Anyone here an alignment tech? Need Help

I have another thread about my alignment but wanted to reach out and see if anyone here is an alignment guy or tech and can help me.

I have a 2019 TRD OR w 6k miles. I just had an eibach pro lift, icon AAL and SPC control arms installed. I took the truck in to get an alignment and I am concerned with the SAI and included angle. My steering return to center feels off. The wheel doesn’t want to return to center all the way.

the research I have done indicates something is bent if the SAI is outside of spec but i haven’t been off-road and my truck has 6k miles.

was something damaged during my installation or my alignment?

Did I just have a bad alignment and a better shop can fix it? Is this something more serious? Any advise is welcome.

 

Considering what you've done with lift and control arms I would find a local 4x4 shop who either does alignments or who they recommend. I do not like those numbers at all but I'm a dealer tech so I don't know what the control arms might change the geometry to not use factory specs anymore.

 

Yes I agree! All my research says that something is bent if the SAI is out of spec but like you said maybe the after market control arms change things.

 

Like I said in your other thread, the SAI and included angle changed quite a bit during the alignment.
There wasn't enough camber change on the passenger side to account for the difference in included angle; it's all in the SAI.

The reason I suggested taking your alignment sheet to a new tech is to see if your alignment changes between now and then. This might point to something being loose.

 

understood. Just trying to get as much info as I can. I’m going to be super upset if during the alignment something was bent or messed up.

I spent a lot of money getting this lift and tires ect so it’s really concerning me.

 

I would think it's pretty unlikely something was bent/messed up during the alignment itself, maybe during install or new parts out the box but I use a 5 foot prybar on alignments semi regularly and have no reason to believe I've ever bent something.
Reason for 5 foot prybar is when moving subframe to adjust camber/caster. Would not apply to trucks I have seen since they use control arms.

 

Those are certainly lousy numbers that would lead to the feeling you are getting.

Ask the tech at the next place you go to to start with max caster that is equal side to side, then set camber, then toe.

I'm not a tech, but learned a little having my SCCA ride set up.

Yes, we are talking truck here, but its still a double wishbone coil over shock IFS, so actually very similar.

 

You are worrying yourself about nothing. SAI and included angles are not adjustable. Well technically not something you adjust for, but with you adjustable uppers you possibly could, but you would likely spend hours adjusting for really no gain.

Your alignment is fine. Could it be better? Yes, but you wouldn't notice so it really isn't worth spending more money. It shouldn't pull since your caster is within 1 degree and if you have lower on one side, you want it on the driver side. I like camber to be close to zero, but you are within spec. Toe is positive as it should be so your tires won't wear.

 

Thank for the info! You are correct the truck tracks pretty strait with a slight pull to account for road crown and I’m fine with that. The issue is my steering wheel isn’t returning to center after a turn very well. It returns to center but it’s off about 15°. It should be returning to center all the way. That’s the issue that’s bothering me

 

If your steering wheel isn't straight, that is definitively something you should take it back for. Keep in mind that various road conditions could make your wheel appear to be not centered.

 

The wheel is straight. You know how I’f you make a turn and you let the wheel slide in your hands it comes back to the center position. Mines not coming back all the way and that’s bc my SAI is out of spec. It went from 7.9 to 9.6 during the alignment on the passenger side.

 

Did you get new wheels and tires as part of the lift? I'm thinking you might be over thinking this and are being unnecessarily alarmed by a made up angle that the manufacturer uses SAI as a reference angle and nothing more. People see that it shows up red and will often think that there is something wrong. It isn't uncommon for that to happen so please don't think that I am insulting you. Hell, it happened to me with brakes that I swore were soft and spent days replacing parts until someone pointed out that it is just the way it is. After driving a few weeks, I adapted to it and life moved on. You have made some substantial modifications to your truck. It won't ride like it did stock, and I'm just not seeing anything in your specs that any tech could improve.

 

Yes I did! I got one size up falcon wildpeaks so they are heavier. Maybe I am being picky but I’m still getting it checked at another shop to make sure everything is good.

 

Nothing wrong with getting it checked somewhere else. There is always the possibility that they machine at the place that you initially went hadn't been calibrated recently. Don't be alarmed if the numbers are slightly different at the new place. They will never be exactly the same even on the same machine.

 

Post 7, line 2.

 

Bill, I would typically agree with your point, but he has adjustable upper control arms which changes the process a bit. Ideally to keep the tire away from the cab mount you max caster on the lowers then bring it down with the upper. This keeps the wheel as far forward as possible. When you go back to adjust camber, caster will change slightly because you are using the eccentric cams on the lower control arms. I think you can also adjust camber with the SPC UCAs, but I'm not sure. It looks like an eccentric adjustment.

 

Think I figured this out.

So on a double wishbone like the Tacoma the SAI angle is measured through upper and lower ball joints to the middle of the tire/pavement. I think they reason my SAI is out of spec is because the upper ball joint on the spc control arm is adjusted out to gain castor. This moves the upper ball joint throwing off SAI.

On a typical vehicle the SAI is non adjustable because the balls joints are in a fixed location but with these control arms when you adjust the upper ballpoint that will in fact change SAI.

can anyone confirm this to be true?

 

I’m still going in to a different alignment shop to get it checked Tuesday but I think I figure it out. Look at my above post ^

 

I run the same suspension setup aside from a different leaf in the back. They did you no favors with all the adjustability the SPCs offer. I'll try to snap a pic of my sheet when I did a touch up on Thursday to my truck.
Camber. +.06
Caster. +5.2X (dont remember exact) i have small split here
Toe .10 The trucks seem to drive best with toe in between .08 - .10. Does not wear the tires unevenly. I also do my alignments with driver weight in the truck as the numbers change so drastically between loaded and unloaded.

I dont even pay attention to SAI on my truck because of the uper arms. Again it will change with load in the truck too from looking completely trashed to almost perfect just from driver weight