serious problem :(

[toolex]

think this is an alligment problem, toe problem, or something like the frame is bent? i can't see any breaks along the welds on the shock tower, no signs of bending at all. any ideas, i really need help http://www.race-dezert.com/vb3/attachments/old/images/graemlins/frown.gif

[toolex]

another

[toolex]

last one

[matt_helton]

so let me get this straight....................everything was fine before you put the lift spindles on??? if so, you need to get it aligned...(assuming everything was installed correctly) usually the toe will be all jacked after the install of lift spindles.

[toolex]

not quite, it was like this before i put the spindles on. i thought the stock spindles were bent but i guess they weren't. the toe got a little more messed up after installation, but what im worried about is how the bottom of the tire sticks out more than the top. it's almost as if the top shock mount got pushed in or something, i can't really tell. and if a frame shop needs to go ahead and fix it than it means big bucks http://www.race-dezert.com/vb3/attachments/old/images/graemlins/frown.gif

[matt_helton]

well, come on dude. give us all the info here. what did you hit or ram with the truck??? it didnt just get that way by itself did it????

[matt_helton]

you need to first check the strut arms and their mounting bushings up at the front of the frame. make sure the bushings havnt blow up and that the arms are straight. also check the steering knuckles on the spindles. these can also bend. also check the idler arm and center link. these are also common things that can bend in a collision. pitman arm too, but unlikely. you also need to check to see if your camber/caster shims on the upper arm cross shaft to make sure they are still there and havnt fallen out. and just do a comparison of all parts from one side to the other and see whats bent or damaged. ive bent most of the above mentioned crap on my old truck.

[PreRunninToyota]

I had that same problem on my toyots awhile back. I will almost guarantee its your centerlink. Mine looked fine and all to the naked eye, but when swapped out for a new one the tires starightened up nicely. I went through so many centerlinks and idler arms I said f&*# it and went with TC and the King Kong kit.

[toolex]

umm dumb question, but what exactly is a centerlink? is there an easy way to see if it's bent? And...a car ramed into the side of my truck, i check the bushings and they all look ok, my arms also look good as well. I don't think it'll be noticable from the naked eye. but i'm just wondering if anyone has had this problem before.

[matt_helton]

the centerlink is the big steel bar in the middle of the steering. at the outter ends of it bolt to the pitman and idler arms and further in from there is where the inner tierods bolt up. it should be perfectly straight except for the outter portions between the tie rod holes and the very ends, there it bends forward a bit on each side.

[gary]

i put the same spindles on my truck, it just isn't moving yet. (they don't appear to be the strongest things in the world, just a warning..but i'll give them a try anyway)..the alignment is gonna be quite different with them...the tie rod length needs to be increased, and they seem to have a bit of negative camber built into them, as the tires do sit with the tops in/bottoms out...my steering is worn out as well, as my tires toe in when in reverse..but that's an upgrade for another day...this pic is at full droop, and since the old spindles were modified stockers, the alignment (number and size of shims/washers behind upper arm) wasnt quite the same as yours...
take it to an alignment shop...

[geoff]

which spindles are those?

[gary]

fabtech...'cept they come in black...
http://fabtechmotorsports.com/app%20images/spindles/spindle-2WDtoyota.gif

[toolex]

gary the camber on your truck looks very similar to what mine is at now, but only one side of my truck has bad camber, so i don't think the spindles threw it off. After a hard impact such as a car running into the side of it....is there a chance it just got the cambr adjustment thrown off, and an allignment shop can fix it? or are the chances that something broke. I plan on taking it to a shop as soon as i have time to go back and work on it, for the meantime my bike is my transportation..

[matt_helton]

you dont know anyone with any mechanical/front end knowledge??? you need to have a friend or someone with some know how look at your truck before you pay a shop top dollar to diagnose your problem.

[gary]

getting hit by another car could have definitely bent something on your truck. probably not just gonna be an alignment issue. but was the camber even, left side vs. right side, before the new spindles? i think it would've been visibly off before. look at the shims between the upper arm's cross shaft and the frame. look at each side. are they similar? if there's no shims on one side, and a 1/2 inch on the other, either they've fallen out (loose, sloppy upper arm), or something is bent, and it's been "covered up" by adjusting each side as good as possible, calculating for the new "tweak" of the frame. if they are the same, look somewhere else, but it's possible that the frame is twisted a bit. as the lower arms aren't adjustable, but they may also be bent. compare 'em to each other, as best you can. check the strut arms, for looseness, straightness...lots of possibilities.
also, did you compare the spindles to each other, before installation? everything match up, side to side? check the old ones you've pulled off, same way.

[1992f150]

um if a car hit one side of your truck hard, and that same side has jacked up alignment, logic would say your problem comes from being hit by the car, and not the new lift spindles?
Your problem could be alot of things: bent frame, bent suspension parts, bent steering, etc... Or it could just need a simple alignment. Without looking at the truck its hard to say.

[toolex]

the shop i plan on taking it to said they'd charge $25 to find the problem, i think it's worth it hehe....i just hope the frame isn't bent, and if so that it doesn't that TOO much money to fix. and yes, the camber was jacked up BEFORE i put the new spindles on. i measured the distance between the stock spindles and rotors while they were still on and got different results on each side, which made me think one of the spindles got punched in on impact, so i figured after changing to unbent spindles i would have better camber results...