funnylittlman

iTrader: (1)

All,

This is about the 3rd time that I got my alignment done in the past 3 months. I originally did it at the dealer, and they got it straight. When I changed over to H&R Springs, and KYB AGX's, I got my alignment done at NTB. They warrantied it for 6 months, 6000 miles. ANYWAY, I got it done, and things seemed to be right, but I notice that I had to drive towards the crown of the road. I.E. If i was in the right lane I would have to tilt the wheel left, and when I was in the left lane, tilt it a lil right. I went to the dealer about this, and they said that was natural, due to the fact that the drive wheel was on the right side of the car and it "pulls" ever so slightly all the time. I thought this was b.s., but went with it. A month later, I was doing my usual tire inspectino, and noticed some TOE wear on both front tires. I took it back to NTB, and they said that I was correct, the toe was in too far. They corrected the problem and sent me on my way. I still noticed that I had to steer towards the crown of the road.

Now Yesterday, I just got some Dunlop Sport A2's, which are great BTW, But They redid my alignment again, but I notice that the car is still driving away from the crown. Actually it's more towards the right this time when I keep the wheel straight. I actually watched the guy do the alignment and it was in spec. I checked my tire pressure this morning, and the left 2 tires were at 25 psi, and the right were at close to 40. WTF! Since he did my alignment w/ incorrect tire pressure, could that affect the readings? That's the only thing that I could think of to screw this SH#T up. Dam@ it I'm tired of alightment problems! Please help/advise and that you in advance!

funnylittlman

iTrader: (1)

BUMP

mzmtg

iTrader: (11)

I think it may be an issue with the lowering. My car does the same thing ever since I lowered it. I've watched them do the alignment, and it's all correct. But, my car still pulls away from the crown.

Maybe we should do a little research and find out what the alignment should be when lowered to avoid this problem...

njmaxseltd

iTrader: (19)

The air pressure shouldn't really effect your readings. How's the car driving with the correct pressure? Do you know what your alignment specs were when they were finished? Sometimes you get a print out. Post them if you can. It is normal for our cars to drift "slightly" with the crown of the road. The key here is "slightly". More agressive tires tend to follow the crown even more so. My A2's follow the crown ever so slightly but it's nothing compaired to the SP8000 I was running.

funnylittlman

iTrader: (1)

I left the paper at home. I'm currently at work, so I'll post the numbers tonite.

mzmtg
I am going to go over to the dealer again, and ask thier opinions. My bud over there says that they can correct the problem if they slightly change the toe a certain direction....

njmaxsel,

when I drove the car last night, it seemed fine (w/ the incorrect tire pressure 25 psi on driver's side front/rear, 40 passenger side front/rear). What kinda F'ed up stuff is that. I noticed the difference when I changed it over to 32 psi all the way around. I was thinking of changing the fronts to 35..

Dave B

When you lower a car it is more suceptable to following road inperfections, crowns, etc. The reason it does this is because everything from the factory is setup for the OEM ride height.


Dave

greenmax

iTrader: (1)

correct in order to get a good alignment would be to measure the height of the car then the specs for your total toe wich should be 18 9 on both sides.will have to change based on the height of the car to newer specs for toe

SamMan23

I've noticed more tendency for the car to pull ever since putting on 235/40-18 tires. I used to have 205/60-15. If you have a wide tire, you will feel the road pull more. I don't know what type of tire you have.

_DRU_

Roads are constructed unevenly so the center is higher than the sides. This is down so that when it rains, the water will rush off the road instead of puddling. So that may play into why you drift away from the crowns of the road. Try and get he alignment papers up, that will reveal other things too, maybe.

tom_98se

iTrader: (2)

To get back to the original post, screwy tire pressure will affect the handling for-sure, but it wouldn't necessarily affect the alignment. The only way I can see tire pressure being an issue during alignment is if the car was slightly tilted in one or more directions (due to the soft tires) and the alignment somehow tried to compensate.

I also concur on a couple of the other posts. The Dunlops will follow the grooves in the road a little more since their tread is a little more agressive. Also, physics dictates that the car should veer slightly away from the centerline on crowned roads.

