Ok so i went to the dealer and basically im getting:

TRD springs
TRD shocks

my question is that if i need to get an allignment after i lower my car. It seems like a good amount of people say yes...and i brought this question up with the dealer he said i did not need to...is he just being dumb? Anyone have anything to say about this? Thanks.

 

with the TRD drop you dont but they should do it for free if you ask them. my friend had the TRD and he got a free alignment.

 

IIRC any time you change the height of a vehicle from stock it needs to be alligned.

 

i would align it just to be safe...

 

i just got mine done, yes, you need an alignment, but wait a week for the springs and struts to settle because if you do it right away, it will just be off again when the car settles.

the car isn't any harder to drive, but the tires will wear faster, but a week of light driving didn't do my tc any harm.

 

It's my understanding that most of the dealerships doing the TRD install are informing their customers that it's not necessary, based on their experience. That's what my dealer said when I asked the same question when I got the TRD springs installed. They also stated that if I noticed it was off or pulling to either side, I could bring it back in and then they'd do an alignment.

However, at 5k miles when I rotated my tires, I did notice the inside front tires were worn a bit more than the outside (rears had virtually no wear anywhere), leading me to believe the drop did in fact make the alignment slightly out of spec.

So it's your call, but getting the alignment might save you a bit of unnecessary tire wear.

 

my dealership said it was and it was smart of me to wait a week after installing the springs to do the alignment, and they even showed me the results that showed that my alignment was not to manufacturer specs. so yeah, get the alignment or your tires will pay the price.

 

yes i wouldnt listen to a dealer telling you that it's not important. The suspension height changing WILL affect the alignment. So YES get an alignment, after the springs settle. a week or so should do the trick.

and please make sure they reference the steering wheel straight when they align it! A lot of dealers don't pay attention to that and then you get a steering wheel off center. Annoying to say the least!

 

^^^ Very important, a lot of places dont even bother unless you tell them!

 

^^ I know it's sad that you have to tell them how to do their job! amazing..

 

THanks guys for all the info! it sux though cause when i bring this up with them they will be like "dumb kid doesn't know what he's talking about"

 

funny that the "dumb kid" or so they think is dumb.. actually knows more than they do.

I tell ya, if i had the money i'd buy my own alignment rack and do my own work. then I'd never have to bother with them.. How cool would that be? trying out custom suspension settings anytime. i'd love that!

 

Wow so here is an update. So basically i go to the dealer today and drop my car off at around 7:30 am. at around 10:00 am, the dealer calls me and tells me that they ordered the wrong parts and that they need to order new parts. Ah what a waste of my time! I swear fixing up the car is not fun. So i go to pick up my car at around 11:00 am and right as I'm about to leave the dealership i noticed the ABS break lights was on. So i made a u-turn back into the dealership to get this problem fixed. Apparently someone forgot to do something or something (im not a car expert) and so the light was on. Now i'm waiting until the parts come..hopefully today so i can get it done tom.

Also the first time i called to get a quote on the price of TRD shocks + Springs the guy told me 800 dollars. couple weeks later i called again and he told me 849. Now that i'm on spring break i have time to do it i asked again and he told me 749 (not complaining about this heheheh)...but man does anyone expereince this...seems really unprofessional.