Alignment Issue @ 20K

[Nuke]

Did you take your LC to the dealer for alignment or elsewhere? I have a vibration problem at speeds over 70mph. Had tires road force balanced and that helped but the tire shop said that alignment might be part of the cause of vibration at higher speeds. Tires were wearing evenly at 10K and the vehicle goes down the road straight. Last rotation I noticed some very slight cupping and called the tire shop back and they said they are unable to perform alignments on Toyota 4Runners and Land Cruisers. I don't want to take mine to just anyone for alignment.

Good grief, the LC suspension is not exactly exotic/complicated. I would question the shop's ability and/or equipment.

 

[cccbryan]

I'll chime in on this because I had the dealer check a couple of times even thought I thought it was off. Took it to a local Discount Tire and they rebalanced all tires and did an alignment and it's perfect now. Of course had to pay for the work but well worth it to be done with it and have it finally done right.

DT had the 2025 VIN loaded in their alignment rack so they were able to do the alignment. They took a while on it and the printout afterwards had everything perfectly within spec. I was very impressed and will only do tires and alignments at DT from now on (no more at the dealership).

Thanks for the input. Were you having vibration problems at higher speeds or was it pulling or tires cupping? I have very minimal cupping and no pulling at all. Tire shop that said they didn't have the specs to do alignment said poor alignment could cause vibrations at higher speeds so I want to get it fixed but don't want to take it just anywhere.

 

[ferrari1898]

Thanks for the input. Were you having vibration problems at higher speeds or was it pulling or tires cupping? I have very minimal cupping and no pulling at all. Tire shop that said they didn't have the specs to do alignment said poor alignment could cause vibrations at higher speeds so I want to get it fixed but don't want to take it just anywhere.

IMO vibrations at higher speeds is typically less a tire alignment issue and more tire balancing problem. Left unchecked an alignment issue could cause abnormal wear leading to the tire being unbalanced.

I had my alignment done at Goodyear and without any issues.

 

[cccbryan]

IMO vibrations at higher speeds is typically less a tire alignment issue and more tire balancing problem. Left unchecked an alignment issue could cause abnormal wear leading to the tire being unbalanced.

I had my alignment done at Goodyear and without any issues.

Definitely don't disagree with you on that. I had a good tire shop do road force balancing on my tires. That checks for all kinds of tire and wheel problems. Said all 4 of my tires were out of balance and fixed them. When I mentioned that the vibrations at higher speeds is not consistent, he immediately said it could be an alignment issue causing the vibrations. Then he checked my tires and said there was some slight cupping on the outside of the tires and recommended alignment. This is a local family owned shop and evidently their alignment machine is older and not able to properly perform alignments on some newer cars. I appreciate their honesty for sure as many shops would take my money and say they did an alignment. They recommended taking it to the dealer for alignment but before I take it there just getting my ducks in a row. I called the local Discount Tire and that particular store doesn't do alignments at all. Not sure I trust the dealer to do a proper alignment.

 

[MSINAL]

You need to understand Toyota manufacturing process.
When they build new cars, they do NOT perform or check alignment on every new vehicle. They just assemble them under the assumption that if parts (suspension, frame) are within specs and the adjustment cams are installed in the "dead center" position, the alignment should be OK. In case of some production lines a check is performed automatically using non-contact metrology equipment, but this is usually reserved for high performance or luxury vehicles (think Lexus LC500 and such). For most mainstream Toyota vehicles, they only spot check a few vehicles from a production run to look for systemic errors.
So it's quite normal that a most new Toyotas come out with alignment that is far from perfect and barely within or slightly out of tolerance. Because the misalignment is small, this may not show as uneven tire wear until you have accumulated a significant number of miles.
Alignment is covered under new vehicle warranty for 1 year / 12k miles.

Worked in auto manufacturing for 30 years, i have never seen a car shipped without running through $1.5M alignment machine and rolls test. (Caveat never been in a toyota plant, only Ford, GM, Chrysler, big trucks, BMW and MB).
No alignment check would be a massive liability for manufacturer.
Also while in the alignment machines, headlights, cameras, and most distance sensors have to be calibrated.
Curious of the source.

 

[ferrari1898]

Definitely don't disagree with you on that. I had a good tire shop do road force balancing on my tires. That checks for all kinds of tire and wheel problems. Said all 4 of my tires were out of balance and fixed them. When I mentioned that the vibrations at higher speeds is not consistent, he immediately said it could be an alignment issue causing the vibrations. Then he checked my tires and said there was some slight cupping on the outside of the tires and recommended alignment. This is a local family owned shop and evidently their alignment machine is older and not able to properly perform alignments on some newer cars. I appreciate their honesty for sure as many shops would take my money and say they did an alignment. They recommended taking it to the dealer for alignment but before I take it there just getting my ducks in a row. I called the local Discount Tire and that particular store doesn't do alignments at all. Not sure I trust the dealer to do a proper alignment.

Yea, I never fully understand why Discount Tire does not do alignments. I personally did not use the dealer not for any doubt they can do the work, but when the dealer says Toyota "recommends" an alignment at 15k prior to even looking at the tires; I was a little unhappy over that.

Also Goodyear had a deal for a 3 year alignment. I am south of 25k and have doubt they will see another 25k (even if there was not an alignment issue.

Only caution with Goodyear is that the website and the shops are not on the same page. For my Toyota there was a $50 online coupon with the 3 year and I was quoted $180 (230-50).

Evidently $230 is the shops "standard discounted price". Not the list price (275-300 that the coupon applies to) ... Making the coupon almost mute.

Anyways a couple weeks Later my wife's EV needed tires and I ordered them online and went to goodyear planning to get another 3 year alignment since we drive it too much for it to not need another set in 3 years. Evidently the online order did not trigger the shop to get the tires. then a few days later when the did the work the pricing was butchered. it took like 30 minutes to sort it out.

 

[Critelli62001]

Mine was a minor toe issue after some off roading and then a rebalance also helped. My Discount Tire just started doing alignments. No cupping. I’m also on the Ridge Grapplers so get more noise and rougher ride anyways.

I still feel like at times the alignment is slightly off but the truck is just so sensitive to road crown and other outside factors.

Sounds like you’re having different issues but I found my Toyota dealership to not be good at alignments compared to my experience at DT

 

[cccbryan]

Just got back from dealer and $128 lighter in my wallet. Front driver side toe was slightly out. Wasn't out much so I am not optimistic that anything will change. I guess I will live with the slight vibration until the factory Michelin tires need replacing. This isn't the first time I have had issues with Michelin tires vibrating but it is what it is. Tires were definitely cupping which can cause vibrations at higher speeds and if the slight adjustment made corrects the cupping over time, then maybe it was worth it.