PiotrC70

I've mentioned this before but now I feel it is crucial because I am selling my car. I have a slight rightward drift and I would like the alignment done. A place that does alignments on lowered cars said that maximas don't allow you to adjust (I believe it's the caster) which would fix everything.. I went to Les Schwab, and one of the guys told me there is nothing he can do about my alignment...
So I guess what I'm getting at is How the hell do they get the alignment done in the first place..
BTW, the guy at Les Schwab told me that IF the alignment was done, my car might drive straight, but my steering wheel would be off...
Any suggestions I'd appreciate.. thanks

Eric L.

4th gen Maximas have only one alignment adjustment, front toe. Nothing else is adjustable (camber, caster, nothing in the rear).

PiotrC70

If you can't adjust anything else, how are you supposed to get correct alignment without having the steering wheel be off a couple of degrees???

I30CeFiRo

I think you can't adjust the caster and camber on stock suspensions.

shumax

I had mine adjusted and now my steering wheel is off a bit. I decided that having the car alligned was more important than dealing with a steering wheel only SLIGHTLY off center. Hell, I don't even notice it anymore.



SHUMAX

brubenstein

Toe is the only thing that has a dedicated adjustment. If it is done right the steering wheel will be straight. If the steering wheel is turned a bit, when going straight, they did a sloppy job.
Camber can be changed in several ways. The "free" way is to loosen the two lower strut mounting bolts, and shift things a bit using the clearance between the bolts and the holes. Between the two front wheels there should be enough play to get the cmaber setting the same on both wheels, and not just "within spec". Getting the camber equal on both sides should stop the pulling. This will also probably only work with stock springs. Lowered cars may need either "camber bolts" (lower strut mount), or a camber adjusting plate (top strut mount). It is not easy finding a place that does a really good alignment.

Jeff92se

iTrader: (82)

You guys reading this(the quote)? Read and learn. Nice info.

And BTW I think to a certain degree caster, camber, toe is adjustable, even in the rear. But not by the grade school drop outs at most alignment shops. If you go to a QUALITY frame and chassis shop, they can do most anything.

Think about it, when you car gets into a wreck, how do they get your car back into alignment? The knowledgeble guys know what to tweak here and there to get the suspension settings you want.

PiotrC70

...

CFster

"Think about it, when you car gets into a wreck, how do they get your car back into alignment?"

-with a frame machine. Caster is not adjustable on the Maximas. If it's off, you better go to a frame shop to have the thing straightened. brubenstein mentioned the correct method for adjusting camber.

"But not by the grade school drop outs at most alignment shops."

-nice.

Jeff92se

iTrader: (82)

What? I just told him to go to a frame shop. What's your point again?

bill99gxe

iTrader: (1)

CFster,

And I thought the media was bad.

As Jeff said above:
***********
And BTW I think to a certain degree caster, camber, toe is adjustable, even in the rear. But not by the grade school drop outs at most alignment shops. If you go to a QUALITY frame and chassis shop, they can do most anything.

Think about it, when you car gets into a wreck, how do they get your car back into alignment? The knowledgeble guys know what to tweak here and there to get the suspension settings you want.
***********

He said to go to a frame shop......Why did you take only a small portion of the quote and try to make him look like a fool/smart-butt(Nickelodean Rule) by re-stating what he already said as if he never said anything?

I must not have gotten the memo about today being bash Jeff92se day....Sheesh.....

CFster

Meaning that essentially the caster is NOT adjustable, and you've got major problems if it's off. Either the car was in an accident or you wailed a pothole and bent either a control arm or bent the unibody. If it's the suspension, you need to go to a shop to have the parts replaced and then to one those "drop out mechanics (nice)" to have it lined up afterwards. If the unibody is tweaked, you need to go to a frame shop and have it straightened - or throw the car away. Then the frame shop will most likely sub out the alignment afterwards to one of those "drop out mechanics" to have it lined up - seeing as most frame shops have no use for an alignment rack (mostly high volume alignment shops have those, they're the only ones who can pay a fortune for one and have it be cost effective). Don't confuse a frame straightening machine for an alignment rack.
So I guess what I'm saying is: toe and camber are adjustable (to varying degrees) and caster is not. And whether or not you bring your car to an alignment shop or a frame shop, most likely it will be lined up by one of those "drop out mechanics". I guess we're all screwed either way huh.

CFster

And I quote:

"And BTW I think to a certain degree caster, camber, toe is adjustable, even in the rear. But not by the grade school drop outs at most alignment shops. If you go to a QUALITY frame and chassis shop, they can do most anything"

Caster is not adjustable. That was the point I was trying to make. Then the comment about the "drop outs" ****ing pissed me off. I employ several techs at my shop who maybe aren't college material, but take pride in and have a talent for what they do.

Jeff92se

iTrader: (82)

You don't seem to understand.

1) I never confused an alignment shop for a QAUALITY frame shop. But you sure did.
2) In my area, there is TWO highly recommended FRAME shops that can handle 4 wheel alignments very easily. Not only do they handle the easy toe and camber settings, they will tell you if you need additional unibody work done to correct any caster changes also.(so essentially caster IS adjustable) So what do you think will happen if the caster is off becuase of a pothole or accident???? They throw the car away??
3) If you think the everyday alignment shop is as good as the above two shops I just mentioned, I feel for you because you don't know what your talking about.
4) And I never confused a grade school drop out alignment shop w/ a similar mechanic. But since your on the subject I'll go into detail. One of your beloved "mechanics" from Nissan no less, tried(I mean tried poorly) to fix my vtc assemblies. What happened? Well in 5000 miles, the noise is back and they refuse to warranty the work. "nice" huh?? Well if they are so freakin' good, then why did my dumbass self not only do the work myself(see sig) and have the vtc assemblies be dead quiet for close to 40,000 miles now????

