Alignment Camber/Caster Kit

jrm

jrm

New member
06 SE, 5100s tacoma TRD set up (1.5 to 1.75"s of lift) up front rolling on 255/75/17s. Big O and Firestone blame the lift & tires for their inability to align the truck when i ask them why they cant get the specs close to OE.

The kit mentions that it adds up to 1-1/2 degree more adjustment which might be the key to my problem. Does anyone have any experience with alignment kits? If so did this additional 1.5"s of adjust ability allow for your alignment to be adjusted to OE specs?

Thanks.
 
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Thing is

according to the last spec sheet the cambers OK but i need more caster in order to settle the steering at speeds above 60 or so.

I dont want to spend more money if i don't need to. One thing that's worrying me is that the truck has front end damage that wasn't disclosed in the carfax.
 
jrm said:
06 SE, 5100s tacoma TRD set up (1.5 to 1.75"s of lift) up front rolling on 255/75/17s. Big O and Firestone blame the lift & tires for their inability to align the truck when i ask them why they cant get the specs close to OE.

The kit mentions that it adds up to 1-1/2 degree more adjustment which might be the key to my problem. Does anyone have any experience with alignment kits? If so did this additional 1.5"s of adjust ability allow for your alignment to be adjusted to OE specs?

Thanks.
Click to expand...

What "alignment kit" are you talking about? I've never heard reference to one before and I'm curious.

As BlackWorksInc said, <strike>most</strike> many people (myself included) switch to aftermarket UCAs to correct caster after a lift. It's just a byproduct of lifting and the front end geometry, your caster angles decrease as the control arms pivot downward. I wouldn't be worried about the front end damage, that geometry change is completely normal.

Your other option is to live with it. It'll take a bit more concentration on the freeway to keep it from wandering but you might not find it annoying enough to spend $$$ to fix it. Low caster won't cause abnormal wear or anything detrimental, just a darty/flighty feeling at higher speed.
 
This one: link

mrpurplepenguin said:
What "alignment kit" are you talking about? I've never heard reference to one before and I'm curious.

As BlackWorksInc said, <strike>most</strike> many people (myself included) switch to aftermarket UCAs to correct caster after a lift. It's just a byproduct of lifting and the front end geometry, your caster angles decrease as the control arms pivot downward. I wouldn't be worried about the front end damage, that geometry change is completely normal.

Your other option is to live with it. It'll take a bit more concentration on the freeway to keep it from wandering but you might not find it annoying enough to spend $$$ to fix it. Low caster won't cause abnormal wear or anything detrimental, just a darty/flighty feeling at higher speed.
Click to expand...

Thinking that since these increase the range of camber/caster adjustment over OE these might be a cheaper alt than new UCAs. thing is they provide n more range of adjustment than OE so UCAs it is. :flypig:

Front End Alignment Kit - Toyota Tacoma - MOOG-K100128
 
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jrm said:
Thinking that since these increase the range of camber/caster adjustment over OE these might be a cheaper alt than new UCAs. thing is they provide n more range of adjustment than OE so UCAs it is.
Click to expand...

I can't find any info saying these have more adjustment than OEM (no mention of the 1-1/2 degree increase from your initial post, don't know where you got that number), I think they're just direct replacements. Were any of the adjustment bolts seized when you took it in for alignment? That would also limit how much adjustment the tech could dial in.

Before ordering UCAs, try driving with "bad" caster for a week or two. Some people think it makes the truck undriveable, others don't even notice the difference. I thought the lack of caster at 3" lift (so worse caster than you have now) was "mildly annoying" at speed. You might find that dealing with it is a better choice than dropping $500+ on UCAs.
 
Those are just aftermarket alignment bolts and washers and add no more adjustability over stock. They're also junk and problem plagued. The general consensus when it comes to that part is stick with OEM
 
jrm said:
06 SE, 5100s tacoma TRD set up (1.5 to 1.75"s of lift) up front rolling on 255/75/17s. Big O and Firestone blame the lift & tires for their inability to align the truck when i ask them why they cant get the specs close to OE.

The kit mentions that it adds up to 1-1/2 degree more adjustment which might be the key to my problem. Does anyone have any experience with alignment kits? If so did this additional 1.5"s of adjust ability allow for your alignment to be adjusted to OE specs?

Thanks.
Click to expand...

I'm at 1.75 with Tacoma coils too and many shops here can get it within spec. Time for a new shop bro. I've had good luck with America tire depot. Les Schwab charge less than $60 as long as they don't call you out on a lift. Then they'll charge a bit more. I've tried many shops for alignment when i had the first KOs. Probably one of the worst tires i ever had. Twitchy and wandering all over the highway. I say that because all the shops i tried here were able to get the alignment in spec or custom for me. Good luck!
 
My thinking here is

that with aftermarket UCAs not one shop can say they cant get my alignment into spec and blame the tires/lift.

I dont know if its just the lift, or a combo of the lift and my tire choice. I just think these shops dont really give a f*** about craftsmanship quality.

The way i figure it is that the UCA investment will pay for itself in terms of improved ride quality, ease of future alignment and if i ever want to change up the lift i wont have to worry about clearance problems. :girl:
 
To be fair, all vehicles are made to tolerance; which means that not all cams will be in the same position from the factory. Ideally they should, but it's not an issue until you start maxing out adjustment with tires and lifts. I've had one or two 4Runners that have mild lift kits on them that should have been fine to adjust within spec, but for some reason they just didn't have enough adjustment in the cams.
 
Follow-up with SPC UCAs..is 5 degrees caster to much?

finally got an alignment done. the tech adjusted in 4.9L & 5.3R degrees of caster. The improvement of the SPC UCAs over the OE UCAs is really noticable but its my only baseline comparison. Would the truck be even better with something like 4 degrees caster instead of 5? :deadhorse:
 
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