DIYbanter - View Single Post - Outside edge of front tires stairstepping

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On 9 Jul 2017 09:36:11 -0400, (Scott Dorsey) wrote:

Chaya Eve wrote:
On Sat, 08 Jul 2017 13:01:58 -0400, wrote:

You can have an alignment CHECKED - if no adjustment is required,
for a whole lot less than $100 if you get it to the right shop.

That's the HOLY GRAIL of services if it exists.

What would be perfect is a "free alignment check" and no charge if the
alignment doesn't need adjusting - but that may never happen for two
reasons.
* Alignment is a range (it's not just a single number), and,
* Nobody offers that anyway (that I can find).

Second-best (and perfectly acceptable) is a $25 alignment check-only, just
like I go to diagnostic-only smog stations, where all they do is MEASURE
the front toe and front camber (which is all that I need).

I would be very, very suspicious of anyone who did this. They likely have
some kid who knows how to put numbers into the machine doing the job, instead
of an alignment expert doing the work.

That is all you get for $100 from the majority of "tire specialist"
shops and "big box" tire stores.
As for "checking" alignment, that's all you need. The machine will
tell you very accurately and simply and quickly what your alignment is
set to, and if it is within spec. This does not take an expert. A
reasonably intelligent highschool graduate can be trained to operate a
sophisticated alignment rack in a matter of hours - days at most, of
all you need to do is CHECK alignment.

Determining if the alignment is the best it can be, and making the
required adjustments to solve particular problems - THAT takes
sxpertise!!!!

It's going to take the tech about half an hour to do the suspension check
over....going around pulling on things and hitting things with a mallet and
getting some sense of the general condition of the suspension. Then he is
going to spend ten or fifteen minutes talking with you about how you drive,
THEN he's going to start measuring the suspension. So figure an hour's time
for a full-priced technician just to look everything over.

Also, you do not need a "4 wheel" alighnment.

I've been reading up on alignment where the Toyota only has front
camber/caster (which is one setting) and toe, so that's all I need are
those two things.

A 4 wheel alignment is still required forsome issues on that 4 runner
- checking to make sure the vehicle is tracking properly etc. You can
read all you like about alignment and still not understand all the
ramifications. To check the suspension on a 2 wheel drive 4 runner
after it is driven onto the rack is less than a 15 minute job. Setting
up the rack and doing an alignment check for a 2 wheel alignment can
take as little as another 15 minutes.

We had a "scuff guage" that would tell me as I drove a vehicle into
the shop if the toe-in was out far enough to cause tire wear in less
than 15 seconds.

That said, my STRONG suspicion is you have a combination of the wrong
tires and the wrong pressures - the front end of a 4 runner is
HELLISHLY STOUT!!! You have to mistreat it pretty badly to throw it
out of alignment, and at your mileage there should not be much wear.
Like I've said NUMEROUS times - AIR UP - and see what happens.

You have still not told me what year your runner is and what size or
type of tire you have other than it is a 225 width.
What aspect ratio, what diameter, what make (brand) and model tire?
- what kind of tread?

Tell me what you have and I'll tell you if it is a tire application
issue - and pretty much tell you what pressure setings you should be
using.

What you MOST need is the guy pushing and prodding and hitting things with a
hammer to make sure everything on the suspension is stable. The actual
alignment on the machine is the easy part and the less important part.

You take it to the tire store, they put it on the machine, they measure it,
they put shims in so everything looks good on the machine and they declare
it aligned. But if you have anything loose and worn, it will be out of
alignment again by the time you get it out of the shop. Before putting it
on the machine you need to verify this isn't the case.

If I can find a shop who will do those two CHECKS for around $25 that would
make logical sense.

But to pay for an entire mounted tire just to save on a mounted tire seems
like throwing good money away logically as it was aligned two years ago
(and at that time, it needed it because the front left was wearing really
fast).

It's maintenance. Every 3,000 miles you change the oil, and you look over
all the hoses and belts and check the fluid levels just to make sure everything
is okay. You're not wasting time or money doing the check just because it
_is_ okay. You spend the time or money to make sure it stays that way. Every
once in a while you need to check the state of the suspension as well.

And yeah, finding someone who actually knows what they are doing and who
can do a careful alignment is rare, and it's worth supporting that person.
--scott