So your damn right these jokers(mechanics) are from grade school. Most run of the mill alignment shops only know how to adjust the toe and maybe camber. If the caster is out they just shrug their shoulders and say "donno" instead of offering a better explaination of why their car is behaving incorrectly.

bill99gxe

iTrader: (1)

$20!

Eric L.

If you goto a good alignment shop with modern computerized equipment, they will adjust your front toe (on the car..hehe) so that your steering wheel is staight ahead again. I had to take my car to four Firestones to get the alignment done right. Good thing I had the lifetime alignment...man those Firestone people really get pissed when they find out they can't screw you over for a $80 wheel alignment each time you go in. Lifetime alignment at firestone was $130. I've gotten two good alignments already, so I've gotten my money's worth on that.

CFster

"In my area, there is TWO highly recommended FRAME shops that can handle 4 wheel alignments very easily. Not only do they handle the easy toe and camber settings, they will tell you if you need additional unibody work done to correct any caster changes also.(so essentially caster IS adjustable) So what do you think will happen if the caster is off becuase of a pothole or accident???? They throw the car away??"

Ok, so caster is adjustable like a bent frame is adjustable? Is that what you're saying?

"If you think the everyday alignment shop is as good as the above two shops I just mentioned, I feel for you because you don't know what your talking about"

I know what I'm talking about - I have 14 years experience in a shop and now oversee 8 techs. We have several shops in the area that we sub alignment work out to that do fine work. You're giving mechanics a bad name.

"One of your beloved "mechanics" from Nissan no less, tried(I mean tried poorly) to fix my vtc assemblies. What happened? Well in 5000 miles, the noise is back and they refuse to warranty the work. "nice" huh?? Well if they are so freakin' good, then why did my dumbass self not only do the work myself(see sig) and have the vtc assemblies be dead quiet for close to 40,000 miles now????"

I can't speak for that particular tech. I do know that its Nissan's and the dealerships policy that determines if work is covered under warranty. Not the tech.

"So your damn right these jokers(mechanics) are from grade school. Most run of the mill alignment shops only know how to adjust the toe and maybe camber. If the caster is out they just shrug their shoulders and say "donno" instead of offering a better explaination of why their car is behaving incorrectly."

Any decent alignment rack will tell you if the caster is off. Get your head out of your ***.

Jeff92se

iTrader: (82)

"Ok, so caster is adjustable like a bent frame is adjustable? Is that what you're saying?""

Yes. Which would you rather have. One alignment shop that will just say "sorry, nothing we can do" or have a GOOD frame shop advise you of the problem and actually have the skills to make your car right? Which one are you?

""I know what I'm talking about - I have 14 years experience in a shop and now oversee 8 techs. We have several shops in the area that we sub alignment work out to that do fine work. You're giving mechanics a bad name.""

I damn sure want to give that dumbassed Nissan mechanic a bad name. Is that wrong? Did they fix my car? Did they handle it in a reasonable way? Did they care about the customer?? Why in the hell would I give that guy a good name?

""I can't speak for that particular tech. I do know that its Nissan's and the dealerships policy that determines if work is covered under warranty. Not the tech.""

Warranty issues are up to the individual dealership to determine if they repair warranty should be honored or not. My case was WELL within the policy's mileage. But no honorship? I see you chose to ignore to explain why the "mechanic" was unable to fix my car while I was able to. "nice"

""Any decent alignment rack will tell you if the caster is off. Get your head out of your ***.""

Yep, but not all places are "decent" and which ones will be able to correct that problem?? Les Schwab maybe?? There is a difference bewtween saying your car is messed up and actually being able to fix it.

I don't give a flying crap about a shop that can say "your car is out of aligment" whoa dude! Maybe that's why I'm here! I'm more interested in the ones that can fix the car properly.

Put it this way, if you shop can't attend to an unibodied car that has caster problem, there's no point in continuing this discussion.

Jeff92se

iTrader: (82)

Hehe. I just got my alignment done at Firestone. Only a few guys open on Sat. Anyhoo. First they ask me "do you want you alignment checked or just want your car aligned?" The check is $25. Ah, I already know my car is out of aligment, just align it please. "Well we should check it first?" Uh...I already know it's out of alignment, just align it and save me the $25, thank you for offering though. Actually the tech was pretty nice about it. We went over the before and after specs. As I suspected, after lowering the car the front toe was a NEG #! OOps! Suprisingly the rear toe also was toed out. So they adjusted what they could(toe only) and I was happy. The caster was okay and the camber was "okay". I have 1.1 neg camber on the left front wheel, which is the edge of spec. I could probably leave it alone or very slightly adjust the upper strut bolts and the two Tokico bolts on the body to get it back to 1 deg or less neg camber. So I take back my original statment about the grade school drop out thing but again, instead of suggesting a solution or actually fixing the problem w/ the camber, they just shugged their shoulders and said it's out of spec.