Alignment Issues x2

Recently purchased a 2013 4Runner Limited. The steering wheel was tilting to the right and it was definitely pulling to the right. I took it in to a local alignment shop and they "fixed it". They actually adjusted everything to the correct specs and the steering wheel also was now straight. I took it out on the freeway and it still pulled to the right.

I took it to my favorite tire shop and they said the inside of my left tire was more worn than the outside. The right tire was fine. So to test the alignment they cross-swapped the front tires. In theory, if the pulling to the right was a tire issue, it should now pull to the left. No luck, still pulling to the right - however not as bad or as fast.

I took it back to the local alignment shop today and they put it back on the rack to check. All specs were within the correct range. To fix the problem they "Changed the caster to help compensate for the road crown on the freeway without sacrificing tire wear". This actually solved the problem and it now drives straight....but

I don't know much about tire alignment but it seems that if you are adjusting one thing (in this case the caster) to compensate for something there will be another thing that must give. I would love your input as I don't really want to have unnecessary wear on other parts.

Thanks for your help!

 

You'll be fine with a higher caster number. Some people with aftermarket UCA's go as high as 5 degrees on our vehicles.

I'd be willing to bet yours is still within spec, even if it's on the higher end. What caster number did they get you to?

 

How bad is the worn tire?

 

Caster to adjust for road crown is common.

 

Not bad. Inside to outside of the tire was only 2/32 different, but they were fairly new tires.