Help Me Fix My Pulling 80

[-Spike-]

I highly doubt the steering wheel is forcing the tires to turn, but for fun put the front end on stands, start the truck, and see if the wheel returns to center or moves in any direction with no input from you. Try it from several positions.

Also, get one front tire in the air and try to force movement at the 3 and 9 o'clock positions, looking for movement in the TRE's. Then try the other side.

FWIW, with fresh trunnion bearings that have no play, and no play in your wheel bearings, your camber readings say the axle isn't perfect. I have no idea how much allowance Toyota gives for that. There might be misalignment trunnion bearings available that would fix a camber issue. Seems like I've seen them somewhere, but it might not have been for this application.

 

[mikeprince]

FWIW, with fresh trunnion bearings that have no play, and no play in your wheel bearings, your camber readings say the axle isn't perfect. I have no idea how much allowance Toyota gives for that. There might be misalignment trunnion bearings available that would fix a camber issue. Seems like I've seen them somewhere, but it might not have been for this application.

There are misalignment bushings for ball joints (that's how my friend compensated for his bent frame) but from what I know of the Toyota trunion design, I don't see how the same technique could be easily applied - there simply isn't very much space and the upper and lower bearings need to be exactly aligned.

Anyways, I'm very curious about what the problem is here... please let us know when you find out

 

[jmvar]

I have an update. I knew I had gotten several alignment checks over the years, specifically before and after the lift to check how much I was going to have to correct the caster.

The alignment numbers I posted were prior to my lift (8/25/2008).

These are the newest alignment numbers post lift and post caster correction (7/27/2009).

From what I remember I checked to alignment for 2 reasons. First the truck was still pulling, and the second was to see how the caster correction turned out.

I got the alignment done at the same shop both times but this latest alignment sheet has some terms and specs I am not familiar with. If you guys could take a look at these and see if any of these numbers that are out of spec could cause my issue. I specifically remember the tech telling me that none of these numbers would cause a pull.

Left front:
Camber .7 deg
Caster 2.6 deg
toe .22 deg
SAI 13.1 deg
Included angle 13.8 deg

Right front:
Camber -0.3 deg
Caster 2.6 deg
Toe -.17 deg
SAI 22.3 deg spec calls for 12.3-13.8
Included angle 21.9 deg spec calls for 12.5-15.5

Front
Front Total toe .05 deg
cross caster .1 deg
cross camber 1.0 deg
Cross SAI -9.2 deg


Left rear:
camber 0.0 deg
toe .24 deg

Right rear:
Camber -.3 deg
Toe -0.02 deg

Rear total toe rear: .21 deg
Rear Thrust angle: .13 deg
Cross camber .4 deg

Anything in red is out of spec. I have no idea what Included angel or SAI are but I would venture to guess that there is my issue. I have no idea why I didn't press the tech for answers when I got these but I do remember him saying none of these numbers would cause a pull.

Any insight?

 

[slowturn]

Any luck finding a root cause?

I know nothing about alignments, but found these pages which explain what SAI is and offer some potential causes:
Wheel Alignment Terms
Wheel Alignment A Short Course

Again, I know nothing, but based on what you've reported and those links, it sounds like there might be some bent suspension component causing the pull.


I've been following this thread because I have a similar pull and am trying to research the best method of determining what's causing it.

Here's my plan for finding the source of my problem:

1. check front wheel bearings for play
2. check tie-rod ends for play
3. check relay rod and tie rod for straightness
4. check for (e-)brake binding
5. "rotate" front tires
6. get an alignment (with SAI) and get toe-in corrected if necessary
7. get tires balanced while getting alignment done
8. if SAI/included angle is out of whack, find out why...

I've read how to do most of these, but I don't remember the exact steps so I'll look them up again and reply with directions.

Later!

 

[slowturn]

And here's the link I couldn't find:
https://forum.ih8mud.com/80-series-tech/137411-front-axle-evaulation-faq.html

Just putting it there for reference. It guides you through checking most of the things I mentioned plus the trunion bearing.