Alignment Specs

[Gebo]

I went to a local alignment shop with DJ's specs in my hand. Here is what they did. They agreed with the principle of what DJ said but they put a slight wrinkle in his specs he has here in this forum. BY the way, this shop is the only one in my area that only does alignments.

Here's what they did. They said for me to try this and if I didn't like it, they would redo at no charge.

Final reading:

Left/Right

Caster 2.54/2.73
Camber +.21/-.04
Toe 1/16" toed in

They said these settings would compensate for the crown in the road (??)

One thing I know. My Tundra drives better than it ever has and my steering wheel is lined up. I am a happy camper.

[DevinSixtySeven]

Personally I wouldn't accept that alignment.

It probably doesn't pull much when there's a tilt to the road surface, since the caster difference is only about 6%, but on a flat and level road it will pull.

The camber numbers are screwy, for lack of a better description...you will notice different wear patterns on each side in front.

Toe should be measured by angle, not by a difference between the front and back of the tire.

My opinion is it's not good enough, and my suggestion is find a shop with the equipment DJ recommends, willing to work with you to get the alignment you want. I've had plenty of good alignments from that equipment...it's only difficult if the truck is lifted more on one side than the other (or if one side is sagging).

If they can even out the numbers (they should be able to get them extremely close), and set toe based on an angle rather than a yardstick, stick with 'em. If they can't or won't, find a new shop.

-Sean

[DJ]

I went to a local alignment shop with DJ's specs in my hand. Here is what they did. They agreed with the principle of what DJ said but they put a slight wrinkle in his specs he has here in this forum. BY the way, this shop is the only one in my area that only does alignments.

Here's what they did. They said for me to try this and if I didn't like it, they would redo at no charge.

Final reading:

Left/Right

Caster 2.54/2.73
Camber +.21/-.04
Toe 1/16" toed in

They said these settings would compensate for the crown in the road (??)

One thing I know. My Tundra drives better than it ever has and my steering wheel is lined up. I am a happy camper.

Compensating for road crown is a holdover from the days when roads were two lanes wide (one lane each direction) and so the road always sloped to the right side of the car. With modern freeways and such, that is often not the case.

Moreover, compensating for road crown is a technique that could provide some benefits if the vehicle were sensitive to road crown in the first place. The whole point of my recommendations for specs is to set caster as high as Toyota's specs for the Tundra recommends, thus providing the maximum steering stability and the minimum sensitivity to road crown that those specs allow.

So, your Tundra doesn't need any compensation for road crown. Mine has 101,xxx miles and seven years on it, all without any such compensation, and has never pulled either way due to road crown.

Your alignment could be better, and I would realign it if it were mine.

Toe is always measured (with modern equipment, that is) as an angle, but it can be reported as "degrees", "inches", or "millimeters". The standard conversion used in this country is that two degrees of toe equals one inch of toe.

[Gebo]

I'll keep a close watch on my tire wear. One thing I can say for sure, my TUndra drives better than it ever has. Steering wheel straight, no pulling, etc. Where I live there are very few miles of 4 lane. Almost all 2 lane so that may be the reason they align the way they do.

[DW]

Compensating for road crown is a holdover from the days when roads were two lanes wide (one lane each direction) and so the road always sloped to the right side of the car. With modern freeways and such, that is often not the case.

Moreover, compensating for road crown is a technique that could provide some benefits if the vehicle were sensitive to road crown in the first place. The whole point of my recommendations for specs is to set caster as high as Toyota's specs for the Tundra recommends, thus providing the maximum steering stability and the minimum sensitivity to road crown that those specs allow.

So, your Tundra doesn't need any compensation for road crown. Mine has 101,xxx miles and seven years on it, all without any such compensation, and has never pulled either way due to road crown.

Your alignment could be better, and I would realign it if it were mine.

Toe is always measured (with modern equipment, that is) as an angle, but it can be reported as "degrees", "inches", or "millimeters". The standard conversion used in this country is that two degrees of toe equals one inch of toe.

Question for DJ:
His pickup is an '03 Tundra, I believe. Now, I got my '03 Access cab 4WD aligned to 2.2 Caster & -0.1 Camber & 0.10 (.05 + .05) total toe & caster/camber equal on both sides. HOWEVER, his pickup is about 1/4 degree different, Right to Left, to 'compensate for road crown,' both caster & camber. Not perfect, but what's REALLY so bad about that difference and his alignment...I'm assuming his 1/16" toe is roughly 0.06 degrees, if I figured it right?

[DJ]

Question for DJ:
His pickup is an '03 Tundra, I believe. Now, I got my '03 Access cab 4WD aligned to 2.2 Caster & -0.1 Camber & 0.10 (.05 + .05) total toe & caster/camber equal on both sides. HOWEVER, his pickup is about 1/4 degree different, Right to Left, to 'compensate for road crown,' both caster & camber. Not perfect, but what's REALLY so bad about that difference and his alignment...I'm assuming his 1/16" toe is roughly 0.06 degrees, if I figured it right?

