Instead you might actually have the camber become more unstable as it compresses (say in a corner). The remedy is redesigning the suspension geometry to suit the new ride height (after lift) by aftermarket upper arms. So don't be upset the alignment tech can't make it perfect with your stock upper arms..

read : https://www.turnology.com/features/chassis-geometry-101-engineering-speed/

I've built two LT suspensions from scratch (I-beam and A-arm) and alignment/suspension geometry makes a huge difference in handling and performance.

 

i plan on lifting the rear an inch in a week. should i just wait on taking to the alignment shop till i do the rear? thanks

 

yes, wait. the rear will affect the front.

 

i drive 20 miles a day. think i’ll be ok for a week or so? sorry for the all the questions but thanks a bunch

 

Your choice. pay for 2 alignments or just deal with a weeks worth of odd wear on a tire.

 

Wait on doing any adjustments until doing the rear and maybe even give it a few miles to settle. With those numbers, I wouldn't be concerned with tire wear for a couple hundred miles.

With a stock upper and lower control arm, camber and caster are adjusted via the lower control arm bolts+washers (eccentric cams shift the bolt forward or back depending on which direction the long axis of the eccentric faces). If you can take and post pictures of the eccentrics (oval shaped washers) on both lower control arms, we could let you know if you are maxed out on adjustments.

If you know you are not maxed out on the adjustments and take it back to the same shop, they have no excuse to leave camber and caster the same. If they don't try, take your money to an off road shop that does lifted alignments more frequently.

*Make sure to note the side and position (driver/passenger fore/aft) of the eccentrics if you post pictures.

 

I like your style!
Most want to ignore all those icky facts and painful corrections. This is why some lifts/installs are thousand of dollars, and some six pack priced.