Report From My Wheel Alignment..

[SargeRX8]

I just had the car aligned and what not, trying to cure some of the inner wear on my tyres. Anyhow, after these procedures, the guys give you the report which shows you the values of what ever x y z are. Ive highlighted some things in the pic below.

Some of them show a difference between left and right and some just a huge difference to what their databank suggests.

Is there anything of concern here?

Look at the camber how different it is on both sides, front and back. What could be causing it to sit like this. If anyone has any input that would be great.

[GTSBoy]

Camber and caster will usually be different left to right, particularly on the front. This is to make the car want to steer to the right a little, which helps it to climb up the camber of a road (which usually slopes uphill to the right when you're driving in a drive-on-the-left road).

That said, your difference is huge. Well, at the rear is is anyway. I would not be concerned by the front report. All the final results are close enough to the target values, and are going to be limited by the state of wear of your various bushes and so on. Do you have adjustable bushes/arms in the front? I'd guess you do by the amount of change they were able to achieve from before to after.

The back is a bit of a horror story. I'd hazard a guess to say that your rear crossmember has been bent or moved on its mounts by having been slid into a kerb or similar. It was bad to start with and they didn't really change it.

If these guys who did your alignment are just a general purpose tyre/wheel align place, then I suggest you take your car and your report to a chassis specialist and get them to have a gander at it. They will confirm my diagnosis or otherwise let you know what it most likely to be. And sadly, they will probably tell you that fixing it will be expensive!

[-Jimmy-]

It looks to me like someone doesn't know how to do a wheel alignment. :S

[boostn0199]

Could be number of things contributing to it overall like above said bushes worn more on 1 side or maybe were only changed on one side, could have had a hit somewhere on one side or could even be that the ride height isnt completly even, or could be the wheel alignment guy just made a mess. Anyway you can always just get adj arms if it concerns you that much and you can bring them to be same on both sides.

[MrStabby]

Its strange they didn't pull all the toe out of the rear - AFAIK that's usually pretty straightforward. It would be interesting to ask why.

And yeah, the right rear camber needs sorting. Maybe the adjuster was stuck and they didn't bother freeing it up?

Front looks ok, - were you getting wear there too?

I would expect the front wants to change direction a lot not more now. If its too unstable get the toe reduced.

If you're anywhere near Tempe, try Heasmans next time.

[SargeRX8]

Just had a look at the subframe on the rear and there is evidence its been in some sort of a kerb side incident... The damage is on the passenger side, have a look at the attached picture. It was done at bob jane. The only adjustable part Ive got is the castor rods up front.

I know this picture is not the cause of the figures but I believe it is good grounds to say the car was involved in some sort of incident. Ive got another subframe which I can put in if need be.

From the figures above though, it looks like the right hand side(driver side?) Is far far worse than the side of impact. Actually, the side of impact is pretty good considering. The wear on the inside of the rear driver side tyre is MUCH worse than the passenger side(which is actually pretty even, not much worse on the inside).

Will changing the subframe and any other bushes necessary fix this issue? Then again I had no idea anything was wrong until I read this piece of paper lol. All our cars have shitty tyre wear and we just change them when necessary but because this is my car I am willing to help remedy this premature wear on tyres.

I am getting frontal wear, mainly inside passenger side. Wheels aren't big(17/40 up front 17/45 rear) and the car doesn't sit very low at all. If there was a way I could fix and measure this shit at home, I would sit there all day to fix it but damn those machines look like they are doing some precise work...

Edited November 30, 2011 by SargeRX8

[GTSBoy]

Well, the front passenger inside wear will be from the extra camber on that wheel. That's easy enough to see and to fix. You just need adjustable bushes in the upper arms. I run nearly 2° on both sides of my R32 on the street though and the inside wear is not terrible. They do wear the inners faster than the outers, but when I wear out a pair at the rear, I move the fronts to the rear so the new ones go on the steering end and the old fronts on the rear wear more evenly from then on and it's all good.

On your car, the camber change at the front from before to after is simply the result of them changing the caster (plus measurement error, which can be appreciable). They haven't deliberately changed it because you don't have anything on there to let them try. Same at the rear.

I still reckon that you should get a chassis guy to have a look at it. Ask around and find out who the insurance companies use to fix cars that need correction after accidents. I could point you to such a guy here in Adelaide, but that ain't guna help you over there. Such a guy will know if there is any wiggle room to tweak the subframe back into place or if you're doomed to live with it forever. FWIW, it's better to be able to fix it by straightening what's wrong rather than using adjustable arms/bushes, but if your only option is to use arms/bushes, then that's what you do.

cheers

[boostn0199]

That damage isnt a big deal it hasnt effected the subframe ive had the same thing happen to mine when i smashed my lca and it ripped that part of the subframe wouldnt be ezpecting that to be a big contributor.

