Alignment on highway

O

orcking

New member
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?
 
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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.
 
orcking said:
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?
Click to expand...

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.
 
fkheath said:
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.
Click to expand...
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.
 
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.
 
Espresso_OI said:
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.
Click to expand...

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.
 
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fkheath said:
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.
Click to expand...


Do you take it for alignment at dealer or an Indy shop?
 
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.
 
BackOff said:
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.
Click to expand...

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.
 
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
 
TrailRunnin14 said:
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
Click to expand...

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.
 
orcking said:
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?
Click to expand...

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.
 
Limited Alignment

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.
 
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.
 
tm965 said:
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.
Click to expand...



My truck is not lifted. should I still take it to dealership or independent.?
 
What you are experience is caster pull due to the difference in caster from both sides. Your vehicle will pull to the side of least positive caster. It doesn't matter if you have high caster. You need to set the caster both sides the same. Or if you live where the roads have a lot crowning to the right, you might have to set it to pull left (increase positive caster on right) to make it track straight.

Also the difference in camber between both side can also cause pulling.

No the toe doesn't affect which side your vehicle pulls. Whoever says you need to adjust your tie rods doesn't know what he is talking about. Toe affects tire wear and the clocking of your steering wheel.
 
I’m about take to mine in. 2020 with 11,300 miles. Tracks left on the highway. Apparently alignment covered under warranty until 12,000 miles so it’s going to Toyota this time.
 
I have a 19 pro and it’s would do the same thing and steering wheel would have a little shake. Took it to the dealership yesterday got an alignment and did a road force balance and boom everything was gone. Rides smooth again. I think it all comes down to if the tech really knows their . I had discount tire mount and balance that didn’t help and a non Toyota shop do an alignment and it never fixed the problem.
 
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