Strut Change and Alignment

40 miles is not too far. Yes, the rear suspension cannot be aligned unless shims are inserted.

 

Patrick is as usual quite correct, but I would add that aligning the rears with shims in my opinion is well worth the effort. It gives the car greater strait line stability, improves tyre life, and can save fuel by improving or lowering the rolling resistance of the car.

John (Britprius)

 

I assume your in the US where I believe most dealers will not carry out this work but rather change the whole rear axle. The dealer can check though if it is in alignment (within specification).

I made some guages and did my own car finding the rear camber was at it's maximum limit on one wheel and slightly over on the other causing the tyres to ware on the inside edge. After correction with home made shims the tyres now ware very evenly.

I believe most good alignment shops will do this however.

John (Britprius)

 

Should have added that there is a service tool for aligning the rear axle "although I have never seen one or found a workshop that has one" that basically bends the axle till the alignment is correct.

John (Britprius)

 

When I asked my dealer about them correcting it he told me that I h
Would have to take the car to a body shop. The tool they would use is a frame straightener.

 

That could work, but the tool I have heard about but not seen is a Toyota service tool.

John (Britprius)

 

Has anyone tried to replace to bushings on the rear to see I'd worn bushings are a contributor to alignment problems like out of spec toe? From what I recall there are two large bushings in the rear for the "self adjusting" toe alignment.

 

The bushings only affect the center alignment offset. The axle beam is a one piece structure that sets toe in and camber and unless shiming is used at the wheel hubs the only adjustment is by bending the axle or fixed trailing arms. Twist in the axle gives the roll stiffness assisted by the anti roll bar.

John (Britprius)

 

Total Front Toe: 0 degrees, +/- 0.2 degrees

Camber: -0.58 degrees +/- 0.75 degrees
Right-left error 0.75 degrees or less

Caster: 3.17 degrees +/- 0.75 degrees
Right-left error 0.75 degrees or less

Steering axis inclination: 12.58 degrees +/- 0.75 degrees
Right-left error 0.75 degrees or less

 

There is nothing special about front wheel alignment so any competent shop can do the work. Only toe-in and camber can be adjusted.

The rear wheels cannot be aligned per Toyota repair policy (if off, the recommendation is to replace the rear beam axle.) A specialist wheel alignment shop may be able to install shims in the space between the wheel hubs and the beam axle ends, to adjust rear wheel toe-in and camber.

 

My dealer (Central Maine Toyota in Waterville, Maine) says they will install shims to correct out-of-spec rear toe.

 

My local Toyota dealer shimmed the rear of my '05 a few years ago for a 4-wheel alignment and all is fine.

 

I just replaced my struts with KYB strut-plus in the front and Excel-G shocks in the back. They were 100% IDENTICAL in dimensions to the original parts, and the tightness with which the bolts align them meant that the replacements would produce no changes in alignment whatsoever from before. Yes the ride height will increase, but it will also gradually decrease, meaning any changes in camber will gradually reverse out. The road test confirmed absolutely no leaning or adverse handling characteristics. My tires wore fine as was. As a matter of fact, the replacement eliminated any amount of leaning and vibrations from the worn out parts. The struts also state that you should let the springs settle after installation as the ride height will be higher than normal for a while. So I see absolutely no reason to bring it in to a shop for an alignment. If I see drastically abnormal tire wear or something really crazy in the car's handling, then I will get it aligned. If your car handles fine and the tires wear fine before and after the replacement, I really don't think you should worry about an alignment after. It's a Toyota after all.

 

Just the topic I'm about to tackle...I purchased structs for replacement of front and back at 180K. I went with low cost units because the car has body damage and I'm just going to drive it till it dies. Besides alignment is there anything else I should do after the DIY structs replacement?

 

If you plan to drive it for any length of time then you should return your low cost struts for at least OEM quality, i.e. KYB. At 180k the drivetrain of any prius can reasonably be expected to run at least another 180K. You will save money and ride more comfortably. While I was at it I replaced the sway bar bushings and links as they were cheap and easy. You're gonna take the wheels and the upper cowl off so I'd do the spark plugs and brakes too if needed.

 

Whatever you do make sure you replace the upper steering bearing on each front strut. It will be a marked change in steering effort with new bearings.