DJ, so I'm not quite confused just not quite clear. If i have them align to your recommended specs I am assuming(I'm sure) that the truck will be dead on aligned? What about the steering wheel being crooked, what caused that?
I contacted the Toyota dealership again and was told because the truck is lifted they simply align it to Tundra specs and that wouldn't be correct. I then asked if they would align it to specs that I brought in and after consulting the technician he said no problem however the machine they have(apparently the newest model of Hunter) they have only had for 2 weeks and although the technician has worked with it previously he isn't efficient with it and could get aligned to the specs I bring in but would take him longer costing me more money.
I'm thinking of taking it back to the other place and giving them a third try, 3 times a charm.
What you get is not necessarily what you ask for or what you pay for. It ought to be, but don't count on it. Wheel alignment is relatively simple to perform, but it requires training to get it right, experience to do it quickly, and even more training to use the specific features of a particular alignment instrument. Many technicians are reluctant to admit that they lack training and/or experience, as such an admission jepardizes their income. Even worse, many service managers are very reluctant to admit that they don't know diddly about wheel alignment.
So, you have to search for a shop that provides good results without giving excuses for why it's really OK that they screwed up. The only way you have to verify the results is to check the printout they hand you. It will show the measurements made by the machine, which you can compare to the specifications you want.
As for "third time's a charm", I beg to differ. Albert Einstein once defined insanity as doing the same thing over and over but expecting to get a different result. There is no reason to expect a particular shop to finally get it right just because they have tried and failed twice before. Such a shop would never see my vehicle again.
So, it might take some time and trying many shops before you find a good one. It requires good equipment, which is in good shape and calibrated, and a good technician to use it who is willing and proud of getting things right. Sometimes that's easy to find, sometimes it's not. You just have to keep looking.
Now, as to why you have a "crooked steering wheel" ...
A steering wheel should be level when the vehicle rolls along in a straight line. If it's not, the customer complains, and rightly so, as it is
visible that it is wrong and it is
irritating. Even worse, it is a clear indication that the "toe" alignment is not set properly, and toe being set improperly can wear tires out very quickly.
It might help to understand what "setting toe" is all about. So, here's a drink from a fire hose ...
"Toe" is the name used to describe the "pointing direction" of a wheel. Imagine that you are above the vehicle, looking down on it. Suppose the left front wheel points off to the right a bit and the right front wheel points off to the left a bit. If these were your feet instead of your front wheels, you would describe the condition as being "pigeon toed".
Now, while still looking down on the vehicle from above, draw a line through your left front wheel and parallel to it; this line is the "pointing direction" of that wheel, meaning it is the direction the wheel tries to roll. Draw a similar line through your right front wheel and parallel to it; this is the pointing direction of the right front wheel. With a truck such as yours, these two lines should meet somewhere way out in front of the vehicle. The angle between them is called "total toe".
Total toe is a very critical alignment setting. If the tires are "toed in" too much, meaning "very pigeon toed", or "toed out" too much, meaning the opposite, then the tires have to scrub a bit sideways as they roll along the road. If it's bad enough, this can wear the tread off in only a few hundred miles. If it's correct, as it is on mine, the tires can last a very long time. My wife's Sequoia is wearing her Michelins at the rate of 120,000 miles for the set. That ain't bad, no?
There is also the concept of "individual toe". That is the measurement of the angle between the pointing direction of a particular wheel and a reference axis. This gets a little sticky, but here goes. If you draw a line, as we did above, through the left rear wheel, which describes its pointing direction, and through the right rear wheel, which describes its pointing direction, these two lines meet somewhere. Let's suppose they also meet somewhere way out in front of the vehicle. They form an angle called "total rear toe". The line that bisects that angle, i.e. the line that divides it in half, is called the "thrust line". Why is that important here? The thrust line is the line down which the vehicle rolls when it rolls in a straight line, and so that line is the reference axis against which the individual toe angles of the front wheels are measured.
That's why alignment sensors are mounted on the rear wheels, even when the rear wheel alignment is not adjustable. The instruments must measure where the rear wheels point so they can also measure where the front wheels point.
Let's look at a very simple method for adjusting individual toe of the front wheels. Step one is to lock the steering wheel so it is straight and level, using a steering wheel clamp. Step two is to adjust the tie rod of the left front wheel, steering it so the individual toe measurement of the left front wheel is correct. Step three is to adjust the tie rod of the right front wheel so the individual toe measurement of the right front wheel is correct.
Now, consider what is desired. For the vehicle to roll along in a straight line, left individual front toe must be equal to right individual front toe. The steering wheel must be steered such that this is the case. If the steering wheel is straight and level when this is the case, then the steering wheel will be straight and level when the vehicle rolls along in a straight line. But, if either of these two adjustments are not made correctly, or the steering wheel is not level when they are made, then the steering wheel will have to be steered such that it is not straight and level to make the vehicle roll along in a straight line.
The bottom line is that the steering wheel is crooked when the vehicle rolls in a straight line if individual front toe adjustments are not made properly, meaning if the tie rods are not adjusted properly.
To put a fine political spin on it, "setting the toe" is
ALWAYS the final step of
EVERY alignment job. Getting it right is a
"MUST". If the steering wheel is "crooked" when the vehicle rolls along in a straight line, then you can be assured of
some combination of the following:
- ... the technician was careless.
- ... the technician was not properly trained.
- ... the equipment was faulty.
- ... the equipment was out of calibration.
There is NO excuse for a crooked steering wheel.
NO EXCUSE. And, I would find another shop if they can't get it right on the second try.