Topic: alignment.....shop done or homebrew

[dntsdad]

I did the SAS about a year ago and we garage aligned the front end. It worked well but now I have some new 37's going on replace the long overdue to retire 33"s

I know that this is old hat for a lot of you, but this is a major $$ investment for us and we want to tires to last.

Anyway, when I was IFS I took it to a local Firestone place and had the alignment done and bought the "lifetime" service agreement for another $20. Figured what the hell. If I broke a ball joint, or whatever it would be worth it.

The contract follows the vehicle so now with the SAS I am wondering if it is even worth it to take the SAS setup in and have them get it better than I can do in the garage, ........or can they??

I am thinking that when the pull the specs for my 92 and notice there are no A-arms, they will refuse to work on it. It would be free though if so

Cliffs: Can a shop get my SAS aligned better than the straightedge method posted by Opps and others?

[Sparkplug]

Not really no. Just measure from the wms front and back, and you will be fine. There is no other adjustment, and half the techs cant operate the equipment right, or just dont care enough.

edit; Ive worked for a tire shop, and done alignments, about 5 years ago. It was these lasers you mounted on the wheels that would tell the computer where the wheels sat, and you would adjust everything accordingly, Camber, caster, toe.

Toyota solid axles only have the toe adjustment. You can do it just as good with a measuring tape.

[jimbo74]

they are going to say that since you modified it, the lifetime means nothing

[theslayer85]

It also depends on what the truck is going to be used for.  A strict wheeler there is not an issue with it, daily driver you want it as aligned as you can.  I worked at Lexus and one of the mechanics wheeled a samurai, the shop had two of the really fancy alignment racks and he still did the old tape measure method.  The machines cannot handle tires that big and it wouldn't get it much more accurate than the tape measure method. 

[Wainiha]

they are going to say that since you modified it, the lifetime means nothing

If they are smart enough to catch it...

[jimbo74]

If they are smart enough to catch it...

they are going to notice that the suspension physically isn't the same as the one in the picture on their screen......


I have worked doing alignments, and been a customer as well.... shops have flat out said the warranty doesn't apply because I switched out my own struts, or changed balljoints

[Sparkplug]

Again, there is only one measurement to adjust. The toe in. Its supposed to be 1/8th inch. MORE OR LESS DEPENDING ON YOUR TIRES.

A shop is gonna set i to whatever the book says. Not what it needs. People self align their rigs all the time and get the expected life out of their tires. I know I do

[2manytoys]

dntsdad, How did your 33's wear? Any problems?

[dntsdad [OP]]

they wore strange. Insides were more bald, and the tread lugs were uneven. some taller than others.

[Wainiha]

they wore strange. Insides were more bald, and the tread lugs were uneven. some taller than others.

Isn't the high and low wear of the tire lugs caused by the shocks being shot?

[Cheesemaker]

they wore strange. Insides were more bald, and the tread lugs were uneven. some taller than others.

If the insides wore faster then that means your bearings are worn out, axle is bent, or the toe was set wrong.  And the high low tread pattern means you aren't rotating the tires as much as you should, or if the low section of the tread is worn diagonally, then its the shocks.   Get us a picture as best as you can so we can see the wear pattern in the tire. 

[dntsdad [OP]]

Old tires are now gone but honestly 90% of the life of the old 33s were spent on the IFS setup so using them as a gauge would be misleading. WIth the SAS, everything under there is new and now with the "new" 37's Ill just have to watch the wear and see what happens.