shim kit for rear axle

I need a shim kit to correct a toe-in/toe-out problem with the rear axle of my 2005 Prius.

The local dealers haven't heard of shim kits for the Prius and tell me Toyota doesn't know about them either.

Several people who post here have mentioned them so they obviously exist, can anyone help please?

I have emailed Mark Jacobson Toyota in Durham, NC and Tracy Toyota in Tracy, CA but have received no replies, at least not yet.

 

Thanks for the reply hobbit. Here is the whole story which I posted yesterday but I didn't get any replies. From previous post:

"The left rear of my Prius was toed in to .35, the specification is .03 to .28. The right side was .16. So the left side was definitely out of spec. The local dealer, who has been very good to work with, admitted they didn't know what to do so they called Toyota and were told to "replace the axle beam."

Note: the car drove great when it was out of spec. I only discovered it was out because I had the alignment checked before installing new tires.

They replaced the axle beam and the toe is now .18 on the left side and .04 on the right side. The left side is now toward the middle of the range; the right side is almost toed out to far but is still within spec.

As soon as the axle was replaced the car developed stability problems at highway speed that it just didn't have before. This shows up mostly when the wind is blowing. I know all Prius are a bit unstable in the wind but this goes beyond that requiring almost constant steering corrections. I replaced the tires a week or so after the axle was replaced which helped a lot but things are still just not as good as they were before.

Some other information: Toe in the front is +.03 on each side. All other alignment data is close to the middle of it's range. I have had the alignment checked on 2 good Hunter machines and they agree with each other, at least they are pretty close. I have a bit over 16,000 miles on the car so I know how it should feel and it went from very good to quite unstable when the axle beam was replaced."

Well my thought was to try to shim the right side and put it in the middle of it's range like the left one is. Maybe this is not what I should do? This seems a little beyond what the local dealer wants to think about so they have made no suggestions. I fear I'm on my own with this but I am willing to do what needs to be done to make the car drive like it should again. Problem is I just don't know for sure what to do.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(hobbit @ Jun 13 2006, 04:54 PM) [snapback]270798[/snapback]</div>

You may be right, I'll go talk to them tomorrow and see if I can persuade them to take a look at it again. I would like to loosen all the bolts and re tighten them again and see what happens to the alignment numbers.

The problem is now that it is in spec they are convinced their job is done. They won't take the time to drive it far enough to understand what is wrong.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(galaxee @ Jun 13 2006, 05:09 PM) [snapback]270809[/snapback]</div>

Thank you Galaxee. I sent my email to [email protected], that is the address on their web page.

I know DH must be very busy but perhaps you could ask him if he remembers what he used for shims, where he put them, and if he would care to guess how thick they would need to be to change it a tenth of a degree or so. I am not a mechanic by any means but I am thinking of trying to do this myself. Also if there are any problems such as hobbit mentioned I might find them.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(galaxee @ Jun 13 2006, 08:14 PM) [snapback]270916[/snapback]</div>

Great to have professional help, the alignment sheets are on the way.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(buschman @ Jun 21 2006, 09:35 AM) [snapback]274692[/snapback]</div>

Thanks for the info buschman, I wish I had known that before the dealer talked me into replacing the rear axle. The axle replacement just turned the left toe in problem to a right toe out problem. I installed shims on the right rear two bolts yesterday to get a bit more toe in. I have an alignment appointment at the tire shop this afternoon, if everything is within specifications I'll take it for a nice long test drive and see how it is.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(grasshopper @ Jul 6 2006, 07:24 AM) [snapback]281978[/snapback]</div>

Yes, sorry I didn't post the results here. It's really fixed, the car drives as good or maybe better than it ever did. This is definitely not my imagination, having a bit of toe in in the rear as well as the front really solved my "wandering Prius" problem. The spec for the front is -.1 to +.1 degrees I had them set it to +.05 on each side; the rear spec is +.03 to +.28 and I shimmed it to approximately +.15 on each side. The + means toe in and - is toe out.

The rear shims and instructions for their installation are all thanks to Galaxee and DH. They saved my car, it was bad enough I was considering trading it in before it was fixed.

The shim installation is fairly easy. The only problem I had was getting the four bolts out that hold the backing plate to the axle, the shims go between the plate and the axle. When the dealer replaced my axle they must have had the shop gorilla tighten these bolts. They should have been about 45 ft lbs, they were so tight I broke two 12 mm sockets trying to get them out. Fortunately I have a friend who has an air impact wrench he uses on his farm, with that and an impact socket they came out. I put in new bolts when I reassembled it.

I didn't have to shim the left side but I did loosen the bolts and re torque them to the correct value. The right side needed to be shimmed for about .1 to .12 degrees more toe in, I used a .005 inch shim to start with and had the alignment checked. After seeing how much it moved I replaced the .005 with a .010 inch shim which was just right.

A word of caution to anyone who wants to try this: I would not recommend using washers for shims. The shim is designed with two holes for top and bottom bolts and it extends a bit further along the top to keep the camber from changing along with the toe. The shims can be installed with the back two bolts to increase toe in or with the front two to decrease it. If anyone needs a pattern for the shims PM me and I will send you a pattern of what I used, thanks to DH.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(hobbit @ Jul 6 2006, 04:51 PM) [snapback]282268[/snapback]</div>

You are right of course, I'll see if I can come up with a way to do it. Right now I'm not sure I know how, all I have is a metal one that will fit in a car but the measurements aren't exact or anything. I'll think about it and see what I can come up with.