Alignment, camber adjustment (2 Viewers)

[Spud]

Hi all,

I have searched for this but am having no luck! Hoping someone can steer me here.

I picked up a 99' 4runner Limited last week and am going through a few things. The tires on the front have a lot of wear on the outside edge. The owner said they only were about a year old. The rears look awesome.

I am thinking the camber is way off. I searched and cant find any threads on camber adjust...or what the factory setting should be. Can anyone help me with this?

I intend to get a service manual, but I just have not had a chance yet.

Also, I pulled all the wheels off and rotated them due to the wear, I put the fronts to the back and the nicer ones on the front. In the process, I see there are no wheel weights on any of the wheel. So I subpose they are not balanced, going to get that done.

Thanks in advance for any input!

 

[zags]

If the wear is on the very outer edge, the tires are toed-in. If the wear is angled across the whole tread, then it is camber wear. Your best bet is taking it to a shop to have it aligned. They can check everything front and back to make sure it is all in spec.

Once in a while, you run across wheels and tires that don't need any weights, but it is very rare.

 

[Dell]

^ wut he said...

tho' I find that most tire wear similar
is due to a worn inner tie rod end (itre) having play.
This will throw the toe settings off.

and the toe setting could become variable
when accelerating or braking'
meaning: the toe changes from pos to neg

the otre's should be inspected as well...
but those aren't usually suspect

a competent alignment tech should find
and advise the customer if components are worn.

 

[Spud]

Thanks for the replies. I was thinking of trying to do the alignment adjustments myself but I guess I will just take it to a shop.

Does anyone know the toe in factory setting? Is it the same as on older 4runners, I believe it was about 1/4" toe in.

 

[FlatlandTRD]

In the nicest way possible, if you're looking for info on how to align a 3rd gen, then that's the first step in deciding not to. These things are a pain in the rumpus, and the cam bolts not only effect camber, but castor and toe if not done correctly.

You're actually correct on your original assessment, if there is wear on one side of the tire then it's probably camber. If there is "feathering" then it can be attributed to toe adjustments. And if the tires are not rotated, you can eventually get uneven wear. The camber spec should be around -.6 to +.9, I'm betting you're on the positive side.

There's a ton of info out there on alignments, and yotatech would be your best source for decent info on the 3rd gen. Here's some pics with descriptions http://www.stengelbros.com/Alignment.htm and http://www.docstoc.com/docs/22231167/How-To-Read-Tire-Wear

As far as the tires being balanced, these things are way sensitive to out of balance tires, and could cause cupping. So get that done too.

 

[Spud]

Great, thanks for the info!

 

[Dell]

Great, thanks for the info!

tire wear article

^ good read if ya haven't already

 

[Gumby]

If the wear is on the very outer edge, the tires are toed-in. If the wear is angled across the whole tread, then it is camber wear. .

That is incorrect

 

[Gumby]

Thanks for the replies. I was thinking of trying to do the alignment adjustments myself but I guess I will just take it to a shop.
.

Unless you have an alignment rack at home doing it yourself is impossible.

 

[zags]

That is incorrect

Uhm, no it's not. I didn't just read what I wrote off of the internet. My opinion is from my own professional experience and I stand what I said. If it were wearing on the inner edges, it would be toed out.

 

[vipergrhd]

Alignment

Seriously,just get an alignment from a reputable shop.Tape measure and strings can only get you by for a few miles without damaging your tires also ask them to inspect your front end components for wear.

 

[Mr Chuck Norris]

I only know a couple people who can get a halfway decent garage alignment to work out... and they are doing it to their racecars that only see track time.