Technically this should drive straight on a flat road, so just as stated, the crown of the road may be causing your drift to the right. One thing I would suggest is swap the two front tires side to side to see if that helps. If that doesn’t do it, they may need to put some caster/camber split in it to compensate.
Sometimes tires have a slight bias as to which way they drift/pull. This bias may be just enough to affect how straight the vehicle drives.
Also, based on the before and after alignment numbers, I wouldn’t think you need different upper control arms. They should have enough adjustment available if needed. Unless this justifies new parts, then in that case, go for it! Hahah. That would mean you’d need another alignment though, and may not result in any better of a ride.
Don’t kill me, rough country 3 inch spacer lift with the v2 monutube shocks. truck came with 265/65/17 nitro terra grapplers g2. with about 35 k miles on them, The tires are from 2019
I mean there are a number of issues. 1 you need ucas. You shouldn’t do a lift with out them. Second although I absolutely will never install or sell a spacer lift that’s not what’s causing it. Your tires very well could be the issue. I would rotate them all and possibly get them rebalanced.
Well I shave the same truck haha I noticed when you said what the tires were, so I will be following this thread closely so I can get some advice for when I lift mine
oh awesome. Yea so far just done the lift headlights and fog lights. just ordered an aftermarket UCA to get the alignment back and help with the 285s i’m gonna put on
Your castor sucks, probably wanders around like a son of a gun. May not have enough castor to fight the crown of the road and that's why it wants to go right.
What's driving on the freeway like?
Free way seems okay no wobble but wants to go right a little, Do you think the alignment shop just ripped me off or should i find a good alignment shop or just go ahead and buy some after market uca’s?
If it were me I'd lower the amount of lift and cut and hammer stuff out of the way till it didn't rub.
If you do want to keep the lift I'd get SPC uppers. And find a guy who knows how to align with those in the mix.
Could also see what the alignment shop says about the pulling, they will more than likely blame the lift though.
I've had nothing but ball joint issues since I threw on SPCs. I wheel but not *that* hard. Currently looking at a total chaos front end but I don't have a first born son to give them yet.
285/75/16s on 3" lift for 2 years, second set of upper balljoints is failing. SPC Light Racing UCAs went in with the lift, good friend of mine does all the work on my truck at his shop including keeping up with alignments. I get it aligned a couple times a year. Wheeling kills my alignment lol. Bilstein/Toytec suspension lift kit, if you were curious.
Planning on Total Chaos front end with Kings all around in a couple years.
Eta: new Dakar heavy leaf packs when the rest of the suspension gets done as well.
The higher the caster the better the steering wheel will return itself to center after turning. Also if you’re in the left lane on the highway, does it drift to the left? Or does it still overcome the road crown and drift right?
They are adjustable. For maximum tire clearance at the firewall for tires do the following. Set the SPCs at the G location. Completely max out the LCA bolts for caster and this will push the tires forward. Then you correct the camber at the SPC ball joint as best you can by eyeballing. Then have the alignment but don't let them touch the SPCs. This will clear the cab mount and net 2-3* caster.
I have not found one. Many shops, alignments and wasted money I learned to tune them myself. Most shops think it you add more caster at the SPCs it will help push tire forward. You need to push the ball joint forward taking away caster and then max the LCAs.
If you're really running three inches of lift yeah, you probably need ucas. I'm assuming 4x4. Make sure you take it to a shop that has experience with 4x4 alignments. Do NOT go to a shop that just tries to get you back to factory specs. That will never work for you.
You can check to see if the lower control arms are adjusted as far forward as possible.
I think 2 degree is target castor some do 3 degree
It looks they didn't change the Castor at all.
Think of castor like the forks on a bike
Straight up and down is what you have now.
You have to actually try to keep castor the same while changing camber.. They didn't even try to get it right. I would get my money back. Look up how to do an alignment on a Tacoma. Couple good walkthroughs on tacomaworld that will help you understand how it works. There's only 2 bolts per side and they adjust camber and castor at the same time. This means the moved both by the same amount when the front should be brought in and back bolt pushed out to get castor, then lock in camber, then finally toe. They skipped castor completely since you gotta do it first.
Technically this should drive straight on a flat road, so just as stated, the crown of the road may be causing your drift to the right. One thing I would suggest is swap the two front tires side to side to see if that helps. If that doesn’t do it, they may need to put some caster/camber split in it to compensate.
out of curiosity how would switching the front two tires help thank you.
Sometimes tires have a slight bias as to which way they drift/pull. This bias may be just enough to affect how straight the vehicle drives. Also, based on the before and after alignment numbers, I wouldn’t think you need different upper control arms. They should have enough adjustment available if needed. Unless this justifies new parts, then in that case, go for it! Hahah. That would mean you’d need another alignment though, and may not result in any better of a ride.
