Post Lift Alignment (1 Viewer)

[Zane]

So About 30 days ago I took my rig in to get a front end alignment done after I lifted my truck. I took it to my local National Tire and Battery (NTB) and noticed after I picked it up that the Caster readout was not within the factory specified range. I questioned so I spoke with the manager and he said that my truck did not have caster adjustments.... I knew this was not correct, but I had been at the shop for two hours and didn't want them to be jacking with my truck anymore so I paid and left. The next day I took it to another NTB by my office and they said that they do not do Caster adjustments on this truck because it is a lot of work for very little change in adjustment At this point I was very upset and left...

I called Toyota to verify my understanding of the IFS on the UZJ100 and YES there is caster adjustments on my truck and YES it should be done. Took it in today to have Toyota do my alignment and my readout is now within perfect specs and not all squirrelly driving down the road + Toyota was $10 cheaper in price for the alignment.

Took my readout to NTB and my receipt from Toyota and the store manager refunded me my $$! So, Make sure you ask if the alignment shop you take your rig to if they do Caster adjustments on your LandCruiser and if they say no, walk away....

I do almost all my service and repair on my truck myself because I know the quality of work that will be done. Situations like this only reinforce that logic, but I cant justify the price of an alignment rack.. Ha

 

[dclee]

I wonder how they adjust caster? Anyone know? On the solid axle trucks, you have to do something fairly extreme to adjust caster (a cut and turn, offset control arm bushings, etc.). In any case, it's not manually "adjustable" in the normal sense of the word.

I also just had my alignment done after the lift, and they stated the same thing, caster cannot be adjusted on the truck, which I did not question since it jived with my previous experience. My problem is that a Toyota dealer did the alignment, so I can't very well go back and say "Toyota says otherwise" without something to back it up, since they are Toyota.

 

[Zane]

My understanding is that the caster is adjusted by two bolts that hold the upper control arm in place. I can vouch that they can be adjusted because I had a readout of the caster being 0.9 on both sides before Toyota did the alignment. After Toyota did the alignment it was 1.8 which is in specification. Your factory service manual actually shows how to adjust the caster. According to the manual, the caster and the camber are set with the same cam nuts. You can always take it into Toyota and show them... My thaught is that doing the caster is a major pain and people dont want to do it, but if Toyota is telling you that your truck does not have Caster adjustments, show them your Factory Service Manual and get your $$ back. Its ok to be smarter than the Toyota Dealership.

[FONT=&quot]Attached is what you will find in your FSM:

[/FONT]

 

[hoser]

How to read the chart (using example)...

Measure the present alignment. Camber: -0°20' (-0.33°) Caster: 3°15' (3.25°)
Mark the difference between the standard value (A) and the measured value (B) on the adjustment chart. Standard value: Camber: 0°00' (0°) Caster: 3°05' (3.08°) Formula: A-B = C Camber: 0°00'- (-0°20') = 0°20' Caster: 3°05'-3°15' = -0°10'

 

[Zane]

To give credit where credit is due, I also used a post by "Hoser's" on Caster adjustments within a previous post as research into determining if you can adjust Caster on a IFS 100 series LandCruiser. So, Thanks Hoser for your excellent thread on this a while back..

 

[hoser]

Haha, let's just give the credit to Toyota.

 

[dclee]

OK, that makes sense. However, I believe when adjusting, it also affects camber, so in some cases it is not always possible to get caster in spec while keeping camber also in spec. So I guess they do the best they can to get both as close as possible. Here are my readings after the lift (only a 1" lift):

Pre-alignment (L / R):
Camber: 0.1 / 0.3
Caster: 1.0 / 1.0
Toe: 5/16 / 1/8

Post-alignment (L / R):
Camber: 0.1 / 0.1
Caster: 0.9 / 1.2
Toe: 0 / 0

 

[Travis351]

OK, that makes sense. However, I believe when adjusting, it also affects camber, so in some cases it is not always possible to get caster in spec while keeping camber also in spec. So I guess they do the best they can to get both as close as possible. Here are my readings after the lift (only a 1" lift):

Pre-alignment (L / R):
Camber: 0.1 / 0.3
Caster: 1.0 / 1.0
Toe: 5/16 / 1/8

Post-alignment (L / R):
Camber: 0.1 / 0.1
Caster: 0.9 / 1.2
Toe: 0 / 0

Thanks for typing that out. Stumbling onto this thread got me curious. Here are my measurements post lift for a comparison. My report has everything within spec except toe before the alignment.

Pre-Alignment (L/R)
Camber: -0.12 / -0.07
Caster: 2.13/2.08
Toe: 0.49/-0.23

Post-Alignment (L/R)
Camber: -0.14/-0.07
Caster: 2.13/2.08
Toe: 0.07/0.05

 

[mdcoa]

Thread resurrection.
Took mine in yesterday after a mild lift —when I went to pick it up, they’d only adjusted toe. I asked about the camber not having changed from “before” to “after”—the rep said they didn’t think it was adjustable. I said it was. They they brought out their master tech, who I’ve been very impressed with in the past. But who said they only adjust that if the customer says it is not steering well. And that it can throw the camber off when caster is adjusted.

Seems to me the caster is pretty wildly out of spec and though it drives fine, I reckon it’d drive better if it were in spec. I used the FSM table (not sure if they’ve seen it) and did all the calculations and will bring it back on Monday with “8.5 minus on the front cam and 4.5 plus on the rear, please” and see where that lands us.

And my steering wheel is now crooked when driving straight. Psyched.

 

[Alibaster]

This is a timely thread for me. Cranking the TBs tomorrow and then getting an alignment. I’ll have to look up the factory specs and see how I do. I got it pretty good when I replaced the UCAs despite not marking anything.

 

[jerryb]

Thread resurrection.
Took mine in yesterday after a mild lift —when I went to pick it up, they’d only adjusted toe. I asked about the camber not having changed from “before” to “after”—the rep said they didn’t think it was adjustable. I said it was. They they brought out their master tech, who I’ve been very impressed with in the past. But who said they only adjust that if the customer says it is not steering well. And that it can throw the camber off when caster is adjusted.

Seems to me the caster is pretty wildly out of spec and though it drives fine, I reckon it’d drive better if it were in spec. I used the FSM table (not sure if they’ve seen it) and did all the calculations and will bring it back on Monday with “8.5 minus on the front cam and 4.5 plus on the rear, please” and see where that lands us.

can I ask where this got you as far as spec goes with those numbers you used? dyslexia is killing me

 

[Prezzz]

Thanks for posting this. I'm going to re-index my ARB lift TB's this weekend to be able to crank then up a little more, as they are maxed out currently. Will need an alignment and now I know what to ask.

 

[Live to Ski]

My experience w. Post mild alignment is the shops are not used to theses beasts.

I had to bring in the FSM as most of the alignment machines don't have the 100 series procedures in their memory. Once they saw the FSM procedure and followed it, no problems.

 

[mdcoa]

can I ask where this got you as far as spec goes with those numbers you used? dyslexia is killing me

IIRC, it got me closer but still not in spec. I had it aligned again since (after I replaced both steering knuckles)—still the same, and the mechanic clearly knew what he was doing—I think with stock UCAs it’s tough/impossible to get it in spec after even a pretty mild lift. Drives fine, so I’ve not been thinking about too much.