Can the "SAI" (aka Steering Angle Inclination) on our cars be modified? How about the "Included Angle"? Or "Turning Angle Difference"? The reason I ask is because I've taken my car to Tires Plus 3 times in the last month and My car is still not aligned to Spec.

Well, everything except the above (SAI & IA) is in spec. My right tire SAI & IA is way, way off. Can I do anything to get that back in spec?

Thanks in advance

 

http://aligncraft.com/terms/terms.html

why would you need to actually deal with these? unless you jumped a few curbs there shouldn't be a need to adjust them.

 

If your car cannot be aligned to within acceptable specified range, some part(s) of your suspension may be bent. This could be from an accident or from running over/into an object like a curb.

The only way to correct this is to identify & replace the bent suspension component.

 

Yeah I think I got some problems too, cause when I let go of the steering wheel while driving, the car starts leaning a little to the left. I don't know if its an alignment problem, I haven't had any accidents or curb hops or noting, but I bought the car used...I think I'll address it in the spring, what do you think I should do?

 

Post your cars specs please.....

 

Check your tire pressures - make sure they're even.

If the pressures are even and the car still pulls to one side, go get a front-wheel alignment (especially if your tires are worth saving). If you wait until spring to deal with this, you may chew up your tires a lot quicker, which will cost you more $, sooner, to replace them.

 

Here are my specs below (Note the problematic SAI & Included Angle specs--- this is why I'm concerned) :


Left Right

Front:
Camber 0.1 -0.2
Caster 2.2 2.3
Toe 0.11 0.08
SAI 12.2 4.8
Incl Angle 12.3 4.7


Cross Camber: 0.3
Cross Caster: -0.1
Total Toe: 0.18


Rear:
Camber -1.2 -1.2
Toe 0.09 0.07

Total Toe: 0.16
Thrust Ang: 0.01

 

Your camber, caster and toe are perfect. Thats what makes your car track correctly. Don't worry about the SAI numbers. Your car is tracking very straight.

How does it drive?

 

Do you have custom wheels on yo car? If you do, do you remember seeing two aluminum O-shaped rings came with the wheels? You need those for the wheels to fit correctly, otherwise the wheels will be "jumping" around the wheel hub and its gonna kill yo tires and its very dangerous on wet pavements. Go to any tire/wheel shop they should have the o-rings, and if you know the right people, just give them sum small tips($5 ~ $15) and they'll install the o-rings for you without having to pay the shop, which can cost you any where from $30 ~ $45 depending on the shop.

Hope this info helps.

 

Hey,

Thanks for all your responses


My car is driving straight as an arrow. However, I am getting vibration upon acceleration (usually from a standstill to about 35mph and then there's nothing, and then again from 65mph and above). I have had my wheels balanced like 5 times in one month -- and each time the wheel balancer says that it's balanced (plus I just bought 4 new Toyo Tires about 2 months ago (i've put about 8k on them so far).

I don't have custom wheels, but I do have aftermarket wheel covers (cause I lost one of my OEM wheel covers). Could that be causing the vibrations?

As for the O-Rings, I'll have to check. I don't know if I have them or not. Thanks for the tip...

As far as the SAI is concerned, I read somewhere that if my SAI is out of SPEC it could mean something is bent??

Is there anyway to know for sure?

 

NOT LIKELY.

You're running OEM steel wheels with hubcap covers, correct? You do not need the hub-centric rings he's referring to.

Yes. Any qualified alignment shop or front-end specialist repair shop with an alignment rack should be able to tell you if your alignment specs. are off because of a bent suspension component. Ask the shop that did your alignment what their opinion is. That's part of what you paid them for - their diagnostic expertise.

 

Your vibration could be any of several things. (Just what you want to hear, of course)

Tire/wheel imbalance: try switching the front wheels to the back & vice-versa. Road-test. Does the vibration change in any noticeable way? Location? Intensity? If so, that's the problem. You may have a tire with a defect that cannot be perfectly balanced or is balanced, but slightly "out-of-round." (deflection in part of the steel belt) This could cause a vibration. Replacement is the only remedy, unfortunately.

To thoroughly diagnose this, you need to visit a shop that has a wheel balancing machine that can measure RFV (Road Force Variation) See: http://forums.maxima.org/showthread....alance+machine WAY more info. on the condition of the wheel & tire is generated by this process than with a conventional balance machine. This machine can tell you if there's a problem w/ the wheel, the tire, or both with a high degree of accuracy.

Failing CV-joint: these can cause a vibrating steering wheel early on as they're wearing out. Then clicking, followed by knocking & in severe cases of wear, a banging sound (moreso in tight corners w/ the wheel turned all the way to the lock).

Failing wheel bearing- although this is almost always a constant vibration, correlated to wheelspeed, not on & off as you described. But who knows - it's still possible.

Do searches on maxima.org under the topics I mentioned for more detail to see if it sounds like more than a balance problem you're looking at.