Hi everyone,

I was in an accident on the left front side of my maxima about 3 weeks ago and I just got my car back from the shop today. I noticed when I got home that the Front Camber and Caster and the Cross Camber are still showing as out of alignment on the report and I feel a pull to the right when I take my hands of the steering wheel when driving. Should I be concerned? Is it even possible to adjust the front camber and caster on our car?

My car knowledge is fairly limited so any help is greatly appreciated. The shop is closed until Monday so just trying to get some advice before I am able to talk with them again.

Thanks in advance!

Here is my alignment report:

 

Looking at the report you are a tenth of a degree off. I don't think that should be an issue. I'm not certain but toe may be the only thing that is adjustable on the front.

 

If you are driving on a 'crowned' road, which most two lane roads are (so water will drain off to the sides), the wheel should have a very slight pull to the right.

To check for 'pull', I either find a large parking lot that is essentially level, or find a level two lane road that is empty, and drive exactly centered on the centerline. In such situations, the car should not pull to either side.

 

Hi guys,

Thanks for the replies. Been busy and just had time to log back on today.

So I took my car back into the shop yesterday and complained about it pulling and the alignment report showing it as out of alignment. He took it back and looked at it and called me this morning saying they had a tech look over it and they realized my tires were not evenly inflated or something so they leveled them off and now it is driving better. However, when I asked if he re-ran the alignment report he said he didn't. So I asked him to re-run the report and then give me a call when it is within spec and I would come down to get it.

Am I being unreasonable over a tenth of a degree? It was pulling really bad when I dropped it off. To the point where I could have it aimed towards the left and I soon as I took my hand off the wheel it would correct itself all the way back to start heading right. I just feel like he's trying to put one over on me and don't want to get screwed. Also, note that while the left camber is only off by .1 degrees, the cross camber is out of spec by .4 degrees. Again, I'm not really sure how significant that is. But, based on my limited knowledge/research the cross camber is the culprit of the pulling issue.

Any feedback /opinions are appreciated.

Thanks!

 

To be succinct, the best alignment is one that works for you and your ride not necessarily the one closest to zero delta from specs.

For example, I am a big boy at 6'4" and 250 lbs. most people do not take into account the added weight (from whatever "nominal" weight of the designers and engineers used) nor that weight distribution (seat moved all the way back and seat back tilted back to make more room for the long arms)

A good alignment in my book is one that accomplishes the following..

1. The ride on a normal road without cross-wind should NOT require driver input.
2. Tire wear should be consistent across all 4 tires and across the width of each tire.
3. The car should "return to center" after a run without driver input.
4. Understeer and oversteer should be matched to your driving style. I personally prefer a bit more oversteer than normal but that is a personal preference.

I hope this helps.

 

I would judge things by whether it still pulls or not. If it isn't driving as straight as before the accident, I would keep taking it back until they have it fixed, regardless of what the report says. JMO.

 

No you are not being unreasonable. If it pulls it should be repaired regardless what the alignment specs read.

 

Thanks for all the feedback guys.

Maybe I'm putting to much into the specs from the alignment report. Like I said he called me this morning and blamed the pulling issue on unevenly inflated tires. He said it was driving much better now that they inflated the tires evenly and the pulling issue is gone. He offered to test drive it with me to make sure I was happy with it before I left. But when he told me he hadn't even ran the new report I was a bit skeptical and felt like he was trying to sell me on something that wasn't repaired properly.So I told him I didn't want to go waste my time down there if they haven't even gotten it within specs.

I guess the fact that they gave it to me in the first place with it still pulling so bad has me a bit paranoid. Plus there's fact that I had the alignment done when I got new tires in December and it was within specs and driving great after that. So I feel like if we could get it within specs before the accident, I don't see why we shouldn't be able to after if everything has truly been properly repaired.

Perhaps I'll go in and let him at least try to show me he fixed the issue. I think I'll just wait until he calls me back again and see what he has to say and go from there.

Thanks again for everyone's input. It's been very helpful!

 

That's sucks, but I will say tire pressure in my 2010 Sport has a huge affect on how it drives.

Mine was pulling to the left pretty hard in my opinion, my right tire was at 32, left at about 26/27 ,,,,,,,,,hope it all works out for you