HiluxSurfGuy

Hey guys, I have been having issues since the beginning of time. About 2 weeks of nothing but pavement driving after an alignment, my tires look like \ /. It seems like whenever i get onto a mild slant on a road, my car pulls dangerously in that direction as well. I also have to constantly micro adjust while highway driving, and everytime i hit a little bump my car travels all over the place. I have talked to my local facebook groups wanted to hear everyone else opinion on what the issue is. I currently have a 2.5" lift (Rear springs, shocks all around, front bj spacers with kinda cranked ARB torsion bars). Currently running 33's.

I have new upper/lower balljoints, front bearings, outer tie rod ends, pitman arm, and a new idler arm, which i now think is bent. Also have BJ spacers. I have ordered new inner tie rods and a new steering stabilizer as well and plan to install it, i don't think these are the problem, but Im getting new ones regardless.

Here are the current things i am thinking they might be. I w

1. Idler arm/Pittman arm. My idler arm is gouging out the frame, looking underneath my frame compared to another runner, my pittman arm is lower on the steering box than others, so maybe that is causing a leveraging affect and making my idler arm end up higher and get ˟˟˟˟ed on the frame? I've attached photos. in the imgur album down below. I'm looking at getting a custom build idler arm built locally for me that won't break down as i know the stock ones tend too. I am only assuming it is bent as there was enough force to gauge out the frame.

2. Caster/Allignment bolts. I have also posted pictures of these down below. A few people mentioned that it doesn't look like there are any locking tabs on my caster adjustment bolts, or that the shop didn't torque them correctly, so they may be weaning off. A reputable shop last did my alignment, and i did not hear anything about issues with these bolts.

3. Torsion Bar Crank. (ARB Torsion bars) A couple people mentioned that having over cranked torsion bars could contribute to the problem. However i fail to see how over cranking the torsion bars could slowly push the bottom of the tires inward and ruin my alignment. I actually have to crank my bars a little bit more as my current tires rub. With my current setup i already have a good amount of rake, so i fail to see how my current torsion bars are cranked to the point of failure (considering i have bj spacers in the front)

What is everyones personal opinion on this?

https://imgur.com/a/FzkFhus

Co_94_PU

iTrader: (-1)

When you left the alignment shop they should have given you a print out, that is going to be way more useful than a bunch of zoomed in and cropped images where people are left trying to figure out what side of what you are snapping pictures of. And that's before we even get into slight difference in manufacturer tolerances mean X on yours isn't the same as X on mine.

HiluxSurfGuy

I sadly have thrown those papers out. Whenever i have asked the shop if they did it they always said "no problems we got it aligned within spec"

I should of worded it differently. The problem isn't getting it alligned, its the allignment holding in place once its done.

Co_94_PU

iTrader: (-1)

#1, Your idler arm might have some adjustment based on the frame holes and bolts used. Otherwise you've got a bemd fram all else being equal.

?#, Pulling to the off chamber side of the road is normal, yay gravity works.

Not going to pay ck through the rest of those cause it's late I'm lazy and didn't quote them for reference.

..
So bottom line you took a look lifted vehicle to a shop not familiar with doing alignment on an altered suspension and they "set it to spec" ignoring the Ackerman angles and now you've got a light steering, that's pretty normal, sadly they are typically only trained to follow the directions.


You could try poking @akwheeler

HiluxSurfGuy

Thanks for the help so far, i completely agree on the shop part, I'm not going to make that mistake again and bring it an inexperienced shop.

Idler arm has 0 adjustment, already double checked. Something that i may be affected the camber bolts is my torsion bars. They are the upgraded ARB ones that are a bit thicker, so maybe when the vehicle bounces, the camber bolts are the weak point?

Andrew Parker

Ok the addition of the BJ spacers will do two major changes to the suspension. First it separates the upper and lower A-arms apart from each other and this will allow a slight increase in wheel travel and some ever so slight binding of the ball joints,tie rod ends and the CV's at full droop. The OME/ARB torsion bars need to be preloaded so that the ride height puts the frame cross member at approximately 11-12 inches above the ground when a 31x10.50-R15 tire is mounted on the stock wheels. With this set correctly the track width of the vehicle will increase by almost 3/4" for each side of the vehicle because the upper a-arm is almost completely horizontal and that is because the 1.5" BJ spacer has put it at that angle. This will require the lower a-arms to be adjusted out ward to reestablish the camber and the caster. Then the tie rods will need to lengthened because the increased track width will have created an incredible amount of toe in. If you run the torsion bars a lot more sprung than this and have the suspension almost topped out you will over twist the torsion bars and exceed the tensile yield strength of the metal when you cycle the suspension through bumps. Then as the springs yield they will sag and the ride height will drop.

The idler arm is a very well known weak link for the original 4X4 IFS. The drag link pivots that are located at the pitman arm and the idler arm get over taxed at full droop with the BJ-spacers in place. The bushings in the idler arm are plastic and are not up to long term demands that offroading and large tires exert on these bushings and they will crack and disintegrate under the loading. Once that happens getting an accurate toe set is impossible and the steering wheel will get alot more freeplay in its responsiveness to guiding the vehicle on cambered roads.

akwheeler

Surfguy, Co_94_PU and Andrew are on track and steering you in the right direction. (pun intended).
I can't open your pictures as the firewalls I'm working with are blocking them.
The first thing that jumps to my mind is that the shop that did the alignment should warrantee their work if the camber has changed as you indicate / \.
Thy should redo your alignment since that would indicate that they didn't tighten the adjusters down tight enough. That is, of course, unless you fiddled with it since they did the alignment.
As previously stated your truck will drift away from the crown in the road. This is both by design and by physics. Two lane roads are crowned in the middle to help water run off and to make vehicles drift towards the ditch instead of into oncoming traffic if the driver falls asleep or isn't paying attention to where they are going.
Other things to consider are that your truck is no longer stock and will not drive like a stock truck.
When you tighten the torsion bars to lift a vehicle you are not just changing the ride height, you are also going to make it ride rougher, which will make it twitchier going down the road.
ball joint spacers should allow for lift without a rough ride, but if you need more lift than that all bets are off.
If you go back for another alignment (which I think you should) make sure to get a computerized printout of before and after readings and keep it.
I don't know what to say about your idler arm gouging the frame, like Co_94 said, something must be bent and it isn't likely to be your idler arm itself, maybe the shaft.
If you have a custom one made make sure you are not messing with the geometry. The drag link needs to be parallel with the ground and if that means your pitman arm is noticeably closer to the frame than the idler arm then something is wrong.
If your tires are rubbing you are trying to use a wheel with the wrong back spacing or tires that are too wide or too tall for your setup. Maybe you should just go for the solid axle swap or start cutting wheel wells.
If your truck is doing more than just drifting slightly to the right there are some adjustments that can help, but first you need to make sure that you are completely done messing with the suspension and steering.
Make sure all of your tire pressures are equal and that you have the best two tires in front with as close to matching tread wear as possible.
When you take it to the alignment shop ask them to adjust it with slightly higher camber on the left and slightly lower camber on the left. This should help it fight road crown.
Keep in mind they will be aligning it to the specs for a stock vehicle.
Also, you will always have to "micro adjust while highway driving". They haven't come out with auto pilot yet.
If your steering box play is adjusted too tight it will add to that issue though, you will constantly be turning because the truck just will NOT go straight.
If your steering system is stiff (lots of new parts and damper and such) you may find that it will pull to whichever side you made the last "micro adjustment".
Good luck and let me know if you have any more questions.