Outer tie rods and alignment?

[la79]

Hello, I did some work over the weekend on my 3rd gen replacing my lower ball joints and outer tie rods. They had never been replaced and had the originals for 25 years. Talk about Toyota quality.

Anyway when replacing the outer tie rods I tried to match them up as best possible to the originals with the nut and threads. Needless to say my alignment and steering wheel is a little off now and I couldn’t get them perfect. Before I did the job it was perfect.

Back to my question, if I have an alignment done will they need to touch the outer tie rods to fix? Or maybe can someone explain how this would be fixed? They wouldn’t have to remove the out tie rods again would they?

 

[TheSaturnV]

Just did my entire front end recently, inner/outer, the works. I counted threads, measured and marked with tape and think I got it back to near perfect.

However, I do remember thinking that if I did have to get it aligned I was going to make sure the shop had the special tool required to avoid taking a bunch of stuff back apart.

 

[plcfcng]

The answer is yes you should have your alignment checked after replacing any tie rod ends, ball joints, or bushings or steering rack. If you not done replacing these items finish them up before having the alignment done unless it will be some time before before the next part of the repairs.

If you only change the tie rod ends there are some people on You tube that check and adjust there Toe angle. It involves setting up strings and taking measurements. If it were me I would try to finish up all the steering and suspension stuff and take it in to a alignment shop and have the angles set.:reddance:

 

[Bad Luck]

Just did my entire front end recently, inner/outer, the works. I counted threads, measured and marked with tape and think I got it back to near perfect.

However, I do remember thinking that if I did have to get it aligned I was going to make sure the shop had the special tool required to avoid taking a bunch of stuff back apart.

Hello, I did some work over the weekend on my 3rd gen replacing my lower ball joints and outer tie rods. They had never been replaced and had the originals for 25 years. Talk about Toyota quality.

Anyway when replacing the outer tie rods I tried to match them up as best possible to the originals with the nut and threads. Needless to say my alignment and steering wheel is a little off now and I couldn’t get them perfect. Before I did the job it was perfect.

Back to my question, if I have an alignment done will they need to touch the outer tie rods to fix? Or maybe can someone explain how this would be fixed? They wouldn’t have to remove the out tie rods again would they?

Loosen lock nut, turn inner tie rod which causes the outer tie rod to thread on further or unthread to adjust the toe, tighten lock nut. No removal of components necessary. An alignment machine looks at toe/camber/caster/etc and displays those readings for a mechanic to make accurate adjustments to all of the above.

 

[la79]

Awesome glad to know they won’t have to remove everything to get it aligned.

BTW, what special tool are you referring to?

 

[Bad Luck]

Awesome glad to know they won’t have to remove everything to get it aligned.

BTW, what special tool are you referring to?

No special tools required except for an alignment rack.

 

[mtbtim]

Just go to an alignment shop that gets good reviews. Specifically tell the tech that you would like a straight steering wheel when it's all done. You would be surprised that they don't automatically do this for their customers but it's not uncommon for a person to jump into their vehicle after an alignment and find their steering wheel is still crooked. If the tech knows what they're doing, they can get the alignment right and your steering straight with relative ease.

 

[ptsailing]

I am just finishing up a full front suspension re build. Upper and lower ball joints, poly bushings on upper and lower control arms, cv axles, brake lines, steering rack bushings....the lot!

I want to get an alignment done....but by someone that knows what they are doing on a lifted truck. Not just some pimple faced mechanic who only knows to turn the bolt till it goes green on the computer. "green on the computer" is using specs for non lifted trucks.

Do any of you know of a really good alignment shop in the North Hollywood or Van Nuys area in Los Angeles?

 

[TheSaturnV]

Awesome glad to know they won’t have to remove everything to get it aligned.

BTW, what special tool are you referring to?

Didn't mean to throw in a monkey wrench. :tongue1:

My OTR's were really stuck on and I remember having difficulty getting any kind of wrench to support the inners/steering rack to get enough leverage. Probably some misunderstanding on my part, sounds like Tim and the gang simply suggest finding a well reviewed alignment shop, which is what I'm going to do next.

 

[Bad Luck]

I am just finishing up a full front suspension re build. Upper and lower ball joints, poly bushings on upper and lower control arms, cv axles, brake lines, steering rack bushings....the lot!

I want to get an alignment done....but by someone that knows what they are doing on a lifted truck. Not just some pimple faced mechanic who only knows to turn the bolt till it goes green on the computer. "green on the computer" is using specs for non lifted trucks.

