Well, I went today to get the alingment at a local Tires Plus and ended up spending 5 angry hours there. After 3 attempts on the allingment rack my steering wheel was still crooked and they couldn't get the caster in spec or anywhere near and several other things . They said since i was lifted w/big tires they couldn't do it, (btw. i'm lifted on fabtech 3.5" coilovers and running 33x12.5's). They said there is something loose in my front end that is making my truck pull to the right, and there is something, like when u get out of the truck and it's turned off, you can grap a will and if you push hard w/each hand on the 3 and 9 o'clock possitions it wiggles a little bit. Is it something in my Rack and Pinion? they thought it was a ball joint or tie rod, i'm worried about it just seeign if you could help diagnose. I am worried also because i just had the 3rd's out for regearing and just put them back in and am worried about what it is that could be loose. Thanks guys for helping diagnose my illness lol.
Jamie

 

i work for a tires plus... well here its wheel works, but same company....

they are morons then... sometimes you cant get ti perfect... caster isnt a big deal... when lifted you must live with it... however, they should be able to tell you what is damaged, not saying something is maybe damaged.. thats crap, they are dumb.... there is always some play... my truck has play.... its 20 years old... its expected.... caster doesnt do anything for tire wear, it can make it pull though, however, some vehicles dont have caster adjustment and basically there isnt anything you can do about it....

 

yeah man i totally felt taken advantage of, How can i narrow down what it is myself? Could it be the notorious rack and pinion bushing things? btw. it's a 98 tacoma.

 

Go somewhere else, preferably an alignment shop, not a tire shop with an alignment rack.Take it to someone that specializes in front ends.

 

allright, how should i go about getting my money back? Also, will every place bitch and moan because it's lifted and claim it's not possible to get it right?

 

You might have to eat the cost of the alignment, but that should be a flat rate. Don't let them try to charge you by the hour on something they can't fix. It sounds like your other choice is to let these guys work(butcher) your rig until they empty your wallet. If you find a good front end shop ask them if they have expierience with lifted rigs. Hope everything works out for you--maybe those guys will get their sh#t together.

 

Just thought I would chime in and maybe let you know I feel your pain! I have been going through this exact situation now for a long while. I am replacing my front tie-rod ends tonight, and having it aligned next week. I spent money and had the truck aligned and it did no good whatsoever. On top of that the alignment shop used a torch on my tierods to "break" them loose and ended up destroying the threads! It's gonna be a long night.....PB Blaster....pb blaster....pb blaster.

 

Call the local 4wd shops and ask them who they recommend for alignments. Even alignment shops frequently don't know anything - they look in the book and set it. If there's a discrapancy they scrath their heads... Sometimes a lift will prevent things from being perfect, although it *shouldn't* - lifts today are generally well designed and won't screw up the ability to get it aligned. As for something loose, unless you're just talking about the normal play in the steering, you should be able to find it yourself. Jack up one wheel at a time and grab the tire and wiggle hard. Top to bottom and side to side. Look for something moving all by itself. If you wiggle hard enough for everything to move - it will all move at once see? If one thing, like a ball joint or tie rod end moves - there's the culprit. Moving up and down (might even use a pry bar under the tire) will check your bearings and ball joints. Search around, there's lots of writeups about checking this stuff out.

If anything like that is shot, it could affect their ability to align it, but if they aren't sharp enough to figure out what's loose - go somewhere else -fast!

Same as with tire shops - I went to 3 ordinarily reputable tire shops who couldn't balance a tire, they kept telling me the rim was bad (it was fine with old tires - kinda suspicious that.) Finally went to the truck repair/alignment place I've known for years and use for big rigs. They had no problem balancing it.

 

Try doing an alignment on any vehicles... some are just as easy as turning a nut, some are just a PITA. On lifted vehicles it's an even bigger challenge for us. My suggestion would to try and get the camber and toe adjustments and not worry about caster.

 

alignments MUST be done by people who know what they are doing and have an interest in doing a good job. So many places are just garbage. Call before hand, ask around.

 

i went to get my 91 2wd ranger aligned after i lifted it. the idiot kid that came out to take info, said i had the camber adjusters in upside down. as far as i know, all balljoints are tapered, and thus cannot be installed upside down. so i aligned it myself as best i could, and have yet to take it in.

but then i found out that the whole company was full of idiots, and wont be taking anyhting there anymore.

 

hey man i don't know if you got your problem fixed, but i do alignments on cars and also many lifted vechicles. if the alignment tech does not know what is loose/damaged/bent....i would get the hell out of there.

I have a 98 SR5 taco 4 wheel drive 3 inch lift, and my front end has some play and it is the rack and pinion bushings. So that is what might be loose on your truck. as for them not being able to take care of the alignment i would go somewhere else.

good luck