[boostn0199]

That damage isnt a big deal it hasnt effected the subframe ive had the same thing happen to mine when i smashed my lca and it ripped that part of the subframe wouldnt be ezpecting that to be a big contributor.

[boostn0199]

That damage isnt a big deal it hasnt effected the subframe ive had the same thing happen to mine when i smashed my lca and it ripped that part of the subframe wouldnt be ezpecting that to be a big contributor.

[badhairdave]

They've given you a family car alignment.

They adjusted what they could at the front end (caster and toe) but they have given you toe in because that's what they give 99% of people as tyres wear less with toe in, but turn in is doughy as a result.

The big difference up front is either dead bushes or a bent LCA. I would say most likely it's the lower control arm bushes as they are big soft units that wear out. I reckon you could take it back tomorrow and the front camber would read differently again. replace the LCA bushes before doing adjustable UCA's.

Up the back it's a bit of an odd one as they should have been able to get the camber reasonably even, if not reasonably straight. Factory adjustment is in the order of .75 degrees per side. It looks like they haven't even touched it, the minor change is a result of the toe change. If they have tried to adjust it and that's the best they can achieve then ideally you need to find out what's bent. Or just be lazy like the rest of us and get some adjustable rear upper arms.

And bullshit on cars being aligned different left to right gtsboy. Most alignment places are lucky to align a car straightish, let alone .5 more caster here, .25 degrees more camber there. It's something sydneykid liked to recommend years ago, and it was as wrong then as it is now. Roads don't all have consistent 3 degrees of cross fall to the left.

[GTSBoy]

And bullshit on cars being aligned different left to right gtsboy. Most alignment places are lucky to align a car straightish, let alone .5 more caster here, .25 degrees more camber there. It's something sydneykid liked to recommend years ago, and it was as wrong then as it is now. Roads don't all have consistent 3 degrees of cross fall to the left.

Whatever. First wheel alignment I ever got on a car, done on a HG Kingswood (of all things, but at least you could shim the camber/caster a bit), done by a proper chassis guy, not a tyre shop, was done like that, and the guy specifically told me that they deliberately do that. Just because slack arse tyre shop aligners don't even try to set up a car properly doesn't mean it's not a good idea. Fast forward 20 odd years, and my current wheel align guy does the same. But I'll change my wheel alignment then to get rid of that exact bias in settings, just to make sure that we all agree with you.

Edited December 1, 2011 by GTSBoy

[badhairdave]

I don't need everyone to agree with me. I'd be bored.

Look at the roads you're driving on. You know i'm right.

[GTSBoy]

Most of the time I drive on a single carriageway or in the left lane of a dual carriageway. And so should everyone else, even if most morons like to drive in the fast lane all the time. So it makes absolutely perfect sense to set it up to be neutral steering for where it spends the majority of its time. I can't see that an argument against it is possible.

[SargeRX8]

Alot of the roads in my area, when driving in the left lane or single lane road, tend to pull slightly to the left. There are times in my old skyline where I can feel the road actually pull my tires to the left. No joke if you actually drive up woodville road near granville(heading to Parramatta) in the left lane just near the town houses and Sound master, the road WILL pull your car to the left if you do not hold the steering. My LCA isn't bent but I had recently replaced that whole hub as the bearing in the hub was worn and noisy. I don't know how much effect this could/would have but like I said above, the only symptoms I am getting is wear on my tires. if it wasn't for that(and this report) I would have no idea how out of whack things are(or aren't).

[33GTRV]

was this done at a bob jane or beaurepaires store? What you have recieved in this wheel alignment is commonly known as a Toe and Go. They simply adjust the toe, make sure the steering wheel is straight and then punt it back out the door. Take it to a professional who knows the cars. If yuo look up on the beissbarth site they usually give you the ideal factory suspension values for your car, its a good place to start.

[SargeRX8]

Where do I go in Sydney? People said pedders is shit, people say bob jane(they done the work) is shit, all other places I know are mechanics and tuners who do not have the equipment to do precise suspension work... I need to either fix bushes or get adjustable... things to allow them to make things right...

[GTSBoy]

I still reckon that you should get a chassis guy to have a look at it. Ask around and find out who the insurance companies use to fix cars that need correction after accidents. I could point you to such a guy here in Adelaide, but that ain't guna help you over there.

[SargeRX8]

^

Yes but surely there will be someone here who can recommend a place in Sydney rather than me having to call up insurance companies and ask. A better option for me would be to call a big name tuner and ask who they use to do their chassis and suspension work, but it is always best to receive first hand recommendations off people who have used these types of services with cars like ours.

Edited December 1, 2011 by SargeRX8

[Duncan]

You really should join the NSW club, there are lots of good suggestions in the member section.

In any case, which part of sydney are you in. From the report above you have something bent both front and rear, or very badly worn bushes. The factory camber and caster cannot be adjusted at the front, and the rear camber can only be adjusted by about .5 degrees.