Anyway, good luck. The idiots at my local NTB decided to NOT secure the steering wheel before they did my last alignment. Thus, when they gave me the car (and a moron tech actually had to drive the thing to the parking lot), the steering wheel was like 30 degrees off center. No more NTB for me, I'd could do my own alignment better using a protractor and a laser pointer.

Ciao,
TOM

funnylittlman

iTrader: (1)

All here is the print out, as best as I can read it b/c it was printed on top of eachother (this is in degrees)

Left Front Right Front
Actual/Specified/Range Actual/Specified/Range
Camber: -0.6 -1.0 0.5 -0.7 -1.0 0.5
Caster: 2.6 2.0 3.5 2.5 2.0 3.5
Toe: 0.04 0.02 0.07 0.04 0.02 0.07
SAI: .... 13.5 15.0 SAME
Incld Angle ... 12.0 15 SAME
Turning Angle ... 11.0 -6.5 SAME

FRONT
Actual/Specified/Range
Cross Camber: 0.2 -0.8 0.8
Cross Caster: 0.1 -0.8 0.8
Total Toe 0.08 0.05 0.14


Left Rear Right Rear
Actual/Specified/Range Actual/Specified/Range

Camber -1.0 -1.8 -0.3 -1.4 -1.8 -0.3
Toe 0.12 -0.06 0.11 0.11 -0.06 0.11


REAR
Actual/Specified/Range

Total Toe 0.23 -0.13 0.22
Thrust Angle 0.01 ..... .....


The only thing that makes any kind of sense is the total toe in the front. My left is 0.08 deg. and the right is 0.14 deg. Could that make THAT much of a difference?

funnylittlman

iTrader: (1)

sorry for the Sh#tty post,

I thought it would come out better than it did.

ANY IDEAS ANYONE?

funnylittlman

iTrader: (1)

I took it back, they switched thef front tires, and redid the alignment and now it drifts badly left.

I hate these guys

Any more ideas?

mzmtg

iTrader: (11)

Yes, that will make a difference. Take it back and make them re-do the alignment so that the toe is the same on both sides. They will b!tch about how it is still in spec, but make them do it anyway. Also, be sure that you are sitting in the driver's seat when they do it. Your weight affects the alignment too.

funnylittlman

iTrader: (1)

COOL! Will do!

funnylittlman

iTrader: (1)

Well,

after 2 alignment checks, and a final check at the dealer, I have found out there is nothing wrong w/ my alignment. It's TIRE Pull. Grrr. Now I have to take it to NTB again, and get a new tire. I'm glad that's all it is!

SO, for all you w/ pull problems, check your tires to see if they are the reason it's pullin!

-fnny

mzmtg

iTrader: (11)

I've always considered "tire pull" to be a cop out. What they are really saying is "The car is aligned to factory specs, therefore, there's nothing else we know how to do...it must be the tires"

I wish I could find a place that knew how each alignment parameter affects handling. If I tell them that the car is pulling one way or the other, but it's in factory specs, that doesnt mean it's the tires...

mzmtg

iTrader: (11)

Well...maybe not...

I just did a little searching around in the web. Tire pull is real. It can be verified, too. If the vehicle pulls to one side, yet it is properly aligned, try swapping the front tires side-to-side. If the vehicle then pulls the other direction, you most likely have tire pull.

This is caused by the shape of the tire. Ideally, a tire is shaped like a perfect cylinder. The radius on the inboard edge should be exactly the same as the outboard edge. You get tire pull when, due to wear or construction problems, the tire is slightly cone-shaped. The radius on the inboard edge would be slightly smaller or larger than the radius of the outboard edge.

funnylittlman

iTrader: (1)

mzmtg,

That's exactly what I've been noticing. I had a pull to the right, but the alignment was almost perfect. Then they Cross rotated the fronts to the rear, and brought the rear's up front, and it pulled left, harder than it did right. I took it to my bud at the Nissan dealer, and he said that the alignment was damn near perfect. He concluded with the fact that it's tire pull. A bad tire Oh well, I contacted NTB, and they will be replacing the one(s) that are bad.