Your new truck probably needs an alignment

[izzy]

All suspension parts break in, can take up to 5000 miles for everything to settle.

New vehicles are aligned when they leave the factory. By the time you have a few thousand miles on it, it'll probably have a little extra toe that'll make the steer ahead off center.

Here is my truck after 7500 miles, about 50 miles offroad.

Alignment isn't covered by warranty, just have your local shop dial it in after 5000 miles or so.

I made this post because I see a lot of threads about people saying their stock trucks aren't going straight, it's not a defect.

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[Taco Ji]

Could it be possible that your alignment went off due to off-roading? Maybe your tire hit a big hole or a rock to throw the alignment off? I’m curious because all my other “non off road cars and SUVs alignment are true after break in mileage is achieved…

 

[izzy]

Could it be possible that your alignment went off due to off-roading? Maybe your tire hit a big hole or a rock to throw the alignment off? I’m curious because all my other “non off road cars and SUVs alignment are true after break in mileage is achieved…

The suspension settling is probably more obvious on vehicles with more travel than cars/SUVs. If the suspension settles down by 1/2", getting .20 degrees toe out isn't hard to image.

Maybe offroading made that happen faster but it's not likely. If you hit something so hard you threw your toe out you'd probably know and I can't recall any big hits on the trails we've ridden. My alignment has been the same since the BFGs on the TRD wheels wore in, about 1000 miles after they were mounted.

 

[Kielly]

Interesting, never really considered the fact, but I could see how it could get thrown off.

That said, I'm at 50k kms, with lots of rough roads and offroading, still drives straight as a whip thankfully lol.

 

[izzy]

Interesting, never really considered the fact, but I could see how it could get thrown off.

That said, I'm at 50k kms, with lots of rough roads and offroading, still drives straight as a whip thankfully lol.

You are probably due for an alignment tbh. I try to get them done every 15k mi on all my vehicles.

I've had coilover setups on cars drop another 10mm or so after they break in, which could for sure change toe some.

Mine was very good until the stock SR5 street tires wore in, then I could tell it was a little off. Then I got 300 mile take off TRD OR wheels and the new tires masked any alignment issues for another thousand miles or so.

Really wasn't that off, but I'm pretty sensitive to my vehicles steer ahead being not dead center I could feel the .10 degrees off, I'm special (ocd) about my vehicles going straight.

 

[gofastdan]

Make sure you talk to the person doing the alignment and ensure they know what they're doing. I had an alignment done at a Goodyear shop after installing spacers last year and in retrospect I believe they used the '23 specs. After 15k it was clear that the outsides were wearing at a much higher rate than the rest of the tire.

Last month I took the truck back to a more responsible shop and had a conversation with the owner. He had literally just updated his database but it still didn't have the '24/25 specs in it yet. He did some research and came up with a broad range of suggested settings. He ended up setting the the toe pretty much straight (his preference for his own vehicles) and told me to run it for 30 days and if I wasn't happy he would make adjustments. My KO3's are not going to last long due to the original shop's settings but I'm happy with the way it's set up now, just wish I'd caught it sooner.

 

[Gampy164]

It wasn’t covered under warranty? I believe Toyota honors one alignment under warranty up to 20,000 miles. I have not had to pay for an alignment done at two different Toyota service centers in Southern Indiana when I asked for one before 20,000 miles on my vehicles.

 

[gofastdan]

It wasn’t covered under warranty? I believe Toyota honors one alignment under warranty up to 20,000 miles. I have not had to pay for an alignment done at two different Toyota service centers in Southern Indiana when I asked for one before 20,000 miles on my vehicles.

In my case I changed the geometry by lifting the front end to level the truck so that wouldn't be covered by any warranty. You could be correct concerning a stock truck...?

 

[Gampy164]

In my case I changed the geometry by lifting the front end to level the truck so that wouldn't be covered by any warranty. You could be correct concerning a stock truck...?

That would make sense.

 

[izzy]

Ah maybe it is covered up to 12k/1yr but I figured it wouldn't have been off enough for the dealer to want to do it? I also don't trust them as much as Dynamic to dial it in good.

@gofastdan I've been going to Dynamic Autoworks for many years now they know what's up. I asked before hand if they could do it since the trucks are new ish and they had the specs on hand.

(their rack computer was being funky and didn't print said specs on the sheet, but it showed up on the computer when they were doing it)

I'd be very curious to see the chart you left Goodyear with if you were having outside edge wear.

 

[Yotota]

In my case I changed the geometry by lifting the front end to level the truck so that wouldn't be covered by any warranty. You could be correct concerning a stock truck...?

This is correct - if your suspension is stock, alignment is covered under warranty for 1yr/12k. Once the suspension is modified, it's all on the owner.

 

[Taco Ji]

This is correct - if your suspension is stock, alignment is covered under warranty for 1yr/12k. Once the suspension is modified, it's all on the owner.

Even if we install bigger tires?

 

[Yotota]

Even if we install bigger tires?

Tires don't change the suspension, so that wouldn't void any warranty coverage.

 

[izzy]

Even if we install bigger tires?

And if you're sensitive to your alignment being off I'm going to bet you'll be turned away by the dealer unless your steering wheel is literally 90 degrees the wrong direction

 

[gofastdan]

Ah maybe it is covered up to 12k/1yr but I figured it wouldn't have been off enough for the dealer to want to do it? I also don't trust them as much as Dynamic to dial it in good.

@gofastdan I've been going to Dynamic Autoworks for many years now they know what's up. I asked before hand if they could do it since the trucks are new ish and they had the specs on hand.

(their rack computer was being funky and didn't print said specs on the sheet, but it showed up on the computer when they were doing it)

I'd be very curious to see the chart you left Goodyear with if you were having outside edge wear.

The original alignment was over a year ago (and about 22,000 miles) and I sadly don't think I got a printout. Here's what I got from the current alignment. It's certainly possible that the "before" specs aren't exactly how the Goodyear shop set it up b/c I routinely drive at speed down forest service and logging roads...

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