1/16" of total toe is 0.13 degrees of total toe.

The higher caster is, the more stable the steering is, other things being equal, and the less sensitive it is to left and right caster not being equal. With caster at 2.5+ degrees, it's apparently not very sensitive to 1/4 degree cross caster.

[81toypu]

I used to be an alignment tech and other than the left camber being slightly too positive (some tire wear) the specs look great. It depends where you live whether road crown is a concern or not. It looks great! don't worry bout it.

[mikeq]

Hey guys,

I'm new here so I hope it's okay to continue this topic from 2007. I recently noticed improper outside shoulder wear on my 2008 Tundra. I took it in and the dealership said everything is within spec. One of the things that struck me was that when I was shown the alignment paperwork, the toe-in for the left front tire was red while the others were green. The service guy told me that they did in fact make some adjustments to the toe, but that the tire wear would have been on the inside shoulder instead of the outside because there was too much toe. I'm at the point where I need 2 new tires and I only have 13,000 miles. If someone has any suggestions I would greatly appreciate it!

[PPosey]

Hey did you find out anything??? my factory Michelins are toast at 15,000 for the same reasons on my 2008 and I'm not sure about setting for that year

[DevinSixtySeven]

Hey guys,

I'm new here so I hope it's okay to continue this topic from 2007. I recently noticed improper outside shoulder wear on my 2008 Tundra. I took it in and the dealership said everything is within spec. One of the things that struck me was that when I was shown the alignment paperwork, the toe-in for the left front tire was red while the others were green. The service guy told me that they did in fact make some adjustments to the toe, but that the tire wear would have been on the inside shoulder instead of the outside because there was too much toe. I'm at the point where I need 2 new tires and I only have 13,000 miles. If someone has any suggestions I would greatly appreciate it!

Please post the alignment numbers, before and after. Picture of the alignment sheet isn't necessary, just make sure you note what the number represents, whether it is left or right, and whether it is positive or negative.

Example:

Left Toe, Before/After: -0.17/+0.04
Right Caster, Before/After: +1.1/+2.5

etc...

-Sean

[dz_nate]

I had the same problem on my 06 DC. The outside block of tread on the passenger side front tire was worn excessively at my first rotation. Took it to the dealer and they said I was within spec and it could just be my driving style. Long story short I noticed on the sheet they had used the specs for an 07 DC. A second alignment (using the correct specifications) and the problem seems to be solved.

[DJ]

Hey guys,

I'm new here so I hope it's okay to continue this topic from 2007. I recently noticed improper outside shoulder wear on my 2008 Tundra. I took it in and the dealership said everything is within spec. One of the things that struck me was that when I was shown the alignment paperwork, the toe-in for the left front tire was red while the others were green. The service guy told me that they did in fact make some adjustments to the toe, but that the tire wear would have been on the inside shoulder instead of the outside because there was too much toe. I'm at the point where I need 2 new tires and I only have 13,000 miles. If someone has any suggestions I would greatly appreciate it!

"Individual toe" of a wheel is a measure of the pointing direction of that wheel relative to a reference axis. So, if you steer the wheels to the left or the right, such a live measurement will change. Thus, individual toe should be compared to its specification and tolerances only when the steering wheel is level, as only then should such a measurement be expected to be correct.

"Total toe" is a measure of the angle between the pointing directions of the two steerable wheels. If you steer the wheels in the range of a few degrees left to a few degrees right, total toe usually changes only very slightly. Thus, total toe can be compared to its its specification and tolerances even if when the steering wheel is not quite level.

Your printout shows individual toe not being in spec because the technician did not have the steering wheel precisely level when he printed it. You should ignore the printout readings of individual toe and look at total toe.

To find out how well he adjusted toe, you can do two things: 1) look at total toe on the printout and compare it to its specification and tolerances; and, 2) check to see if the steering wheel is precisely level when the vehicle rolls along in a straight line on a flat, straight road.

[aia]

Hi all- total newbie here, so please bear with me....

I don't mean to hijack the thread, but....

Just bought an 06 AC with 28K miles and trashed tires. I had new tires put on and aligned yesterday.
The top of the alignment report showed that the vehicle was a 2007 Crewmax.

Should I presume the specs are different for the gen 1 vs. gen 2?

TIA

[aia]

I had the same problem on my 06 DC. The outside block of tread on the passenger side front tire was worn excessively at my first rotation. Took it to the dealer and they said I was within spec and it could just be my driving style. Long story short I noticed on the sheet they had used the specs for an 07 DC. A second alignment (using the correct specifications) and the problem seems to be solved.

Nice! I just posted essentially the same problem. Frightening, huh?

[CEDevils]

Is there any way someone can just go down to a Toyota dealership and get the factory specs for the Tundra. Instead of posting what people think since every truck is going to be different, why not be just post a baseline factory spec and let people go from there. I am in England trying to get alignment specs and can't. My best option to find them is look here but everyone has their own opinion.