- Thread starter
- #21
Here's the big question. How did my toe get so far out of wack.... equally out of wack. I could see how wheeling could knock one side out, but is it common for both sides to creep out of alignment that equally?
LX is eating front tires. Another stupid Alignment Thread
- Thread starter radman
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Especially because it was even I would say it is most likely a calibration or setup error at the last alignment. I have had the $30k Hunter alignment machine tell me I'm spot on for toe, go out and drive it and the steering wheel is a little bit off, put it back on the alignment rack, and it tell me my toe is way out. Incorrect rolling compensation (something you do before measuring caster in the process of doing an alignment) can cause incorrect or inaccurate measurements. Hard to say honestly but that is my guess, just because they are both out equally.
The post-alignment specs look good. I'd have tried for 1/16" of toe-in but caster and camber look pretty good, and getting toe close to neutral especially if you have big heavy oversized tires is good.I specifically asked for .14 toe in, and this is what they gave me
Also seems odd that nothing else was adjusted. I’m back in here waiting for the tech to comment.
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I'm assuming the load in the vehicle is the same between alignments.
How long have you had your lift? They do break in a bit and your specs will move a tad over the first 1-2k miles as the suspension (springs) really settle
It's possible the original alignment was off a bit. The alignment will "bind" when they make big adjustments while on the rack. A good alignment shop will roll the truck off the rack and back on and re-check/re-set the alignment, but 99% of shops don't do that. Being that they were equally misaligned I'd suspect this is the cause.
It's also possible they didn't tighten the tie rod nuts sufficiently. You can climb under and put a torque wrench on them if you want to check, but it seems odd they'd both be equally off if a pothole or something caused on the skip a thread.
Lastly it's possible your tie rods are wearing and need replacement, but I wouldn't expect that until you're well over 100k miles... possibly 200k. And I wouldn't expect them to wear evenly like this
- Thread starter
- #25
This pisses me off the more I think about it.
I've asked to talk to the shop owner several times, and he's ghosting me - which makes me believe he knew something was wrong with his machine, or he simply doesn't care.
It looks like I can get another alignment done at the dealer since I specifically asked for "toe in" and didnt get that; however, it sounds like everyone has agreed on no toe.
But that leaves me back to the "toe and go" they performed. I could have them move Caster 1 deg, if that will help some of the squirrley-ness?
This might not be an issue with AHC. the pump will push until the sensors tell it to stop.
You aren’t the first unfortunately, in fact that list of disgruntled customers is quite long and quite varied.
- Thread starter
- #27
Any last minute thoughts on a re-alignment.
I need to hop back and get inspection, and I’m considering asking them to move caster forward 1 degree.
And I’m on the fence about the toe. Seems like everyone agrees that 0 toe is good; however, wouldn’t that be thrown off when the rig drops .75” at highway speed?
I need to hop back and get inspection, and I’m considering asking them to move caster forward 1 degree.
And I’m on the fence about the toe. Seems like everyone agrees that 0 toe is good; however, wouldn’t that be thrown off when the rig drops .75” at highway speed?
I have stock 2013 and did alignment when I got it two years ago. Experiencing same issue. It’s worse on drivers side. Trying to find alignment sheet to provide numbers.
- Thread starter
- #29
The shop foreman got involved and performed another alignment on the rig.
He was a little confused as to why some of the numbers had shifted, but we think it’s a matter of AHC leveling out at a slightly different spot. He also confirmed that 0 toe would be his recommendation.
He talked about bouncing the corners and even moving over to another alignment machine (they have 3!)
Here’s the latest & greatest numbers after they moved caster forward. And I must say, that 1 degree got rid of the squirrelly steering wheel over bumps.
He was a little confused as to why some of the numbers had shifted, but we think it’s a matter of AHC leveling out at a slightly different spot. He also confirmed that 0 toe would be his recommendation.
He talked about bouncing the corners and even moving over to another alignment machine (they have 3!)
Here’s the latest & greatest numbers after they moved caster forward. And I must say, that 1 degree got rid of the squirrelly steering wheel over bumps.
Good stuff. Glad you got it your your liking.
I think you're still on stock UCAs? And able to get pretty good caster even with a heavy AHC sensor lift?
I'll likely be following your footsteps with more AHC lift not that I'm able to get more downtravel.
Separately, in doing some suspension work this weekend, I don't believe the last person that did my alignment got my LCA bolts to spec torque at 280 lb ft. My hand calibration told me it was too easy to untorque given that number. I do need another alignment coming up and I'll be checking torques after.
280 or 217?
Thanks for catching that! 207 per the manual. Still didn't feel anything approaching 200.
That alignment looks terrible
I would not have paid for that alignment. Yikes.
Hello folks, I have a 2019 LX570 with some similar concerns about alignment. I am working with a good shop to dial in my suspension. I am running about 85% of the total AHC lift. I am also running methods +35 offset and 285/75/17s. From what I am seeing on a few other posts we may have gone a bit overboard with the camber caster but I wanted to see if anyone had experience or some good baseline specs for a similar setup. Cheers and thanks the community is great, thanks for any advice in advance.
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Your camber is going to give you a lot of pull to the right
Caster is higher than I like to run. Especially since as you compress the suspension you’re going to add caster
I like that they were able to pull the high caster out of an LX with a sensor lift, but camber needs to be corrected still. -.65* is too much negative, IMO. A little negative can be good for handling, but something like -.15 to zero would be my target. I would avoid *any* positive camber. It's also pretty mis-matched from side to side, which may pull and will affect handling balance.
Hey Glenn, sorry haven't gotten back to you as it's been a crazy week. I'm with @Heckraiser as to what I would chase as optimal.
For your setup, the camber is going to be a problem, especially as one side is cambered in and the other is cambered out. That's going to lead to some wonky steering. They might have had to compromise camber for caster, which currently has more than it really needs.
Hello folks, all thank you for the advice. Took some time to see how things feel over a little bit of time. I adjusted air pressure to 40-41psi. While the pull isnt noticeable I found that the drivers side front tire inside is getting chewed and overall it does feel like the suspension isn’t right when taking a bump. Which may be caused by the mismatch side to side like you mentioned. Unfortunately I am up in Albany Ny for the next month and cant get back to the shop in VA till after. Trying to limit miles and save some tread. If anyone knows a shop up that way they can recommend it is appreciated.
