Alignment Specs (heeelp!)

-Preemptive "searched but couldn't find what I needed"-

I brought my truck into a tire/alignment shop last week to have the new wheels and tires mounted, balanced, aligned. When I got the truck back the camber was positive a few degrees. Not horrible, just enough to see by eye. I told the tech they needed to do it again. He said he can only set it to factory specs. :|

If I get him the numbers to set the truck to he can do it again. I won't be going back to this shop again down the road but for now I want to get this corrected without paying another shop.

Set up:
KO2 295/75/r16
SCS 16" -12mm wheels
Light Racing UCA at position D
Kings set to 2.5"

If someone here has a similar set up and can help me with numbers I'd really appreciate it.

 

Following

 

camber as close to 0 as possible
toe as close to 0 as possible
caster 2.5 or higher (I run 4)

and probably get a new alignment shop in the future

 

They can definitely do it, it's just that they're too lazy to get it at actual specs versus what's "within" specs. I have some postive camber as well but was "within specs" from my local firestone.

I made a thread a while back about this

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/factory-alignment-specs.485303/

And here is a thread with the official toyota tech manual with every single spec for alignment

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/2016-tacoma-service-manual-availability-pdf.485229/

 

Yeah, they lost my business for any future work. I was blown away by the conversation I had with the tech.

 

You will find it is not an uncommon conversation in the alignment shop game. Hopefully not a big deal to get this fixed for you, and there are good shops out there.

Just make sure to take the knowledge you gain here and use it to have the conversation before you give them the keys next time.

 

There's a really good shop in Burbank that I prefer going to since they specialize in off-road work. This time around it was a time crunch that brought me to the shop that was walking distance.

 

Here is my most recent. If it helps

 

you have no caster reading, what's up with that?

 

I do alignments where I work.. The alignment machines will be setup with specs for all vehicle and updated periodically. The factory specs will give you a range anything within that range shows up green Ideally you want to be centered within those specs.. When a certain vehicle has a side that is out of spec or is maxed sometimes you have to manipulate the opposite side to match to prevent vehicle from pulling with that said that shouldn't be the case with your truck.. The upper control arms you have would give you more than enough adjustment to set them either perfect as far as what the dealer calls for or set to your personal desire.. I forgot to mention dead center within factory specs is positive on camber

 

Camber pulls to the high side caster will pull to the low side in your case camber would be pulling the vehicle left. I cant see the caster angles but if your truck doesn't pull left then caster maybe lower on right side.
Ideally you want your camber set evenly with no camber split left to right and use caster to pull vehicle left since caster is not a wear angle. Also camber will typically pull twice as hard as caster ex.. a camber split of .4 to the left can be compensated by a caster split to the right of .8

 

My truck is stock and is not pulling in any direction. So the dealer should have zeroed these all out? It drives like a dream right now. Should I be concerned about the left rear toe?

 

Your LF camber spec is positive .6 dead center within the range of specs toyota recommends same with your toe angle. The rear is a solid rear axle and has know adjustments available. It's possible the head (sensor) on the LR could have slipped a bit and given a false reading causing to show that toe angle. If your not having any issues with it I wouldn't worry. How ever it does look like the dealer did not make any attempt to get it perfect seeing as they didn't adjust the RF camber angle. They did what we call a toe set 5-10min job if your quick. Many times if your busy and the customer does not have any complaints about a vehicle pulling and specs are in the green techs will not attempt to adjust caster or camber. I would imagine especially @ dealer where techs are flat rate

 

Where do guys come up with 2.5-3.0/0/0?

OP's wheel and tire combo adds 1" of positive scrub. This will set the wheels further back than stock when rolling; makes toe go out and camber go positive.

 

Sounds like someone didn't do their HW... Normal alignment shops just verify the alignment to factory specifications and adjust if out of specifications. Its up to the driver to specify a specifics alignment if need be. Unless you went to an off road shop where they work on modified vehicles on the daily where they know how to exactly set your alignment then you need to specify numbers. Sounds like the technician is willing to work with you to get the alignment you want.

On a side note how do the 295/75/16 fit? Any rubbing or clearance issues?

 

Any standard issue 100$ alignment from firestone or Schwab is going to be barely more than a "toe and go".. they will tell you they cant deviate from the factory specs , bla bla blah.. I tried Schwab one time, I dropped the truck off with no tire rub and it had tire rub when they were done (WTF!) and they told me it was normal.. find a shop that can think outside the box when it comes to alignment options. I found a place near me that does lots of weekend track racer stuff. For $280 they aligned the thrust angle of my rear axle gave me a little bit of negative camber( looks better and handles better in my opinion) and they still were able to get me between 1.5 and 2 degrees Castor at both sides..

 

Here's mine


I'm 285/75/16

 

l

exactly. i build and maintain relationships for this. I'm currently using a shop that specializes in P cars and autocross & race setup. they have the equipment but far more importantly the have the skills and knowledge. i was their first Toyota truck. my man over there was super excited to learn the deal so he studied up on his own and has been terrific to work with... he's done brilliant on all my vehicles, and only my wife's car is stock/unmodified. best service ever, but that's after a lot of research, looking around, and trial and error. finding a good one can be a needle in a haystack.

I'm currently running a very square and high caster setup according to my specs. going back on Friday to tweak the caster (currently 6.0deg R) and my guy is super excited to get it just right for me. i pay $99 per alignment but for this service would pay much more. he'll literally spend 3-4 hours and disassemble the front end if he needs to do it for the mission, which was the last visit. he's also fixed broken alignments from other shops. no substitute for skill and knowledge, and it is indeed hard to find.

 

Thank you for explaining. Really helpful information for the future.

 

The thrust angle.. did they shift the rear axle? most alignment machines I've seen are thrust angle alignments all it means is the machine will automatically give you the front toe reading based of the rear.. On trucks the rear axle is solid with no adjustments meaning the only thing they did was a alignment like they would on any other vehicle. unless the rear axle was shifted like when a centering pin breaks I doubt they did anything to the rear for the trust angle. If you live in the west schwab employees will work with you the key is proper communication prior to the alignment not just handing over the keys and expecting them to know exactly what you want.