I have the Bilstein 5100 lift all around and my technician had a hard time adjusting the caster today. He said he could not get the right side adjusted. The guy at the front desk said it might be due to the lift. The left front caster is 3.2° and the right side is 2.1°. Everything else is within spec. Any ideas what could be causing this? Is this anything to worry about or will I be fine? Will be driving across the country within the next month so want to make sure everything is good. Thanks for any help.
Caster not even after alignment - any ideas?
- Thread starter BigT42
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Hans Moleman
New member
Does your truck pull to the right?
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Sorry can't figure out how to post the picture in here there is a link.
Yeah it pulls right which is why I took it in in the first place. I will be moving across country in 3 weeks and wanted it fixed.
Hans Moleman
New member
It is pulling to the right because it has less positive caster than the left. You want equal caster on both sides to go straight.
Sometimes techs put a little more positive caster on the right to compensate for road crown.
You probably need aftermarket upper control arms now to help give it more caster.
tristero
New member
You have stock UCAs? More details about the setup you're running would be helpful. Put it in your sig.
Upload a pic of the eccentrics (cam bolts) if you can. Your camber and caster are linked, and you will lose caster when you increase the ride height.
The way it works is the front cam is camber adjust. The rear cam is caster adjust. You want the tech to set the cam first and get that in spec, then max out the caster—so front cam should be forward as much as possible, set, then adjust the caster, and toe last.
See the below chart from a 3rd gen, it's the same concept.
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A10MileHusker
New member
[MENTION=231754]BigT42[/MENTION] Not sure what your setup is but I would say that you should get a second look.
While not the same, I ran my 2005 4Runner with 35" Tires, Full suspension lift and ran it WITHOUT aftermarket UCAs for a few years and never had an issue getting the right alignment.
I use the same guy for my 5th gen and while he loves that its easier he still gets perfect alignment. I could get it for free from toyota but I chose to pay for a proper alignment.
Get a second look. Dont tell the 2nd guy whats going on, just get a 2nd look and compare.
EDIT: Just looked again at your numbers and noticed your are going to Firestone. Go somewhere else. They overwhelm themselves with clients and never spend the correct time with customers. I had a toyota friend who worked for Firestone tell me to "never come to his or any firestone store."
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4RunnerAquasport
Senior Member
FWIW I have gone to the same Firestone for years, but I'm lucky because I followed the Tech from another store. He has adjusted both my 4th and 5th. I gave him the Total Chaos instructions they have for adjusting their arms and he dialed both of them right in. Added the weight of a bumper and winch on my 5th, the angle changed which created a rub on the body mount. So he moved the caster fwd like everyone suggests and eliminated the rub. There are good techs out there but this is a lazy, time driven world we live in, so they're hard to find, and there are thousands of incompetent techs to weed through. A 2nd look and opinion is the way to go first of all.
Also a question to the folks that have more knowledge about the subject, why are the caster numbers identical from before and after? If he actually really tried wouldn't they be a hair different?
Also a question to the folks that have more knowledge about the subject, why are the caster numbers identical from before and after? If he actually really tried wouldn't they be a hair different?
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Paragon1
Member
^This.
I've run 5100s on both my 4Rs and never had a castor issue. Definitely go to another shop to get a second look.
4runnin4mylife
New member
This is dead on correct and explains why your vehicle is pulling like it is to the right! And some techs do add more positive caster on the right to keep your vehicle from wandering off the road from the crown. With that said, I think its a technician error or a frozen cam bolt that the tech doesn't want to deal with or mention for whatever reason. My advice would be like others have said and take it somewhere else and get the alignment done. I am not sure how much lift you have, but it's really not that hard to get above your 2.1 caster on the right. I think it's an easy fix if you just take is somewhere else and get a technician that's willing to put in a little work.
Thanks everyone. The Bilstein 5100 lift all around I think it was around 1.5 inch left in the front and 2 inch lift on the back. Stock UCA’s and stock size tires. It is a 2018 offroad model. I want to fire stone because they have been good in the past and I have a lifetime alignment through them so it’s free every time. I Will take it elsewhere To get it fixed.
