Neaners

UPDATE:
Took it in for a second opinion. They checked it and confirmed .. I need to take it to a frame shop to have the frame "pulled" arrrg. they showed me how when you look at it from behind, on the drivers side, the wheel is slightly "tucked" in. on the passenger side, the wheel slightly bulges out. When I bought it a year ago, I guess I relied too much on the clean car fax report. the guy said the the drive shaft is actually slightly shifted to the side. Man, I almost cried. But, I am not going to cry over spilled milk. Just an excuse to buy a brand new truck! (no more used cars for me!) Can't say that I like the look so much of the new 4runners, but I am really leaning toward either a Tacoma or a tundra. nice to have an open bed truck with all the new "creature comforts" that are offered now.


BUT - all of a sudden it hit me this morning ... I just installed those new springs. It required completely dropping the rear drive shaft ... is it possible that it shifted or something while I was bolting it back on? I would like to hear what you guys think on this .....

new dilemma is... Do I tell my husband about this now that I have him on board about this new truck?! LMAO

ewong

If the reare springs are lift springs, the panhard rod will "pull" the axle to one side as the rod that used to be paralle is now no longer so.

All this does is shove the rear axle to one side.

This does NOT AFFECT FRONT END ALIGNMENT
(well - rear lift will affect caster, but not camber)

If in fact the frame were tweaked...

They should put the "laser strings" on all four wheels and SHOW you how far its out.

Who did the second opinion?

IMHO - I cnat see a frame being tweaked unless the truck was jumped or hit really hard.

WHen it jumped - typical damage is to spread the lower A arms apart...
Typically it makes too much neg camber.

If hit - you should be able to tell from the cowl area or tapping on the body etc... unless the work was top notch - in which case yer OK anyway.

Looking at the alignment numbers - it seems that they cant get the caster right...

again - I bet this is becuase they dont know HOW to adjust the caster on the IFS Topyota front ends (as I said - its NOT intuitive)

Neaners

It was just some local shop ... Discount Tire - I actually just had them check it. It was Firestone that "tried" (and charged me for it) to align it and said they were unable to.
The rear springs are definitely taller than the stock, but they are supposed to replace the stock.... No lift.

But yeah, I thought since it is a rear wheel drive, they have to align the rear. no?

Spanky

i got an idea... no more firestone

shugashaft

i got my lifted 2wd s10 blazer done at a firestone and got the lifetime warranty.. matter of fact i lowered the blazer first, drove around for a year and then lifted it and got it realighned again w/o a problem

Shoua

I work at Toyota and we lift, install big wheels and tires, and align a lot of brand new trucks with 0 miles on the odometer (Tacomas, Tundras, FJs). The lifts are basic 2" lifts, and alignment can be adjusted just fine. I've had my "raised" truck (hey, that DOES sound funny!) aligned at my workplace. It's lifted about 1&1/2" all around with negative offset rims and 32" tires. The tech barely got it to within specs, but it runs fine. It cost me about $80 (more or less). Try going to a more reputable place. Usually the service departments at the Toyota dealerships are pretty good, as they do have Toyota technicians working there.

CJM

Only the front gets aligned on a rear wheel drive vehicle.

RustBucket

iTrader: (1)

Here's another vote for finding a non-chain joint to do your alignments.

We have a place here in North Atlanta called Team 1, and the crew there is top notch. I had not had my truck aligned since I bought it two years ago, had been beating the crap out of it, lifted it, changed the t-bars, all that nonsense, and it took their guru 30 minutes extra, so the $75 alignment cost $100. But it's RIGHT.

littlerunner

agre with Shoua,just put OME 900 in rear & adjusted torsion in front.Service Manager at Toy dealer.will have one of the guys in the shop line it up.IFS Toys can be very confusing with their adjustments.Chain store likely just didn't know.Good Luck

Elvota

You really need to find a true alignment shop in your area. I would not consider Discount and upgrade from Firestone necessarily. And don't cry yet or sell the 4Runner just yet.... I don't believe you any closer to figuring this thing out.

I had Big-O "align" my IFS years back. It was terrible. Went through a set of 33's like butter. I learned a lot from that experience.

Ewong seems to really know his stuff. Perhaps he can give you a few questions to ask shops when you call around. Like what type of alignment technology they use, policy for lifted trucks... etc.

mehret

I worked at a chain store here on the east coast (STS Tire and Auto), and we never had a problem doing lifted or lowered vehicles. Again, it all comes down to the techs working in the shop. During my stay there, we had a group of knowledgable techs, and we never had a problem doing alignments on such vehicles. These days though, most places don't hire true mechanics, but rather "parts swappers", since most of the pay is based on commission. Most of the younger guys coming in don't take the time to learn the fundamentals. My advice to you is, as others have said, take it to a 4x4 shop where they work on these types of things regularly, or try to find a shop with an experienced mechanic (maybe an ASE master tech); someone who knows the ropes and has seen things like this.

ovrrdrive

As far as the alignment goes, I just put 36's on my truck and there is only one place in town that can do a 4 wheel computerized alignment on tires that big. It cost me $59 and the Iroks ride better than my Bridgestone Dueller AT's I ran previously.

