I would never trust an alignment tech unless you can actually watch them do it and verify the settings as I have caught the techs bumping the heads that they attach to the wheels to get the proper reading as opposed to actually making the settings proper so that along with "flipping" the tires on the rims will go a long way when it comes to tire wear.

 

Ok im havin this problem also with my TT i didnt get an alignment since i put them on. Would it make a difference if i align the car b4 or after i switch the tires to wider one?...im running 235 40r 17 f n 255 40r 17, i will be going to 245 f n 275 r.. Doesnt matter or id have to align the car again wen i switch them?

 

I watched the tech align my car. He never messed with the sensors once they were all mounted. Also, the car tracks straight and does not pull like it used to. The steering wheel is straight too. I am going to have my alignment checked by a different shop when I put new tires on the front, but I am not confident it will resolve this. So far there are 5 with the issue and 2 without it. The odds don't look good.

 

i don't have any issues with mine. I am puting another set tomorrow and align the car at the sametime so i'll keep y'all posted.

 

Thanks Omar. Please post up your alignment numbers when you get them if you don't mind.

 

^ No problem sir will do!

 

My 2 cents on a few Q's.

Center tire wear = too much air in the tire.

Wandering / loose feeling on crowned roads w/ "good" front end is steering rack
bushings or alignment.

I ran 245/ 285 on TT wheels & 265/ 315 on my HRE's w/ no real wear issues.

The feathering is an alignment issue or worn front end parts. The camber & caster
adjusters tend to freeze in the lower control arm bushings. If that is the case a perfect
alignment is impossible, but can be made good enough. (steering wheel straight &
no pulling) The down side is tire wear. A reputable shop will tell you the problem & how
much MORE it will cost to make it prefect. Sometimes you can free them up, other times
the adjusters have to be cut off & the sleeves / adjusters replaced. Doing so is not part
of a 'normal' alignment.

 

I had a Toyota dealership do an alignment post LCA bushing replacement on my old 98 SC that I used to have. It was done with the TT wheels. Shortly after I replaced the tires. Sure enough around 12k miles or so the fronts began to feather.

I just recently had my front tires flipped which eased up the noise quite a bit. I've never had a problem with the rears feathering, or cupping as some would say. Next alignment I have done I will address this issue and ask to talk to the tech about the wheels any difference in the specs for the SC and MKIV Supra.

 

When you say camber/caster adjusters, do you mean the eccentric bolts that hold the LCAs to the car? If so, mine were nice and free and lubed since I had just put new LCA bushings in and lubed everything.

Also, my car has new rack bushings and does not wander like it used to. Before rack bushings, the car used to wander like you say. It was more of a disconnected, meandering feeling. Now, the car feels VERY connected, in that it PULLS with ruts and crowns. Kinda hard to explain. It never did tramline or or eat tires with the stock wheels. The car drove nicely and there was no tire noise.

I checked every component on the front end and so did the alignment tech. Neither of us found anything with noticeable wear on it, so I am not sure what to check next.

I do plan to take the car to a different shop for the next alignment, and will explain the issue. Maybe a fresh set of eyes on the car will reveal something.

 

Alignment specs rings a bell..........god I'm getting old. We used MKIV TT specs & set the
camber slightly towards the positive side of the 'good' window. (my last alignment was 3-4
years ago) Although I can't remember if the specs were greatly different between the Supra &
the SC. It was easier @ the time to run the Supra specs.

 

1992 SC
Camber 0 01
Caster 2 56
Steering axis inclination 8 58

1995 Supra

GE
Camber -0 20
Caster 3 20
Steering axis inclination 9 35

GTE
Camber -0 30
Caster 3 30
Steering axis inclination 9 45

Everything is +/- 45' so I believe the Supra and SC specs are all within each others tolerance.

 

sounds like it could be a scrub radius issue. the factory alignment is built for the smaller tires, while the supra and sc are very similar they are still not the same here is a film explaining it

 

Adam ,

I installed the new wheels but i didn't get a change to get the alignment done , it was getting kind of late so i just drove home.
But it doesn't feel any different , ride great and no issues. But i'll put it on the alignment rack when i get back on the 25th and post the alignment sheet, hopefully that will you guys.

When i took the front wheel sof they looks brand new after 11k miles !

 

Same, no problems here at all

 

My old SC had the same issue