My reason for getting my car aligned was because it pulls to the left, and it turned a set of general exlcaims bald in a year (and i do hardly any agressive driving).

From research I understand the camber cant be adjusted without a camber kit. And the guy said since my car is lowered, they cant adjust caster. So basically all i got done was the front toe adjusted, which the guy told me was originally way off. My car no longer pulls to the left but here are the numbers.

Is my car good to go? Should i get a camber kit? Should i chew the guy out?

Thanks.

 

Well here's what I see.

1. Your front camber is pretty aggressive, good for cornering but will eventually wear your inner edges of your front tires. But its not terrible.

2. You have less positive caster on the right front meaning technically you should be pullin right some, not alot, but some. Vehicles will always drift/pull to the side with the least positive caster. Caster is what keeps the car straight ahead (if theres no other issues). Typically you wanna have closely matching caster numbers, if you drive on alot of crowned roads then maybe setting up the left front with a little bit less caster is good so that the car will wanna drive straighter on crowned roads instead of fighting the steering wheel turning it left.

3. You front TOE was HELLA far out, toed in. This means the car shoulda felt like it was wandering and/or had alot of bump steer because the tires were fighting themselves. Now that its dead on should ride pretty straight with minimal bump steer.

4. The only thing that still concerns me is your right rear toe, its funky. It should match the left rear toe since we have a solid rear axle. Has there been damage to the right rear of the car? Accidents, curbage? With those rear alignment numbers the front of your RR tire should technically be pointing inward so now you have a thrust angle issue and could possible be "dog tracking" meaning the rear of the car isn't driving straight, this can make you feel like the car is pulling. The RR tire is trying to turn the rear of the car left (think forklift when the operator is trying to make a right turn, the rear wheels turn left) making you feel like the front of the car is drifting towards the right, making you correct this by turning it left and now you think your car is pulling right.

Don't feel bad though, mine has a weird funky left rear toe reading. I can't figure it out, theres no visible damage or anything. I guess ill be on the lookout for a replacement axle that is true.

 

ooooooooooooooh you so smaart. Nice knowledge. really.

 

Thanks G. Its just basic alignments though, nothing smart about it. Do this for 5 years and it gets burned into your brain haha.

 

Thanks alot turbizzy, I appreciate it alot, you told me everything I wanted to know about the numbers. It does feel like it drives smoother/straighter with the front toe fixed but now it might have a slight pull to the right (very very slight) but I havent driven it enough to really tell. Thats probably due to the RR wheel like you said.

The guy said the same thing about the RR and also mentioned dog tracking. No damage since ive had the car and it has a clear carfax...maybe slid into a curb before i owned it but theres no visible damage.

The guy also said he cant adjust the caster cause my car is lowered, is that true? Also would a camber kit be worthwhile for me to buy?, I know they are cheap in the group buys. Im not looking for an agressive tune, just the stock setup to keep my gas mileage up and my treadware down.

 

You may have some camber adjustment within the strut holes themselves, but not much. It has been said on the .org many times that camber bolt kits suck, but I have had mine on for 2 years with no issue (but then I do get an alignment every spring and go completely thru the susp.)

 

Hey since he got his question answered can anyone help me here? I got my car aligned twice only cause they messed up the first time. Don't know how, but I knew the car wasn't feeling right when I drove it after 50 miles. It's like everything got loose. The top you see was the first time it got aligned and the 2nd time is the newer one obviously (one im on now). Only thing is they can't adjust the front right camber cause its maxed out he's saying. How do I fix this? It's only that one side. I have Tokico HP245 kit with stock rims. Thanks! Oh and the car pulls to the left only.

I must say I do like it when I turn left. Very nice! lol

 

Tell them to up the front left camber to match. Cross camber (unequal camber from side to side) causes pulling. Your car will handle better, although your left tire will wear quicker since you're essentially pressing the inside edge of the tire into the ground (camber wear).

 

Petro, how is it possible to adjust camber on your car in the first place? Do you have those camber bolts installed or is your lower strut mount holes elongated to allow some camber adjustment?

Because in stock form, your camber is not adjustable at all so unless you install a camber bolt kit theres really no way to adjust the camber right. Otherwise you can elongate the upper mounting hole on the strut to allow some camber adjustment.

 

There is some play in the bolt holes (~.2-3 degrees IIRC) but not enough to make much of a dent in that cross camber.

 

Ok cool I didn't know that. Since I don't know exactly what they had to adjust or whatever its hard to say to adjust one thing or another thing but yeah, like Morpheus said you can either have the LF camber closer match the RF camber for a better ride however this will wear your inner edges of your tires. If the sporty, corner carving driving is what you want then by all means, but if you want more tire life then i would suggest that camber bolt kit.

 

Yea I don't really know why I have crazy camber like that on the right side. I talked to some people last time and it looks like my solution is some adjustable camber bolts. Here's the link:

http://www.drivewire.com/products/ni...ment-kit/6733/

I'll be purchasing this tonight and get the car realigned.

 

Sounds good, those should help you out alot. Post up the final alignment.

 

Will do! Ordered them today and they should be here on Thursday. This weekend I'm going to have my clutch changed so I'll do it after.