If I can get 36's aligned right you know you just need to go to a better shop.

GV27

Take it to a real shop, get a real alignment, get a real diagnosis if they can't align it. It's laughable that a tire jockey is diagnosing your problem and prescribing a fix. Sorry, but it's even more laughable that you've decided to swear off used cars altogether and go out and blow 20 or 30 grand on a brand new truck on advice you got from a tire jockey at Discount!

1) Discount is a national chain but 2) that really doesn't matter nearly as much as the fact the place is called "Discount Tire". When you're having trouble with the suspension on your truck and one place has already told you they can't do it you're not looking for new tires and you're not looking to get it done at a discount! You're going to have to bite the bullet and take it to a specialist. Either a 4x4 specialist or an alignment/frame specialist or even just a plain Toyota specialist. I know people get this twisted logic in their head where somehow $400 each month on something new is cheaper than putting $400 into something old ONCE but you're going about this all wrong. There's probably something really simple wrong and you just need somebody who actually knows something about your truck to figure it out.

So don't swear off used cars in the future and instead swear off getting anything other than tire work done at a tire shop.

dijlop

i took my 2wd pu to a tires plus or something, got the lifetime of alignments for 180, and they said it didnt matter if i lifted it more, messed with it, whatever, theyd still honor it and do their best to align it. there was only one or two sections out of spec, and those were ratios of other measurments, and they were very close. altogether, im pretty durn happy with my deal. you take it in 10 times, 18 bucks an alignment, doesnt mean they are only gonna spend 18 bucks of effort trying to align it. they still do the job they are suppsoed to do. the guys out in the shop dont know im payin a tenth of what it normally costs. they just know they are gettin paid 12 bucks an hour to work on my truck.

leebee

im surprised no one has posted the link to the alignment write-up in the forum. i had it in my favourites section but lost it when my puter went down.

use the search and you will find out how to do it yourself, you will only be out the time it takes. if you have done the work on your truck yourself, springs etc, doing the alignment will be within your realm of experience.

lee

jminz

Speaking of big 0 and tire chains... I took my 00' Runner to Big O to get a rotate/balance, and alignment. Well, I've taken it back 3 times, and my tires still aren't balanced, and my rig still pulls to the left. And during my last visit they told me that my brand new tires could not be balanced, and that they were defective. BS! I think they told me that just because I didn't buy the tires from them.

Also, I have 99' springs on my 00', would it make a difference if they set the alignment to 00' specs since the 99' springs sit higher? I don't know much about alignments, and didn't know if the specs differ from 99 to 00. Also, i realize that this isn't the 3rd gen board, but I was just browsing the new posts and thought you all might know.

FirstGenTankota

Theres no way you can really shift the driveline during removal or assembly. Being a rotating member, if anything gets out of wack, it will let you know for sure.

I tried to get my truck aligned at some chain tire and brake shop (dont rember the name now) but they told me that their machines were too high-tech to do my truck because of the leafs and the lift. I do my own now, I guess a tape measure is low-tech enough for my old truck.

dcg9381

I learned that lesson on my 1981.
$100 allignment meant they set the toe, cause that's all you can adjust without significant work.

LittleSilver113

Its because your torsion bars are cranked down. It changes the stock suspension geometry. Get the factory specs for then and set the sag on your front suspension. I had the same thing happen on 2 different IFS trucks. Besides with the bars cranked they ride and drive like crap.

ewong

I doubt the OP will attempt to do this... but i helps to under stand HOW and WHAT an alignment is - even if you don't do it yourself (it gives one some respect for the tech that is doing it)

BTW - I tried doing it once - I spent a few hours getting nowhere, but it really gave me a VERY good understanding of what an alignment is and isn't.

https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f116...t-pics-115273/

In case you thing that the link above is a little low tech... its the same thing that the expensive machines do - just that they do things like make jigs to fit wheels so that the initial setup on multiple different cars is easier.

If you have a race car its even easier as they often have a threaded insert front and back that a custom pre-made bar is bolted to.
This allows the bar to hold the string - so that all that needs to be done is put the car on the scales/turnplates - bolt on the bars, pull the string (notches are pre made in the bars) and measure the rims. Usually the tech log book will already have the base lines... so they just adjust to an offset.