Lifetime alignment for lifted 4th gen? In the SF Bay Area? - Toyota 4Runner Forum

Iron Chef · 05-23-2021, 04:11 PM

My 2005 V8 has a 4" lift kit (Bilstein 6112/5160, SPC adjustable UCAs), with aftermarket rims and 33" tires.

I came back from a rather grueling road trip with a fair bit of off-roading. I'm looking to get it re-aligned, among some other things.

Do I need to take it to a specialty 4x4 shop, or will any regular shop that does alignments do (like Firestone)?

I'm also interesting in getting a lifetime alignment package. I found the following chains that offer this

Firestone
Wheel Works
Discount Tires (not in the bay area unfortunately)

Anyone have any opinions on these shops (in the Bay Area specifically)? Welcome any advice and recommendations.

K-D-Runner · 05-23-2021, 04:39 PM

Since you have SPC UCA's I would checkout taco tabs, they allow you to lock your lca's in place so that your alignment doesn't get screwed up as easily when offroading. I plan on getting them here in the near future but I imagine that either way you'll want to get your alignments done by a dedicated offroad shop, particularly if you're wanting to take advantage of the SPC's and get max caster. Just my 2 cents.

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Montego Murph · 05-23-2021, 11:25 PM

I have a follow-up question to this:

Assuming spending the money isn't a problem, would there be any merit to doing something like this?

1) Go to a dedicated offroad shop and have the alignment set.

2) Immediately go to a chain place that offers lifetime alignment and ask to have the alignment checked, and request a printout of the results. File this in a safe place.

3) When alignment needs to be performed, go to chain place and have lifetime job done according to specs in Step 2.

Thoughts?

Iron Chef · 05-24-2021, 07:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by K-D-Runner

Since you have SPC UCA's I would checkout taco tabs, they allow you to lock your lca's in place so that your alignment doesn't get screwed up as easily when offroading.

Thanks for your input! That was my original thought as well. But I also see threads like this where people with lifted 4runners have used Firestone just fine

Firestone Lifetime alignment

So I figured this was worth looking into and save a significant amount of money (depending on how often I off-road).

If alignment done by Firestone is "acceptable", I might go with that instead of paying per-alignment at a off-road shop. However, if it's detrimental or dangerous given my lift kit, then I would just suck it up and get it "properly" done.

ads2539 · 05-24-2021, 07:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Iron Chef

My 2005 V8 has a 4" lift kit (Bilstein 6112/5160, SPC adjustable UCAs), with aftermarket rims and 33" tires.

I came back from a rather grueling road trip with a fair bit of off-roading. I'm looking to get it re-aligned, among some other things.

Do I need to take it to a specialty 4x4 shop, or will any regular shop that does alignments do (like Firestone)?

I'm also interesting in getting a lifetime alignment package. I found the following chains that offer this