Couple Toytec and LR UCA questions with pics
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Yep. Tires are 285/70R 17 Duratracs. +4 seems to be the most widely recommended number so that's what Im going to have them shoot for.
Thanks man. Im pretty happy how it came out.
Jeremy556
New member
I forget how much coverage the stock skid plates have, but if the front one gets in the way of accessing the front eccentric adjuster, leave it off to make the alignment tech's job easier.
If you can talk to the person doing the alignment, a tip: max out caster, then use the upper ball joint's sliding nut to adjust camber, make sure to torque to 150 ft lb. It's much easier to do it that way, than going back and forth on the eccentrics.
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Kinda irritated right now. I dropped the truck off to get aligned and spoke to the tech about the LR UCAs. I gave him the print out showing the different ball joint positions so he could adjust it to get max caster. I also explained that I slid the ball joint all the way to the outside just to drive it to the alignment shop and that he would need to play with it to set camber. I also explained that I wanted to get +4 degrees of caster. So I pick up the truck and here are my numbers. Camber= .3 degrees left and right. Caster = +2.7 left and +3.1 right. He said that was all the caster he could get without screwing up the camber. The numbers didn't look too bad to me so I took the truck home. Just now I looked at the top ball joint and he didn't touch it. AT ALL. WTF? The ball joint is still slid all the way out on both sides. So, what would you guys do? Im not taking it back to that place. But Im thinking about setting my caster adjustment on the "C" position which should give me another +degree of caster, right? That should give me 3.7 on the left and 4.1 on the right. Is my thinking right on that? And if I do that, how will it effect my camber if at all?
Jeremy556
New member
Unless you are close to hitech auto in NoVa, or have a great alignment guy you know already, you're going to have to do some legwork to find a tech that is any good. Most of them will only do the bare minimum work to achieve anything in factory specs.
Leave the upper ball joint in the D position, just use the sliding feature to correct camber. You should be able to get near or above 5 degrees of caster in the D setting, but they are going to have to work on all 4 eccentric adjusters on the LCAs. Most places are only going to mess with 1 pair, if they can get away with it.
Leave the upper ball joint in the D position, just use the sliding feature to correct camber. You should be able to get near or above 5 degrees of caster in the D setting, but they are going to have to work on all 4 eccentric adjusters on the LCAs. Most places are only going to mess with 1 pair, if they can get away with it.
Antman
Elite Member
PM Scott@Hightech. He is such a great guy, representing such a great shop, that I'm sure he would give step by step instructions to Mr. IncompetantTech over there to get it right. Of course just giving Hightech your business would be the way to go...
Scott@Hightech
New member
Thanks for the recommendations guys, however if his location is correct I don't think it would be worth the drive for an alignment. I do however recommend you start shopping around for a shop that will work with your aftermarket parts. Try a few speed shops and explain exactly what you have to them. You may even have to show them so plan on riding to the shop instead of talking on the phone. Your average merchants/pepboys tech typically cant do a normal alignment "correctly" let alone something modified
harper7
Senior Member
They should be able to get plenty of caster on the "D" setting like the rest of us. That alignment guy didn't know what he was doing and was probably just adjusting one of the cam adjusters on the LCA would be my guess.
Here's how I set my alignment as shown to me by an old timer that has been aligning for 30 years.
With the 2 cam bolts(front and rear) on the lower control arm loosened just enough to adjust.
He needs to adjust the aft cam first while watching the readout to get the highest caster.
Then adjust the front one to bring camber in spec. and that will bring caster down some.
Then adjust the rear cam again a little to bring caster to max again and then the front cam to bring camber back.'
Sometimes it takes several times of back and forth but he should eventually get to the point where you can't get any more pos caster and still keep the camber in spec and near zero.
Cam bolts torqued to spec which is really,really tight or 129 ft/lbs .
Toe should of course be set last with the tie rods and should't affect camber/caster.
Always get a printout when getting an alignment .
Here's the alignment I was running with the LR's a few years back and a few on here actually got 6.0 with LR's . I'm running about 5.0 caster now with my Total Chaos UCA's and that was all I could get using the steps from above.
