Alignment Confusion.

I'll totally admit that I'm an idiot when it comes to alignments. I took my truck to the dealership for a TPMS issue (I think that was fixed, but who knows?), while I was there, the service guy said it needed alignment.

It only cost me $99, and he showed me the before/after as proof of work. Did I really need it, or was this just an up sell?

 

Hard to imagine a brand new truck would need an alignment.

 

100% agreed - but it has happened. Like when somebody drives their new vehicle out of the dealership and straight into a curb. Generally speaking though, that was a blatant upsell / cash grab on the part of the Service Writer. Don't ever take what they say at face value.

Getting back to the numbers, the baseline numbers could be off due to technician error or an alignment rack out of proper calibration. Is the alignment better now? Well, if the equipment was out of calibration, maybe not. If it was operated and calibrated properly, it might be better, but given your numbers, I'd suggest that we're into the area of measurement error.

 

That happened to me a couple of years ago. The service writer at the stealership said my truck needed an alignment. I asked how did he know that? Well, your truck has big rims and tires, he says.

Uh huh. I have not been back there for service.

 

Looks like the caster was a little below spec. How many miles on it so far?

 

I forgot to mention in my original post that I have jumped a few curbs since I've owned it. I've done it maybe...5 times? Now, I didn't hit the curbs that I jumped at a high speed. It was less than 5mph, but I did do it. They were high curbs.

So when the guy showed me that the numbers were off, I thought "Well, that's what I get for jumping curbs."

 

Darn curbs. Lol

 

I have jumped a couple of curbs. Purposefully while stuck in traffic. I sometimes make my own U-turns because I can. The capabilities of this truck make it possible. Doesn't mean it is legal...

 

Haha. That is exactly what I did. I performed in the middle of the road u-turn so I wasn't sitting in traffic and I was too impatient to wait until getting to the next light.

 

We must be related somehow!

 

Man they could have sprung for a color printer on that alignment printout.

 

Printout says 2396.

 

Haha, I didn't notice that.

 

12 years as a dual brand master tech and shop foreman, then another 6.5 on the engineering side doing quality testing and development on preproduction and prototype vehicles… Every new vehicle needs an alignment.

 

I had the same issue with a new 2023 ORP with 3 miles on the OD, dealership should have checked mine (and yours) in the pre delivery evidently they didn't.
I went to 2 different dealers before they got it right.

Looks like you only have 2400 miles, yours should be covered under warranty (12K miles or 12 months) mine was.

 

That is not part of the pre delivery inspection.

 

This is good to know! I never would have thought to get a brand new vehicle aligned. Next time I will.

 

Same here, that is good to know!

 

Not to disagree with somebody with so much valuable experience, but let me offer my opinion based on 35+ years in manufacturing and quite a few in dealership service. (My son is also a Lexus Certified Serice Technician and an ASE Certified Master Technician.)

If you drove a brand-new vehicle right off the truck and onto the average dealership alignment rack, would it appear to need an alignment? Quite possibly yes. The big question is why and does it really need an alignment. In my opinion, the real reason is that the factory alignment process is actually much better controlled and thus more consistently right. The dealership equipment and process on the other hand is not. (Just ask how often the dealership equipment is calibrated - and how - vs the factory process.) So, when you check the alignment on that dealership rack, I propose that it will appear to be off.

As a test, I offer this experiment. Align any vehicle perfectly (remember, we're talking fractions of a degree here) on a dealership rack. Next, drive it around the lot and put it right back up on the same rack. I'd be willing to bet that the numbers you saw 5 minutes ago are no longer valid - and you need another alignment. But you don't. What you're experiencing is measurement and process variability.

 

Mine needed an alignment from new. Front end didn’t feel right and the wheel was a few degrees off when driving straight. Dealer alignment confirmed it and fixed it for free.

Maybe it’s not common but it happened to me.

 

Does Toyota take into account drive weight on an alignment.

FWIW, During my Nissan/Infiniti days we had to take that into consideration when performing an alignment.

Good possibility things could have changed since my time in service.

 

Caster wasn't in spec, so yes, you needed it

 

That was my exact situation as well.

 

First step for me when I get a new car: buy better tires, get an alignment.

Start off on the right foot.

Jason

 

Had to take mine to the dealer for alignment the week after I bought it. Steering wheel wasn’t straight. At least they did it under warranty.

 

How did he determine you needed that from a TPMS sensor. They get paid on commission and will try and sell you anything. That said there are different specs depending on model and suspension apparently. I got my Limited aligned when I noticed a wear pattern developing and they had SR5, Trail specs on alignment machine. He had to call and get Limited specs. They were all different according to his machine. Different suspension systems must have different specs. Maybe a caster or camber change for on or off road driving. I would think toe in would be the same 139.7mm as the rest, but that's me thinking again.

 

Best alignment I had was done at a frame shop with simple tools, bubble and measuring. I never saw any compensation for weight at Toyota dealer I worked at.

 

Crooked steering wheel drives me crazy.

 

Very true. It only has to be within certain specs. They always sell 4 wheel alignment but there's no adjustment on the rear. You should be hanging on all 4 wheels to measure square of vehicle. I do like it when they adjust from both sides to center on adjustments, but I'm probably OCD.

 

Your right. They just unwrap it and install the pieces. I wonder if there's not a general alignment setting from factory is why they are all over the place. Might be aligned from assembly if you install everything same way, same number of threads and out the door.