Truck jerking side to side when driving

I've been dealing with this problem for quite some time now. When I am driving my 2014 pre-runner trd sport (at any speed) it is hard to keep straight. With any imperfections on the road my truck hits them and it jerks in the direction of the tire that hits (to the left or right). It also seems as if I am drifting as I turn and have noticed my turning radius is more wider than normal (almost clipped a car turning into a p-lot). It also looks as if my front tires are angled outward which brought me to it possibly being an alignment issue.
I've taken it to get an alignment multiple times and by multiple shops and I replaced all 4 shocks/struts and still the same. The shop had no answer for me but "its a truck, it always drives more rough than a car does".... I'm not an idiot and have had the truck for some time so I know my truck.
It does drive smoother over any imperfections on the road since changing the shocks/struts but it still jerks and still feeling the drifting sensation.
I attached the latest alignment done on my truck.
Any help will be greatly appreciated.

 

up the caster if you can

 

Your caster isn't even in oem spec. it should atleast be around 2.5

 

OP, I agree with the guys above ^^^^ about caster being too low.

Make sure the bushings/ball joints are not bad on both the upper and lower control arms.

Also, just thinking out loud here, sounds like you may have some bump steer going on. Hard to say for sure without seeing but try measuring the exposed threads on the tie rods next to jam nut of the tie rod ends. They need to be even, the factory spec allows for only 1 thread difference (1.5mm).

 

Sounds like 'tramlining' when driving and it jerks with imperfections in the road. Thats a caster issue.

 

Judging by the fact caster is red in that sheet, it seems that maybe the caster isn't able to be adjusted to spec for some reason, did the alignment guys mention anything? Maybe give them a call.

 

@Taco'09 How do you check to see if your bushings/ball joints are any good?
@Yukon DoIt Alignment guys had nothing useful to tell me other than "thats as good as we can get it". I will find another alignment shop and see what they say and I will mention the caster and the spec it should be at.

 

So what suspension mods do you have?

 

no mods, all stock.

 

Find a new shop.

1) that alignment is wrong. If that's all they can do, they should tell you why. In fact, a good shop will examine the front end and tell you in advance that it can't be aligned until parts that are worn or damaged have been replaced.

2) how many miles on truck?

3) has it been jumped or wrecked?

 

I definitely agree with you on these alignment shops I've already dealt with. It's like they don't like money. I probably would have dropped whatever to fix it. lol.
Truck has 139,000.
Has not been wrecked but I did let my son use my truck one day and he said he jumped a curb he couldn't avoid (I only believe the facts from a 19yr old) and hit it pretty hard. After that it was aligned and drove fine for quite awhile, at least the next 30-40,000 miles, and then it slowly started to become an issue and now its so bad I actually get a little nervous on highways trying to stay in my lane.

 

I'm gonna venture a guess that you've got seized adjusters on the LCAs. The bolts are a known issue with these trucks.

The only way to know for sure imo, is to loosen the adjuster bolts and try pushing them out. Grab a sharpie and mark the cams first so you can put them back to the they were.

I went to a shop and they set me up with a toe and go alignment. I said no. Fix it. They couldn't and ended up bending a tab that holds the cam in place. Did they tell me the bolt was seized? Of course not.

New LCAs, OEM hardware, and TC alignment tabs. Several sawzall blades later, and almost as many hours later they were replaced. Those OEM bolts are hard AF!

Use Diablo or Milwaukee torch carbide toothed blades. The money spent on blades directly translates to time spent cutting...

Good luck.

 

The advice you are seeing is correct. Problem is you are experiencing, any little bump will steer the truck. That is because of the caster setting is too low. That gets adjusted on a stock truck with no mods by the lower control area cam bolts where the control arm meets the frame. If they can't adjust that its because the bolts are siezed due to corrosion. The alignment shop should have been able to diagnose that and tell you. Also they should check all your ball joint play ahead of any alignment. Its money in their pocket if they can find repairs needed. Find a better shop that knows what they are doing, perhaps one where they do repairs as well, and do not have high school kids running the machines.

 

@VE7OSR I will definitely not be taking my truck to the same crap shops and will be looking for a credible one.
@Larzzzz Is this something I could diagnose on my own since I don't trust these shops anymore?
Thank you guys for all the help.

 

Yes.... Do it with the wheel off of the ground. And then retighten everything with the wheel on the ground.

 

Start soaking those cam bolts in PB Blaster, douse them really good every day for 3-4 days, and letting it soak in overnight. I got mine to break free that way.

 

From the layout of the alignment settings in your first post it would appear that the alignment machine was possibly one made by Hunter Engineering. If so, a lot of those machines have software loaded in them to also check the diagnostic angles of SAI and the Included Angle.
SAI stands for steering axis inclination and Included Angle is the SAI plus camber.

Having these angles can help assess if something is bent, like the spindle. Very useful information particularly if a curb was involved.....

What is neat is all the tech usually has to do is push a button to show them on the screen and on the printout. No additional work is needed.

If this were my truck I would do these:

1. Call Hunter Engineering and ask for the field service tech is in your area. Then call the field tech for a couple of recommendations on capable alignment shops.
What I like doing is framing the question in a manner such as "who would you take your personal car to?"
And are they known to be customer friendly?

2. Have the shop set the sensors on all 4 wheels to read specs. Make sure SAI and Included Angles are shown for the front wheels.

3. If SAI and Included Angles suggest a problem, bent parts first need replaced.
The front wheel spindle is a weak link and often takes damage, depending on severity of the hit. A bent spindle will show up in the SAI.
Other components such as the tie rods should also be inspected.

4. I would almost bet the lower cams are frozen. My 2014 had two out of four cams frozen at about 5 months following its build. I had to cut them off and replace the cams.

5. If the alignment cams are frozen, I would ask the tech to not try and free them by going gorilla in their rotation as frequently this ruins the alignment fences (alignment tabs) next to the cam eccentrics. If the cams need replaced, and the cam tabs can be salvaged, at minimum I would run a weld bead next to the tabs or replace the fences with aftermarket, like the Total Chaos product.

6. Make sure the tech checks the ball joints and control arm bushings, upper and lower, on both sides. If loose or worn, it may be best to replace control arms. For the lowers LCAs I like the OEM for longevity. For the uppers, there are many recommendations. If you want to stay OEM, I have a set of relatively new UCAs.