Alignment thought

So last weekend I put my toytec 3/1 lift and TC uca on my 2017 DC. I had it aligned yesterday at a local shop that does alot of lifted trucks. The tech and I shot the craps for a bit about the lift, the UCA upgrade, which he said was a great choice. Anyhow, when we were on the subject of caster, I asked for him.to get as much caster as he could without sacrificing camber. He said that he doesn't buy into that thought process as many "keyboard warriors" suggest. He prefers to go between 3.2-3.6 of caster. The reason he gave is, that if you go more than 3.6, the amount of positive and negative camber during turns will cause bad cupping of the tires. His conclusion is 3.5-ish is the best compromise between stability and tire wear. My truck drives pretty much just like it did before the lift, no vague feeling like before the alignment. What are your thoughts?

 

He is correct. If you are concerned about tire longevity. The more caster you get, when you turn, you gain negative camber. Good for handling and sports car etc but bad for the tires.. so its a give an take. If you only drive straight, the you will never see it.. turning is a different story. He sounds like he knows what he is talking about, I would trust him.

 

For folks like me who had no idea about this.



Learn something new on this forum. Tundras.com FTW.

 

My only question is that isn't the caster already predetermined by the engineers/factory? So why would a tire place want to or need to adjust the caster?

 

No caster is adjustable. The upper ball joint is fixed, the lower control arm goes in/out-adjusting camber, forward/backward adjusting caster. Lift, upper control arm, centering wheel in wheel well all play a factor in caster settings once lifted.

 

because when you lift a truck by cranking the control arms, it changes the camber, then when the alignment person corrects the camber, it comes at the expense of the caster. Robbing Peter to pay Paul type of thing.