Do any of you know of a really good alignment shop in the North Hollywood or Van Nuys area in Los Angeles?

Can you explain what alignment specifications would be different for a lifted 4Runner vs a stock and why? The only difference that most people have is a change in caster to move the wheel forward in the wheel well for tire clearance.

 

[plcfcng]

Just go to an alignment shop that gets good reviews. Specifically tell the tech that you would like a straight steering wheel when it's all done. You would be surprised that they don't automatically do this for their customers but it's not uncommon for a person to jump into their vehicle after an alignment and find their steering wheel is still crooked. If the tech knows what they're doing, they can get the alignment right and your steering straight with relative ease.

Not squaring off a steering wheel as part of alignment is a sign of poor service. :bigok:

 

[tvpierce]

Not squaring off a steering wheel as part of alignment is a sign of poor service. :bigok:

+1

It's the first step any tech should take when performing an alignment... then make adjustments from there.

 

[mtbtim]

Not squaring off a steering wheel as part of alignment is a sign of poor service. :bigok:

Well, you would think this would be part of their service but I've ended up with a steering wheel slightly off after an alignment and decided to just live with it because it wasn't off that much. I've heard of plenty others frequenting forums like this one that have experienced the same thing. Some techs take pride in their work and give good customer service and others not so much.

 

[thegipper]

Your steering wheel should absolutely be straight after an alignment.

I finally dropped off my rig at a local shop in town to get an alignment done. I've replaced both LBJ's and both outer tie rods in the last couple years and never got an alignment (I know, dumb). What pushed me to finally do it is I noticed my front tires are starting to wear a little funny (worn on the outside). I also noticed that it likes to jump into "divots" into the road now after the passenger OTRE was replaced so something is definitely off.

I probably should have done it sooner but it's not my DD and maybe put 2-3k miles on it since the repairs. I told the owner that if caster/camber are out of spec to give me a call since I know the adjusters are going to be seized in place. If they are slightly out of spec, I'm going to leave it. Hopefully they won't need any adjustment, just the toe.

My truck is at the point where I have to prioritize how much money I want to keep sticking in to it (rocker panels are rotting out, axles seals are starting to leak slightly). The frame is relatively rusty but not bad for a salt belt truck. I've been treating it twice a year with LPS 2 which has worked well. Fortunately, the truck runs great, shifts great and all of the bells and whistles work (AC, windows, cruise etc).

 

[JRZEE2000TR4LTD]

Can you explain what alignment specifications would be different for a lifted 4Runner vs a stock and why? The only difference that most people have is a change in caster to move the wheel forward in the wheel well for tire clearance.

The spec doesn't change. It's the geometry of the suspension that changes. The specs are still the specs and you have to get the alignment back into "spec" to maintain the factory ride (as much as possible with a lift)

Caster does change. But as caster changes, so does camber and even toe. So you need to get the camber/caster right then finally dial in the toe for a proper alignment.

 

[Bad Luck]

The spec doesn't change. It's the geometry of the suspension that changes. The specs are still the specs and you have to get the alignment back into "spec" to maintain the factory ride (as much as possible with a lift)

Caster does change. But as caster changes, so does camber and even toe. So you need to get the camber/caster right then finally dial in the toe for a proper alignment.

I'm a mechanic that does alignments so I'm aware of how to do one. I'm curious why ptsailing thinks the specifications are different on a lifted vehicle.

 

[JRZEE2000TR4LTD]

I'm a mechanic that does alignments so I'm aware of how to do one. I'm curious why ptsailing thinks the specifications are different on a lifted vehicle.

Gotcha. I read you comment a few more times and understand what your saying by changing the caster spec. Why not just debunk his misinformation? Many people don't understand how alignments work and easily get misinformed.

 

[Bad Luck]

Gotcha. I read you comment a few more times and understand what your saying by changing the caster spec. Why not just debunk his misinformation? Many people don't understand how alignments work and easily get misinformed.

I'm always curious how people come up with whatever misinformation they have. I prefer to have someone explain to me why I'm wrong rather than just say "you're wrong", and knowing why they think that X is true helps me explain why they're wrong. I didn't mean to come of snarky or snappy to you earlier so I apologize if it read that way.

 

[thegipper]

Just got the call from my mechanic, toe was way off but everything else was still in spec. So even though my adjusters are probably seized in place, no adjustments were needed.

My shop charges $70 for an alignment (for reference).