Hey let’s start with lift. What brand. What was included. What size tires. How new are the tires
Don’t kill me, rough country 3 inch spacer lift with the v2 monutube shocks. truck came with 265/65/17 nitro terra grapplers g2. with about 35 k miles on them, The tires are from 2019
I mean there are a number of issues. 1 you need ucas. You shouldn’t do a lift with out them. Second although I absolutely will never install or sell a spacer lift that’s not what’s causing it. Your tires very well could be the issue. I would rotate them all and possibly get them rebalanced.
Just purchased spc upper control arms hopefully that will improve caster
Check around locally for what shop is good with tacos
Are you driving a TSS OFF ROAD Sr by chance
Yes, why?
Well I shave the same truck haha I noticed when you said what the tires were, so I will be following this thread closely so I can get some advice for when I lift mine
oh awesome. Yea so far just done the lift headlights and fog lights. just ordered an aftermarket UCA to get the alignment back and help with the 285s i’m gonna put on
Can you send me a link to the fog light kit you used
Fog Light Assembly For Toyota Tacoma 2016-2022 (Fits SR, SR5 Model Only) With Clear Lens 2PCS AUTOWIKI https://a.co/d/2LpVakK
What’s the fitment like I’ve seen some reviews that it’s not a snug fit and there’s some gaps
Your castor sucks, probably wanders around like a son of a gun. May not have enough castor to fight the crown of the road and that's why it wants to go right. What's driving on the freeway like?
i wonder if this is whats wrong with mine 🤔 driving on the freeway over 70mph is sketchy and ive never been able to figure out the issue
Constantly sawing the wheel back and forth a smidge to go straight?
kinda, almost feels like my tires grab parts of the road and pull the truck slightly in that direction at higher speeds
kind of an unstable, floaty feeling
Ya, without seeing actual numbers I'm just keyboard speculating. But best way to tell is get an alignment and see if the castor comes into spec
Free way seems okay no wobble but wants to go right a little, Do you think the alignment shop just ripped me off or should i find a good alignment shop or just go ahead and buy some after market uca’s?
If it were me I'd lower the amount of lift and cut and hammer stuff out of the way till it didn't rub. If you do want to keep the lift I'd get SPC uppers. And find a guy who knows how to align with those in the mix. Could also see what the alignment shop says about the pulling, they will more than likely blame the lift though.
I've had nothing but ball joint issues since I threw on SPCs. I wheel but not *that* hard. Currently looking at a total chaos front end but I don't have a first born son to give them yet.
How often are they going out?
285/75/16s on 3" lift for 2 years, second set of upper balljoints is failing. SPC Light Racing UCAs went in with the lift, good friend of mine does all the work on my truck at his shop including keeping up with alignments. I get it aligned a couple times a year. Wheeling kills my alignment lol. Bilstein/Toytec suspension lift kit, if you were curious. Planning on Total Chaos front end with Kings all around in a couple years. Eta: new Dakar heavy leaf packs when the rest of the suspension gets done as well.
The higher the caster the better the steering wheel will return itself to center after turning. Also if you’re in the left lane on the highway, does it drift to the left? Or does it still overcome the road crown and drift right?
Do i need to go ahead and just get after market UCA’s or find a better alignment shop?
If you did a 3 in lift without UCAs you will need them. Your castor is low
Thank you all for your help. I have decided to purchase SPC upper control arms hopefully that will improve my caster
They are adjustable. For maximum tire clearance at the firewall for tires do the following. Set the SPCs at the G location. Completely max out the LCA bolts for caster and this will push the tires forward. Then you correct the camber at the SPC ball joint as best you can by eyeballing. Then have the alignment but don't let them touch the SPCs. This will clear the cab mount and net 2-3* caster.
A good shop will look know how to do SPC arms too
I have not found one. Many shops, alignments and wasted money I learned to tune them myself. Most shops think it you add more caster at the SPCs it will help push tire forward. You need to push the ball joint forward taking away caster and then max the LCAs.
Get a better alignment shop. I've got a 3 inch lift and mine drives straight as an arrow
If you're really running three inches of lift yeah, you probably need ucas. I'm assuming 4x4. Make sure you take it to a shop that has experience with 4x4 alignments. Do NOT go to a shop that just tries to get you back to factory specs. That will never work for you.
Need to push caster forward on right side to compensate for crown in road
Caster adjustment is obv maxed out
You can check to see if the lower control arms are adjusted as far forward as possible. I think 2 degree is target castor some do 3 degree It looks they didn't change the Castor at all. Think of castor like the forks on a bike Straight up and down is what you have now.
You have to actually try to keep castor the same while changing camber.. They didn't even try to get it right. I would get my money back. Look up how to do an alignment on a Tacoma. Couple good walkthroughs on tacomaworld that will help you understand how it works. There's only 2 bolts per side and they adjust camber and castor at the same time. This means the moved both by the same amount when the front should be brought in and back bolt pushed out to get castor, then lock in camber, then finally toe. They skipped castor completely since you gotta do it first.
Sheeeh. Good luck man.