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Lifted Truck Alignment in Tucson, AZ
Yes, we align lifted and modified trucks.
If you have lifted your truck, put larger tires on it, installed a leveling or lowering kit, or replaced control arms, your alignment is no longer where the factory set it. TCR II has been aligning modified vehicles in Tucson for nearly thirty years, and it is a large part of what we do every day.
Call us at (520) 519-0241 and tell us your year, make, model and current setup.
A lifted truck is not just a taller alignment
Raising or lowering a vehicle changes the angles the suspension was designed around. Three of them matter most, and on a lot of factory trucks only one is easily adjustable.
Caster
Caster is the forward or rearward tilt of the steering axis. It is what makes the steering wheel want to return to center after a corner, and what keeps the truck tracking straight at highway speed. Lifting a truck usually pulls caster out of spec. The result is steering that feels vague, wanders, or will not self center. On bigger lifts you often cannot correct it with the factory adjustment alone. It takes adjustable upper control arms, a caster correction kit, or offset bushings.
Camber
Camber is how far the top of the tire tilts in or out. Get it wrong and you will wear one edge of an expensive tire down to the cords while the rest of the tread still looks new. Lifted trucks with independent front suspension are especially prone to it.
Toe
Toe is whether the front tires point slightly toward or away from each other. It is the fastest way to destroy a set of tires. A toe error too small to see with your eye can scrub thousands of miles off a new set.
And everything else that moves with ride height
Larger tires change your effective gear ratio and your scrub radius. Longer shocks and springs change how much travel the driveline sees. Steering geometry, brake line length, bump stop clearance and driveshaft angles all shift when ride height changes. A shop that resets toe and sends you out the door has not actually aligned your truck.
Signs your alignment is out
- The truck pulls to one side when you ease off the wheel
- Your steering wheel sits crooked while you are driving straight
- The steering feels loose or vague, or the truck wanders at highway speed
- The wheel does not return to center on its own after a turn
- One edge of a tire is wearing faster than the rest of the tread
- You feel a shimmy or vibration through the steering wheel
- You just installed a lift, a leveling kit, new tires or control arms
Get an alignment after any of this
- A lift kit or leveling kit install
- New tires, especially a size change
- Control arms, ball joints, tie rods or steering components
- Hitting a curb or a serious pothole
- Any suspension or steering repair
What a TCR alignment includes
We inspect the suspension before we set anything. There is no point dialing in angles on worn ball joints, tired bushings or a loose tie rod end, because they will move again as soon as you drive away. If we find something worn, we show it to you before we do anything about it.
We set the angles your truck actually needs in the configuration it is in, not just the factory numbers for a stock vehicle. Then we road test it.
Work we perform is covered by the TechNet Professional nationwide limited repair warranty for 24 months or 24,000 miles, honored at over 11,000 locations across North America.
Trucks and 4x4s we align every week
Toyota Tacoma and 4Runner. Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra. Ford F-150 and Super Duty. Ram 1500, 2500 and 3500. Jeep Wrangler and Gladiator. Ford Bronco. Lifted, leveled, lowered and stock.
Bought a lift kit somewhere else? Bring the kit and the truck. We will go through it with you before we start.
“Went in for an alignment and everything went well. The service counter personnel walked me outside and showed what they were looking at… I always take my lifted truck there to get an alignment and never been disappointed.”
Micah N. | Chevrolet Silverado 2500HD | Verified SureCritic review
Lifted truck alignment questions
Do I really need an alignment after a lift kit?
Yes. Changing ride height changes the suspension geometry, so the settings the factory established no longer apply. Drive it without an alignment and you will feel it in the steering and pay for it in tires.
Can a regular shop align a lifted truck?
Some can. Many cannot, and the reasons are practical rather than mysterious: rack capacity and bay clearance for a tall vehicle, whether the shop stocks or will fit the correction parts a lifted truck needs, and whether the technician knows what the numbers should be on a modified vehicle instead of the stock spec the machine prints. If you have had to take a truck back two or three times to get an alignment right, that is usually what happened.
My lifted truck is eating tires. Is that the alignment?
Usually, but not always. Wear on one edge points to camber or toe. Feathering across the tread usually points to toe. A cupped or scalloped pattern often means worn shocks or a bad bearing rather than alignment. The wear pattern tells the story, so bring it in and let us look at the tire before you buy another set.
What is caster and why does it matter more on a lifted truck?
Caster is the tilt of the steering axis, and it is what makes a truck track straight and return to center. Lifting a vehicle rotates the front axle or knuckles and pulls caster out of range, which is why a freshly lifted truck can feel darty or refuse to self center even though nothing is broken. Restoring it is often the difference between a lift that drives well and one that never feels right.
Do I need adjustable control arms?
It depends on how far you went up and what your truck allows from the factory. Small lifts often come back into range on the stock adjustment. Bigger ones frequently do not, and that is when adjustable upper control arms, a caster correction kit or offset bushings earn their money. We will tell you which camp your truck is in rather than selling you parts you do not need.
I installed the lift myself. Will you still align it?
Yes. Bring it in. We will check the install before we align it, because torque, hardware and clearance problems will show up as alignment problems and we would rather find them on the rack than have you find them on the highway.
Get your truck aligned right the first time
Tell us the year, make, model and what you have done to it. We will tell you what it needs.
5134 E Speedway Blvd, Tucson AZ 85712 | Monday to Friday, 8:00 AM to 5:30 PM