sexasomniac

WRONG!!!! So I drop my truck off yesterday cause my Ranchos just came in. Get a call about 10 min after leaving saying he needs to replace the idler arm, I tell him to go ahead cause I've seen enough posts on here about it even though I know how they can try to sucker you with other things. I go to pick up my 4runner today getting more and more excited as time goes by. So I end up getting there and he tells me he can't get a true alignment cause my frame is bent!?!?!?! WTF! He said it also doesn't help that I've lifted the rear (coil spacers) much more than the front (rear is 1" higher, almost invisible to the naked eye). Anyways, I told him I was thinking of doing BJ spacers and he said he will not touch my truck again if I put those on. I'm feeling a little bit discouraged and thinking I might turn this into a trail rig and picking up something else off craigslist for daily driving.

Just looking for some input/advice as well as vent a little.

Thanks guys.

tman12345

go somewhere else

mrmatson

I have to agree, there's always another shop.

a4runnerfreak

X3!!! Go to an off-road shop, they can and will do it. The rear lift has lil and/or no effect on a front end alignment.

Junkers88

Go somewhere else, that guy is a chode.

I went through a similar situation when I did my rear lift and BJ spacers and the shop wanted to replace wheel bearings, ilder arm, etc and didn't call to tell me this until it had been sitting in the parking lot for several hours. I took the rig right down the road to a different place and had it done in 30 minutes.

Matt16

Why not do the alignment yourself, I aligned my truck, and it drives really nice and there's no funny tire wear after a month.


Rear lift does noticeably affect the front caster angle.

GSGALLANT

Not true. If the rear is much higher than the front (say 1.5"-2" or so), it makes it very hard to get both caster and camber in spec, and you usually end up near the very edges of the acceptable range (either just inside or just outside the range). If both can't be brought into spec, it is preferable to end up with camber in spec (because it affects tire wear), and caster just outside of spec (because it doesn't affect tire wear) instead of the other way around.

sexasomniac

Yeah, I may just find somewhere else to go. The guy was saying that bj spacers snap off or some BS. I have NEVER in months of reading on this and other forums heard of such a thing unless he was talking about the bj itself. He then gave me some BS about how they used to sell Tacoma lift kits like that but are now discontinued.

Anyone have any idea how much it would cost to get a frame straightened? I can't imagine it is that bad if they didn't notice when I got my steering box replaced and if he can still do some kind of alignment on it. I've been researching, looks like guys are paying about $300ish?

EDIT: I've thought about doing a 'driveway alignment' as well but he said my cam bolts on one side are already maxed out... I also cranked the t-bars just a bit to level it more with the rear so I didn't have such a noticable rake and could not figure out why the drivers side was already maxed out... well now i know, grrrrrrrrrrrrr.

sexasomniac

Any other suggestions guys?

abecedarian

bhj spacers, yadda yadday yadd duH?

put everyting in the truck you think you'll carry all time...

give yourself some room to put in and take out...

get the fokker aligned.

DO NOT TELL THE SHOP the truck has any sort of lift..

iamsuperbleeder

wow, the front of my 91 PU looks just like that illistration!

minus my lights...

scuba

Tell that guy to quit being a poon.

sexasomniac

Well here's a recent picture of said 4runner...

Matt16

Sod off, I bet you don't actually have a tie fighter in your wheel hub

89whitetoyota

hahahahahaha......I wish my front fenders were blemish free like that also, and my paint was that white again.

sexasomniac

Notice the enemy across the street?

Yeah, there's a few dents in her but she's still pretty much straight. You can bet there will be some more dents soon enough... possibly painting her this summer.

JonnyBoy

Where is the frame bent? When I went to get mine aligned they found that the brackets that hold the lower control arms were bent in. If that's what it was, I don't remember paying more than $150, and I think that was with an outer tie rod replaced and an alignment.

Put your bj spacers on and go to a frame shop, when they fix your frame they'll align it too.
They should also know how to set the caster/camber and such and not think an alignment is only adjusting the tie rods for toe.

sexasomniac

Thanks for the tip. I'll have to get under the car and see if I can't find anything funny. If I don't suspect anything I'll just ask the looney that did the alignment if he can tell me what area. He did also mumble something about my control arms at that time I wasn't really listening anymore...

tacomarich

[quote=tacomarich;51078132]I have an 04 tacoma trd and think my front frame is bent. Had dealer replace steering gear. They wrote-needs frame pull at body shop, to come into factory specs. Aligned best as possible. L/F Camber would not come into factory specs. I have to find out what is bent, or if anything is bent? Was told by a tire shop, the left inner tie rod needs replacement, which should have been replaced as well.

It's a disappointment because I'm not sure if they are feeding me a crock of lies? The steering seems much tighter now but the alignment still seems a little off. No pulling anymore to the right, unless, driving on an uneven road. The wheel seems, a bit to the left when going straight. So I'm wondering if that has to do with the l/f chamber not being aligned to factory specs?

Did you ever find what was bent on your frame? Did you get it fixed? I am sick of dealing with dealers. I always get a different answer from all of them. Like, oh it's normal or no that's not a problem here. Or, they all do that.

sexasomniac

I haven't checked my frame yet but I figure if they can get my alignment almost within spec it can't be too bad. My steering wheel is pulling to the left a little but I might try to mess with the torsion bars a little and see if I can't get it even out, one side is like 1/2" off over the other side. I did find a frame shop about half hour from here that does free estimates, I just need to find time to drive out there. I'd be so embarrassed if something else was bent that wasn't the frame. I just have a hard time believing my frame is bent and I'm just finding this out now!?!? Whatever, well hang in there man, hope you get your problem fixed.