jaredking733
New member
Ok, I'll keep this as brief as I can since it's kind of a long story. My T4R is a 97 SR5 4x4 3.4
About a year ago, I had a friend go through the entire front end of the runner. New CV axles, lower ball joints, upper ball joints, steering rack, shocks all around, and was even going to have him replace the tie rods, but he said they already looked new so he didn't do them.
He said that he got the alignment as close as he could, but that a complete alignment would be needed asap for the sake of safety and tire wear.
No problem.
I headed straight to Firestone the next day and signed up for the lifetime alignment. They checked it, made the necessary adjustments, and sent me on my way. I immediately noticed that the steering wheel wasn't straight, but it wasn't too far off, so I didn't think much of it.
Some weeks later, after doing some further reading into alignments, I found that the steering wheel should be straight as part of a proper alignment. So, I took it back to firestone and had them look at it. They aligned it again, but alas, steering wheel still wasn't straight. They spent about the next hour to hour and a half playing with it. Finally, they got it all good. The steering wheel was straight, the runner went straight on it's own, and all was great.
Fast forward to the next oil change.
Since I had the lifetime alignment, I thought I would have them check it since it was in the shop anyways. They checked it again, and informed me that it was off "quite a bit." Puzzled, I politely informed them that they were the last techs to touch it. I was assured that it was straight and sent on my way. Heading home, I noticed that the steering wheel was off just a hair to the left, but didn't think much of it since there is a certain amount of crown to the road and thought that's probably what it was.
Weeks later again, I found myself driving down a perfectly flat (and I mean flat as in water doesn't run off of it as it probably should) stretch of road. Now, the steering wheel is still to the left, probably a little more than before.
I asked around at work and was referred to a gentlemen that owns an alignment shop and has been there almost 40 years. I was told he was the best. Took the runner to him and he spent a while being very thorough with the alignment. He said that whoever did it last had the front passenger side wheel all out of wack, but he fixed it without issue. I thanked him for his time and headed home all smiles because now, the steering wheel was straight and the runner went straighter than ever.
That was about a week ago.
Suddenly, yesterday morning, I'm driving to work and out of nowhere, I notice that the wheel is off to the right! I mean, the day before, it was perfect! And not just a hair, but a considerable amount, probably 1/16th of a turn.
WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON HERE?
It's driving me crazy trying to troubleshoot this and nobody can give me any reason why this is happening.
Do any of you have any ideas? Sorry this is so lengthy. It's been hell trying to figure this out. Normally something like this wouldn't bother me so much, but I hate the wheel not being straight when going straight.
Is it possible for the wheel to just "fall" to one side or another?
I'm lost. HELP!
About a year ago, I had a friend go through the entire front end of the runner. New CV axles, lower ball joints, upper ball joints, steering rack, shocks all around, and was even going to have him replace the tie rods, but he said they already looked new so he didn't do them.
He said that he got the alignment as close as he could, but that a complete alignment would be needed asap for the sake of safety and tire wear.
No problem.
I headed straight to Firestone the next day and signed up for the lifetime alignment. They checked it, made the necessary adjustments, and sent me on my way. I immediately noticed that the steering wheel wasn't straight, but it wasn't too far off, so I didn't think much of it.
Some weeks later, after doing some further reading into alignments, I found that the steering wheel should be straight as part of a proper alignment. So, I took it back to firestone and had them look at it. They aligned it again, but alas, steering wheel still wasn't straight. They spent about the next hour to hour and a half playing with it. Finally, they got it all good. The steering wheel was straight, the runner went straight on it's own, and all was great.
Fast forward to the next oil change.
Since I had the lifetime alignment, I thought I would have them check it since it was in the shop anyways. They checked it again, and informed me that it was off "quite a bit." Puzzled, I politely informed them that they were the last techs to touch it. I was assured that it was straight and sent on my way. Heading home, I noticed that the steering wheel was off just a hair to the left, but didn't think much of it since there is a certain amount of crown to the road and thought that's probably what it was.
Weeks later again, I found myself driving down a perfectly flat (and I mean flat as in water doesn't run off of it as it probably should) stretch of road. Now, the steering wheel is still to the left, probably a little more than before.
I asked around at work and was referred to a gentlemen that owns an alignment shop and has been there almost 40 years. I was told he was the best. Took the runner to him and he spent a while being very thorough with the alignment. He said that whoever did it last had the front passenger side wheel all out of wack, but he fixed it without issue. I thanked him for his time and headed home all smiles because now, the steering wheel was straight and the runner went straighter than ever.
That was about a week ago.
Suddenly, yesterday morning, I'm driving to work and out of nowhere, I notice that the wheel is off to the right! I mean, the day before, it was perfect! And not just a hair, but a considerable amount, probably 1/16th of a turn.
WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON HERE?
It's driving me crazy trying to troubleshoot this and nobody can give me any reason why this is happening.
Do any of you have any ideas? Sorry this is so lengthy. It's been hell trying to figure this out. Normally something like this wouldn't bother me so much, but I hate the wheel not being straight when going straight.
Is it possible for the wheel to just "fall" to one side or another?
I'm lost. HELP!
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