As far as initial camber setting on the big nut on the LR ball joint ,if I had mine in more then about a 1/4" from full outward,the inside part of the ball joint would hit my CO springs at full extension. But I have Icon extended travel CO's which get a little more travel and not sure on the new Toytecs.
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Thanks guys. Despite my rubbing issues that I just finished taking care of, how do those numbers look to you guys? I know its not the ideal +4 but is it acceptable? The truck drives straight and doesn't pull to either side. Camber is .3 on both sides. Left side caster is +2.7 Right side caster is +3.1 I wanted to hit +4 because that's what people recommend and I wanted clearance in the rear but like I said, the truck drives good and I already fixed my rubbing issue. Instead of removing the mud flaps I just cut out the "hump" in the middle and in the front I just moved the liner forward. I went out and tried to make it rub with no luck so if the numbers are "acceptable" then I might just leave it alone. But if the numbers are bad then I'll find another shop.
Here's the flap with the hump removed
From the back side
With the wheels turned to the closest area where I rubbed before modding the flap.
Here's the flap with the hump removed
From the back side
With the wheels turned to the closest area where I rubbed before modding the flap.
Ok thank you. It honestly does drive fine. I haven't noticed any weird or funky driving or handling issued. It drives straight and doesn't pull to either side. Im really more concerned with tire wear at this point. I realize caster doesn't effect tire wear much but I wasn't sure if .3 on the camber was ok. I thought I remember reading that you want to set it at .1 I asked for a print out but of course their printer was broken. I just took a picture of the screen. He was still setting toe when I took the picture but he said he was going to set it at 10-11 on each side.
They should be able to get plenty of caster on the "D" setting like the rest of us. That alignment guy didn't know what he was doing and was probably just adjusting one of the cam adjusters on the LCA would be my guess.
Here's how I set my alignment as shown to me by an old timer that has been aligning for 30 years.
With the 2 cam bolts(front and rear) on the lower control arm loosened just enough to adjust.
He needs to adjust the aft cam first while watching the readout to get the highest caster.
Then adjust the front one to bring camber in spec. and that will bring caster down some.
Then adjust the rear cam again a little to bring caster to max again and then the front cam to bring camber back.'
Sometimes it takes several times of back and forth but he should eventually get to the point where you can't get any more pos caster and still keep the camber in spec and near zero.
Cam bolts torqued to spec which is really,really tight or 129 ft/lbs .
Toe should of course be set last with the tie rods and should't affect camber/caster.
Always get a printout when getting an alignment .
Here's the alignment I was running with the LR's a few years back and a few on here actually got 6.0 with LR's . I'm running about 5.0 caster now with my Total Chaos UCA's and that was all I could get using the steps from above.
As far as initial camber setting on the big nut on the LR ball joint ,if I had mine in more then about a 1/4" from full outward,the inside part of the ball joint would hit my CO springs at full extension. But I have Icon extended travel CO's which get a little more travel and not sure on the new Toytecs.
Thank you very much for the info and pictures. Its pretty obvious from the fact that he didn't even touch the upper ball joint that he really didn't put any effort into the alignment. He just looked up the factory specs and set it. Part of the problem is that a good alignment seems to be a bit of a lost art. Really good alignment shops are hard to find. Especially when you bring in a vehicle that is modified. The other part of the problem is that these alignment "techs" get paid by the job instead of hourly. Most of them just aren't going to take the extra time to do it right. Its sad but there doesn't seem to be many mechanics these days that actually take pride in their work.
Already did. Found a pile of rock and rubble by my house where they are clearing land for a new sub division. It was close but no rubbing. The TRD RW wheels have a lot more offset than most aftermarket wheels. I still might get it realigned to max out the caster just for the peace of mind but I really doubt she'll wheel it hard enough to rub. Plus I have a 2014 TRD Tundra that Im setting up with 295s and King 2.5s so any serious wheeling will be in my truck.
Picked up the TRD "bling rings" from the powder coater yesterday. Had them done in flat black but since PC has a little shine to it they actually came out more of a "satin black" which is what she wanted to match her nerf bars. I think the black looks better than the stock shiny silver rings or no rings at all. Momma likes them too so I guess that's all that really matters. I might take it to get it realigned for more caster but other than that Im done with her ride. Now it time to get to work on my new Tundra :frog:
