I've found that I've been in need of suspension alignments quite often as of late, even after very mild wheeling trips. Is this normal for you guys? Or am I just in need of a solid front axle?

 

Not uncommon.

Search on here to see how to do it yourself or buy a "time based" alignment, like 1 yr, 3 yr, etc

 

Or lifetime and go after wheeling

 

Lifetime? That'd be cool, but I doubt the techs there will like aligning my truck every weekend. Ha ha. They'll probably half-ass it after a while.

One of my co-workers told me that I just wheel too much and that I need a solid axle. I agree, but can't afford it right now.

 

my friend has IFS and he hasnt done an alignment in a couple years and it still tracks straight and tires wear evenly.

 

The solid axle will do the same thing maybe not as fast but it will. I think you should do a SAS for the travel and strenth if anything. As for the Lifetime its so true i know alot of people in shops and have heard about people half assing work to constant repeat customers that would go in all the time for things like that

 

wouldn't an IFS truss (like the sonoran steel unit) help?

 

just keep an eye on your idler arm.. if the bushings wear a little more each time you wheel, your alignment gets a little more f-ed up each time..
don't buy the aftermarket idler arms, the bushings are too soft.. buy the toyota bushings & dust boot and rebuild the factory unit yourself, or buy the manganese bronze bushings.. an idler arm gusset from downey helps too.
also, maybe the guy doin your alignment isn't torqing down your control arm nuts tight enough.. they need to be like 165 ft lbs or something like that.. torque those bastards down, keep an eye on the idler arm, and you'll be good.. i wheel hard & often, and i rarely need an alignment.

 

Well, the guys doing my alignment are my co-workers (I work at the Toyota dealership in the service dept). They're certified Toyota technicians with 20+ years of working on Toyotas. So I trust they know what they're doing.

And yes, I do need a truss. I think it would greatly help. I'm thinking of building it in welding class. Maybe when school starts again.

 

^ yes, i was curious because i just found a wicked nice piece of angled steel. it's probably a half inch thick, and just long enough for me to make an IFS brace out of. i'll post pics if i ever get around to making it...

 

I do my own alignment whenever I mess with my suspension, which is often.