When I got my truck a couple of years ago I had the RC leveling kit installed by the dealer. I asked for the alignment to be checked and corrected if needed before I picked it up and was told it was done. Fast forward two years and I can tell it was not as the outer edges of my tires is wearing. I had the alignment corrected a few weeks ago and now want to replace the tires and wheels. My plan is to go with a 275/60-R20 as I want them to be just a little taller than stock. My question is, when installing a larger tire size, and the fact that a leveling kit is installed, do the acceptable parameters for alignment change? I'm handy when it comes to a wrench and building things, but I'm an idiot when it comes to alignment. I figured putting the larger tires on may require an alignment to be done, but I don't want it to be done to the wrong specs if there is such a thing when it comes to this. Thanks for the input

 

In 2 years your alignment can & will change. Bumps in the road, general wear, play developing in ball joints & bushings, etc...all change alignment. You cannot just say the dealer didn't do it after 2 years of driving. Ideal alignment parameters/specs don't change BUT that doesn't always mean you can get it in spec. The truck wasn't designed with being lifted in mind, wasn't designed to run larger & wider tires.

Typically, I'd recommend doing an alignment every two to three years. The alignment should be done more often if your car has wider/taller tires or if it's a sports car. I'm actually surprised you got an alignment done with tires wearing unevenly. Most alignment shops won't do that...

 

Ditto -your truck aligned 2 years ago is not the blame of the shop or poorly done work.
Outer tire wear will take less than 2 years to be noticeable.

Unless you've been trained on how to perform an alignment, not sure why you'd call yourself an idiot.

I like to have an alignment done after purchasing new tires regardless of when the alignment was previously done. Tires cost too much to chew up.

With that said -if your tires are destroyed in 2 years then the alignment issue will have been going on for a while.

 

In response to your original question, new tires will not affect the alignment. The leveling kit will affect it, but the kit was installed before your most recent alignment based upon your post. You are good.

 

Id contact rc, maybe they have different specs. Ive installed bds lifts and obviously the aligment changes and if set to stock tires would wear unevenly. So bds has theyre own specs to go off.

 

If they didn't install adjustable camber bolts with your RC lift kit pick up a set before you have the alignment done.
They're not absolutely needed but they make it a lot easier for the tech doing the alignment to dial it in. Worth the extra $60 in parts to get it done right.

 

Even with the correct wheel alignment, you need to rotate your tires every 5000 miles. Have you done that?

Steer tires will "feather"* on the outside edge first, then spread across the tread face. The correct rotation on rear-wheel-drive vehicles and rear-wheel-drive/four-wheel-drive (not "all-wheel-drive"/full time) is a rear-cross. The front tires are crossed to the rear axle, and the rear tires come to the front and stay on the same side of the vehicle.

When the steer tires go onto the drive axle, they are worn flat again. Rinse and repeat every 5000 miles!



*feathering and "cupping" are two different wear patterns. Bad/worn shock absorbers can cause cupping.

 

My truck was out of alignment 3 months after I put the Bilstein lift in. Toe and camber had shifted out causing it to track funny and feel twitchy. It was bad on grooved pavement and steel draw bridges. Truck would grab and pull and just wouldn't track straight.
Shop didn't charge me for the adjustment. They said it was common and most likely due to the new springs settling and aftermarket upper control arm ball joints breaking in. Had it checked at my last service in December. Toe was 1 degree out on drivers side, caster/camber were fine.
I have my alignment checked every 5K miles now when I get my tires rotated and oil changed. Cheap insurance compared to the cost of new tires.

 

When I lifted my Tacoma and put on much larger tires, I needed to have the caster adjusted to push the tires forward in the wheel well so it would fit. Toe and camber stayed the same. Most of the time, you won't need to make this adjustment, though.

Any time you change out hardware for suspension or steering, I'd be certain to get an alignment. No need to do this just for new tires as this shouldn't change any of the drive angles.

 

Avoid adjusting caster out of spec as it affects tracking, high speed stability, and cornering.