Was told my REAR AXEL HAS SHIFTED. HOW CAN I FIX THIS?

Took my 2021 OR to Firestone for an alignment, husbo said he thought it was tracking to the side in the rear and Firestone said my axel has shifted. Can someone help me understand what has happened and how do I fix it? tia

 

Did firestone give you an alignment sheet? It should show the rear as well as the front.

Was any work done recently? Rear leaf/shock upgrades? U-bolt flip? Bump stops?

 

Need more information. Shifted which way? The rear axle attaches to the leaf springs so if it were shifted left or right might have a bent leaf spring or were it connects to the frame. Not sure id have to see the truck.

 

I’d suggest taking it somewhere else lol. Not saying that Firestone is bad… they just try and sell things like other places. As far as I know, there is no adjustment for the rear axle. Did they give you an alignment sheet? Maybe try the dealer and see what they say. Unless you lifted/modded nothing should have changed.

 

The leaf springs sit on the spring perches on your rear axle - there is a small hole on the spring perch that the center bolt through the middle of the leaf packs rests in. If the u-bolts worked themselves loose then the leaf packs could have moved off the spring perch slightly, which would make the rear axle skew more to one side.

If both leaf packs are firmly centered in the spring perches then most likely something got bent. Assuming Firestone is correct anyway. I wouldn't put a whole lot of faith in their word TBH without a second opinion from a reputable shop.

 

Maybe the bed is out of alignment which is a common issue and the tech at Firestone thought the rear axle is offset to one side.

 

I'd put money on that for sure!

 

I had my previous truck take a hard rear end hit and it did throw the axle out of alignment. There is a pin on the leaf pack that sits in a hole on the leaf spring perch. Depending on the truck it is surprising how much movement you can get. Luckily I took it to a good alignment shop. He loosened the u bolts and jigged the axle till it lined up on the machine and truck started going on a straight line again. I never noticed it until driving on a snowy street and saw my rear wheel tracks were about an inch over from the front end

 

I wouldn't even take my sister's car to, Strippy Lube, Firestone or Midas.

Those places are shady

 

DID YOU TRY UNSHIFTING IT?

 

If your profile stated ToyTec lift included rear leaf springs, odds are high the installer created the problem, and should be the one to fix it.

If the rear springs have not been touched, check the bed alignment to the cab as @shakerhood suggests.

 

For me I think my axle favors the passenger side, I have more wheel poke on passenger rear and when looking at the bed to cab lines it’s looks like it might be slightly off center but in the opposite direction so if I were to adjust the bed center it would make passenger rear worse. Is it possible the axle can be adjusted left to right or is it set as is? If no adjustments can be made at all then I likely have my cab slightly off

 

Seconded. I've never had a good experience at a Firestone.

 

Made the mistake of having them do a simple oil change. A couple of days later I opened the hood to do something and there was the oil cap sitting on top of the engine. They couldn't even remember to put it back on after filling it up......

 

You won’t say it, I’ll say it, Firestone is bad.

 

DUH! That's the first thing I did. What a dumb question!

 

Are you kidding??!!

 

I had all the stuff done to it. And then I beat the poop out of it in Moab and the sand dunes lately.

 

Not sure. Dropped it off this morning and have been at work all day. Maybe when we pick it up I will have that info.

 

I modded. its lifted.