Truck pulls right... after proper alignment

As the title states my 02 DBL Cab 4x4 pulls right at all speeds after getting an alignment. I bought a lifetime alignment from Firestone about 7 months ago. I replaced the front suspension to include inner and outer tie rods about 2 months ago. I had it aligned the following day. The truck wasn't too bad but I was waiting for all of the new components to "settle" before I bitched about it. I took it back in because the right front was showing a little wear on the outer edge, too much positive camber. After they messed with it for 2 days they said it was aligned perfectly but still pulls to the right, i.e. I have to hold the steering wheel about 10* to the left. If I let go of the wheel at 45 mph I have to grab it in less than a second to keep it on the road. They had no answer as to what the problem could be. That's where you guys come in. I swapped the front tires (each properly inflated) to eliminate the possibility of radial pull. It still pulls right. I drove the truck to a large parking lot and from a stop with the steering wheel cranked all the way to the left and accelerating, the truck straightens out on its own. With the wheel cranked all the way right, it will do circles and never correct with out my input. I replaced the P/S pump because it was whining about 5 months ago. It still whines. I suspect that my rack is shot, but hopefully one of the many experts on here can point me in the right direction. Below is the final printout of the alignment.

 

What are your rear toe angles? (Not adjustable but a mechanic can bias the front toe to compensate)

Check your lower ball joints for play

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tqw85L_sMgE

Check your lower control arm inboard bushings for play

 

The bushings are good, I checked them during the front suspension job but didn't replace them. I had new ones ready to go in but they were still good and not worth pulling the rack to remove the rear ones. The lower and upper ball joints are good. Ball joints were replaced with the front suspension job. Thanks for your input.

 

The steering rack is centered? (tie rods showing the same number of threads when wheels are straight ahead)

Airbag light isn't on? (which would otherwise indicate clockspring failure)

 

No airbag light, rack is centered

 

perhaps their machine is out of calibration.

last time I went to firestone for an alignment they set it to drift to the right after you let go of the wheel and told me that was how its supposed to be so if you fall asleep at the wheel you don't drift into oncoming traffic. its BS, but they insisted it was right so I went over to walmart and had them set it correctly to drive straight and true.

I never will use firestone again. later on I learned their machine was not calibrated regularly and there is no such thing as setting it to drift to the right on purpose for safety

go to another shop and have your alignment done correctly

 

OP
You said "after getting an alignment". That seems to be a clue to me. Don't assume that an alignment shop knows what they are talking about or are altogether truthful. Frankly I get suspicious when I see numbers exactly the same from side to side. Maybe try another shop.
I would doubt the rack would cause "pulling" but stranger things have happened. Jack the front wheels off the ground and cycle the steering from lock to lock (engine running) and check for any inconsistencies including changes in the pump sound.
Slide the pass side rack boot back and inspect the rack shaft for any signs of trauma, rust pitting or scratches. That portion of the shaft is "inside" the rack when you turn right and might be binding but that kind of damage usually results in leaks.

 

I had that issues with my old lowered 98 and it turned out to be my tires was the issue.

 

Could be a few things. Whst kind of roads are you driving on? Most roads are cambered right to allow water from the rain fall right and into sewage systems.

Another thing im noticing is that your caster is the same spec on both sides. Ideally you want to have the caster a degree or two higher on the drivers side to allow it to combat the camber of the road.

Another issue you could be having is tire pull from the actual tires themselves. A quick cross rotation will tell you if that is the issue or not.

If the wheel is cocked over one way slightly that could be due to incorrect steering wheel alignment, but the toe is fine as the specs read. Not an issue if the toe is correct as it reads. Rather a minor annoyance. Just spitballing ideas here.

I have pull and stopped battling alignment a long time ago. Its all correct, but the caster is higher on the passenger side and I don't feel like correcting it out of sheer laziness, the AT tires don't help either, so I just let it be and deal with it. Alignment on Tacoma's are rather difficult to get straight in terms of getting the vehicle to track straight and have the steering wheel to line up straight as well.

 

Thanks for all the responses. My truck doesn't leak at all, so my suspicions about the rack may be unfounded. I will take it into another Firestone and have them check it. It won't cost me anything since I have a lifetime warranty on it. I'll report back since this is the cheapest/easiest course of action.

 

As mentioned above most competent alignment techs will add a castor split, or slight difference in the castor to make it ever so slightly pull to the left to compensate for the crown in the road. If castor is the same on both sides then with most roads sloping to the right the vehicle will follow the slope and pull to the right. This is where id start if there's no obvious other signs.

 

just throwing this out there but you could take it to, OMG dare I say, a Toyota facility. I'm not saying they all know everything but a lifetime warranty isn't worth crap if they can't fix a problem. You waste more time and money getting to them to "find a fix" in the end.

I've never had an alignment but I do need one (not really bad just a little loose), however I've never pulled to either side or had to fight to keep it straight. with 136k on the odo if I let the wheel go it stays straight unless the crown is more prominent.

 

OMG dare I say a guy with 136k and never had an alignment probably shouldn't be advising on alignments?

OMG. I dared!


How is that for a smartass post? Not sure why you were compelled to make one, but hey. We are funny and cool.

 

I was making a point that my truck still drives straight after 136k and a few sets of tires. I should have said I'll get one on the next to be sure it's still good.

if his keeps pulling to the right then take it somewhere more competent to get it done, cause apparently Firestone isn't.

and to me it wasn't smart-ass, just an observation. so, sorry if it offended you James. I do my own maintenance and don't recommend the "stealerships" but when all else fails

 

So you've never left pavement?

I get an alignment after every desert trip.

 

The last time I was at the "stealership" I was asked to leave because the POS behind the counter wouldn't even attempt to look up a part if I didn't give him my VIN. They also have me $h!+ because of my lift and non OEM parts. So I refuse to back to that one. I'm in the military so I move alot and the lifetime at a national chain appealed to me at the time. The truck is at another Firestone right now and they seem to have a better grasp of how to make it work. We'll see...

 

Caster compensation for road crown is largely an artifact from the past. It is a real thing and still relevant to some vehicles/drivers/roads. The trend today with modern steering geometries is no intentional bias for road crown. Still, there are some vehicles/drivers that like it.
I have found that 1st gen Tacos with sufficient equal caster will minimize the tendency to drive off the crown for the most part. Throwing a "degree or two" at the issue is fantasy. When road crown correction is done it's is around a half a degree or less. Toyota's spec for caster difference is half a degree or less with no mention of favoring one side or the other.
When I align a 1st gen I shoot for equal and as much caster as possible, lifted or not. Only with certain brands of aftermarket upper arms is too much caster possible and that's really driver preference. In fact with 1st gens you can start with the rear cams maxed "out" (cam dial pointing in) and then solve for camber while maintaining equal caster.

 

Lots of folks on here use Firestone lifetime alignment and have no issues. Others have a bad experience with one location and go to another and everything is great, others still end up getting refunded because the techs can't align their truck for whatever reason and they go elsewhere.

Point being, you're fine. Hopefully they'll get it squared away for you but don't think you have to go to a dealership for a proper alignment.

Thanks for your service!

 

I don't get offended. Alignments should be done at least annually, and see my above post re: Firestone lifetime alignments.

 

I've had 2 alignmets in 25 years, not counting when ball joints wwre replaced. On road, off road, about 20k miles a year. If it aint broke...