I went and got my alignment and they told me of course i cant get my camber setup or my caster. I was thinking of purchasing a pro alignment kit in stillen.com and put them on. I would like to know how to put them on if anyone has done this. I would like to get it since my driver side wheel is not centered its actually to close towards the driver door. To far back.

 

Alignmet kit will only change your angles. The wheel location is dictated predominantly by the LCA. I suspect your car was in an accident or your LCA is bent from a curb or big pot hole impact.

 

Well i forgot to mention is that two days ago i changed both lca with new bushings, both new sway link with new bushings of course, both inner tie rod, both outer tie rod ends. Then yesterday i took it to the shop to get an alignment. After the alignment the guy told me to put some camber kit on to be able to help the camber and caster. My car is a re-build vehicle too.

 

Alignment kit MIGHT put you back in spec, but it wont relocate your tire. LCA and subframe dictate tire position, alignment kit, I believe, moves strut mount at top.

 

my passenger side tire used to stick out it was weird looked funny. they charged me 120 dollars to put camber bolts in and then 70 dollar alignment. does this sound normal? i never heard of camber bolts....

 

camber bolts are regular bolts that are designed to allow the camber to be adjusted precisely. I know how to make them, but it requires a lathe and the arm of your first born . I wouldn't worry about it, sounds like a typical shop charge to me. After they set the camber, they had to reset the alignment, since resetting the camber changes the alignment.

Our MacPherson strut system is bad about having the camber set in the factory, and not being easy to adjust. But since it's cheap and reliable, it's the predominant suspension on front WD vehicles today.

 

In effect, yes. Camber bolts don't move the top, just give you the equivalent effect. If a kit mounts on top of the strut, then I suppose it moves the top of the strut. On cars that have a camber adjustment, the top of the strut is in a moveable adjustment plate.

 

he charged my 55 for the camber bolts and 60 to install them tho. is that legit?

 

Doesn't sound too far out. You can get them on tirerack for $26 + shipping, so 55 sounds like a normal shop markup. And getting a shop to install just about anything is going to cost you around $60. So yes, it sounds legitimate.

 

kool, thanks.

 

Well you think i should get the kit i was thinking about it since its only 26 bucks. Im thinking since my car was a rebuild then it can be the subframe.

 

Im just trying to replace a lot of things to make this car run smoothly. Im also having this vibration problem where im driving about 70 or so and start hitting the brakes my car will starting vibrating a lot. Ant solution? Again i changed lca, tie rod ends, inner tie rod, and the sway link.

 

If there's a gap between the subframe buschings and the chassis then try these:

http://forums.maxima.org/group-deals...e-collars.html

I replaced my LCAs, sway bar end links, tie rods, struts, springs....but the ride still wasn't smooth enough. After easily inserting those collars last week I now have a smoother ride and more precise steering.

 

If the vibration is rhythmic and slows down with the speed of the car, it sounds like a warped rotor--which one is uncetain, but the front ones are the most likely to warp. Especially if you feel the pulsations in the brake pedal, then it is very likely your rotors. It is a very common problem.

 

I never checked my rotor cuz I def get a lot of vibration when I start breaking. How would I know if my rotor is bent or whatever? I know I get thump noise while im driving.

 

the poor man's solution, especially for a really bad rotor, is to take the wheel off, put a couple lug nuts on to hold the rotor in place, then spin the rotor by hand while gently holding a finger in place on the rotor. As the rotor slides under your finger, you'll feel movements back and forth if the rotor is warped. You can sometimes also tell with the wheel on the vehicle. Lift the wheel off the ground and start spinning it. If it catches in one place especially hard, hard enough to stop the wheel quickly, there's your bad rotor. It's normal for there to be a slight catch, but it should slow the wheel slowly, not quickly, as is the case with a bad rotor.

 

That's CASTER and it's not adjustable with any type of kit on our cars.
You have suspension damage.

Items to check:
Strut
Lower Control Arm
Sub Frame
Unibody specs. (This would be very bad)

 

I figure since it was a rebuild that might have been the problem. It looks like it was hit on the driver side but I did the whole suspension brand new. Lca, strut, spring, inner rod, outer, sway link. I could check the others on the list and see whats up

 

Based on the fact it's a rebuild car, I don't think the problem is in the small parts you've replaced.

sounds like the subframe and/or chassis is bent, which locates the control arm and holds everything in place.. If it's out of alignment, nothing else will line the car up. you can point the wheels forward, but it's always going to pull to one side and have strange driving characteristics. to fix it, you need a body shop to measure the chassis and see where things are bent.
there are measurements in the FSM, but based on this thread I have to say it's probably a bit above your pay grade to do the measurements required.

 

Yeah I figure thanks man. I guess I dont mind it to much with the problem where the wheel is a little farther back but im hoping i dont have problems when i purchase wheels. I was thinking in a couple of month getting the p45 and try them out. I just dont want to much trouble with them.