Alignment on highway - Toyota 4Runner Forum

orcking · 02-07-2021, 08:59 PM

2020 limited.
I drive mostly on city roads. Alignment seems fine.
Took a long trip on highway. It seems the car steering is not comfortable. I am very picky about that. The truck at times goes straight with a little tendency to pull to left and at others it pulls harder. I know the crown of the road matters. But I feel that it likes to wander around . And sometimes it pulls right .
It's hard to describe it but it's not comfortable.
I remember driving big trucks like Ford F150 and steering is nice and comfy.

Anyone else had similar experience?

meRockboost · 02-07-2021, 09:32 PM

Dealing with the same on my 21. Pulled left from when we left the dealer with 12 miles on it. Got it fixed this week, dealer said left side was put and we must’ve hit something. But it still wants to pull left. If I turn slightly right on the highway it will return to center and then drift left. If I turn slight left, it will stay not want to return to center. Going back Wednesday.

fkheath · 02-07-2021, 11:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by orcking

2020 limited.
I drive mostly on city roads. Alignment seems fine.
Took a long trip on highway. It seems the car steering is not comfortable. I am very picky about that. The truck at times goes straight with a little tendency to pull to left and at others it pulls harder. I know the crown of the road matters. But I feel that it likes to wander around . And sometimes it pulls right .
It's hard to describe it but it's not comfortable.
I remember driving big trucks like Ford F150 and steering is nice and comfy.

Anyone else had similar experience?

You are right that the crown on the road can cause pulling to one side. But if on a level (no crown) road, it wants to wander left then right, the toe in is wrong. The factory does not always get it right. Toe in is a simple adjustment of the tie rod ends; no need to adjust the caster and camber.

Espresso_OI · 02-07-2021, 11:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fkheath

But if on a level (no crown) road, it wants to wander left then right, the toe in is wrong. The factory does not always get it right. Toe in is a simple adjustment of the tie rod ends; no need to adjust the caster and camber.

Interesting - I've got a new '21 and my steering wheel has to be pointed at 11 o'clock to stay straight. I got and alignment after a lift and no change.

rayofsi · 02-08-2021, 12:53 AM

i just picked up this issue.
but my suspension has been very heavily modded. , will get my shop to highway roadtest it when i drop it off for my replacement rcv axles.
I almost don't want to drive it nowadays due to the way it handles on the highways.

fkheath · 02-08-2021, 11:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Espresso_OI

Interesting - I've got a new '21 and my steering wheel has to be pointed at 11 o'clock to stay straight. I got and alignment after a lift and no change.

Steering wheel offset (11 o'clock position) has nothing to do with wandering left or right (wheel toe in). Your steering wheel was probably installed wrong from the factory. You should have your dealer install the steering wheel right under warranty.

While it is possible to correct steering wheel offset by adjusting the tie rod ends, on modern cars with stability control, it is very important that the steering position sensor be centered when driving straight ahead.

orcking · 02-08-2021, 11:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fkheath

Steering wheel offset (11 o'clock position) has nothing to do with wandering left or right (wheel toe in). Your steering wheel was installed wrong from the factory. You should have your dealer install the steering wheel right under warranty.

Do you take it for alignment at dealer or an Indy shop?

BackOff · 02-08-2021, 02:21 PM

What do you wanderers have the caster set at?

Tell the alignment guys you want 3.5 degrees caster.

Then you will be able to drive on the hiway and track straight and not look like a drunken pirate.

rayofsi · 02-08-2021, 03:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BackOff

What do you wanderers have the caster set at?

Tell the alignment guys you want 3.5 degrees caster.

Then you will be able to drive on the hiway and track straight and not look like a drunken pirate.

thats where i think my issue is too
i have my lower control arms pushed forward 1"
and they might still have my caster set to 3.5 or higher.

TrailRunnin14 · 02-08-2021, 07:42 PM

I’m at 4.7 with Ironman pro forge UCAs. No wander on the highway. Truck drives very straight.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

BackOff · 02-08-2021, 10:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TrailRunnin14

I’m at 4.7 with Ironman pro forge UCAs. No wander on the highway. Truck drives very straight.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Yup, me too.
Drives much better with higher caster, imo.
...i dont have the sweet ironman UCAs though.

3* to 3.5* might be all stock UCAs will do.

sawman1 · 02-09-2021, 12:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by orcking

2020 limited.
I drive mostly on city roads. Alignment seems fine.
Took a long trip on highway. It seems the car steering is not comfortable. I am very picky about that. The truck at times goes straight with a little tendency to pull to left and at others it pulls harder. I know the crown of the road matters. But I feel that it likes to wander around . And sometimes it pulls right .
It's hard to describe it but it's not comfortable.
I remember driving big trucks like Ford F150 and steering is nice and comfy.

Anyone else had similar experience?

May want to have an alignment shop take the measurements vs spec. If all checks out correctly, you might consider having them dial in just a little more toe-in on it. Yes, tire wear can be affected, but a very minor adjustment can give a lot more feeling of stability as toe-in loads the steering linkage. I've done this & sold this many times before in my career, especially on lifted trucks etc and it has worked well for me and others.

jhguth · 02-09-2021, 03:58 PM

post your pre and post alignment report and people here will tell you if it's good or not

NiceToyo · 02-09-2021, 10:59 PM

I have a 2017 limited with about 19k miles. After having the truck shipped, alignment was off with truck pulling right. I had to have a dealership align the vehicle twice to get it right. I would bring it back, tell them that it is not right and describe the problem. Toyota dealership should stand behind their work and do it again.

tm965 · 02-10-2021, 10:16 AM

word to the wise: dealers will not be able to properly align lifted vehicles. don't bother. find a good independent shop where the tech knows what they are doing and actually cares about their work to some degree.

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