Help with alignment! ahh im going to kill myself one of these days!

[cesarnono13]

alright guys, heres the deal ive gotten my cars tires aligned about 3 times now and everytime the same thing happens. after a couple of weeks driving it the car starts pulling to hte left and the steering wheel gets offset. its offset like 45 degrees i swear! look at the pic! so yeah the steering wheel is about 45 degrees to the left when both wheels are straight. also the front right tire gets eaten up from the inside, furthermore 2 alignment shops dont know whats wrong... halp!

[r3v_v3ng3]

its definitely your steering, so i'm thinking toe or something wrong with your rack and pinion

[slo_coupe]

more than likely your toe is still way off. im guessing whoever aligned it didnt center the wheel before adjusting the toe. take it a better shop and have them do a correct alignment

[cesarnono13]

ill do that!

[Vegascorbin]

Explain to the shop the problem you have been having and that if it happens again you will be bringing it back for them to fix for free until they get it right.

Make them stand behind their work.

[Rucca]

If the car is aligned properly when you leave the shop, and stays that way for any period of time the problem is not the alignment but a problem in your rack or steering gear.

[Vegascorbin]

I agree. If it is a good shop they should be able to tell you if the rack is bad.

[jerryk]

I have Tokico shocks and Eibach 1" drop springs 17" wheels, adjustable upper control arms in rear and front and rear tower braces.

Just had my car aligned and it drifts to the right when I let go of the wheel on a flat road. Alignment man says car has no adjustment for this. Is he wrong or can I find a part that will allow for adjustment.

[silpena]

hows tire pressure looking? even? band tire pressure can do that. Did he try adjusting toe? i get some adjustable ones.

[Rucca]

In stock form the car has rear toe and camber adjustment and front toe adjustment.

The adjustable upper control arms in the rear give you more rear camber adjustment and by front and rear tower braces I assume you mean strut bars and not camber plates so you still have no front camber adjustment.

If your problem is due to camber, he is correct, however, you would need to see the alignment printout to see. Always get a printout with your alignments - the shops should require that the tech does a before and after printout or an after printout at the very least.

[IanS]

alright guys, heres the deal ive gotten my cars tires aligned about 3 times now and everytime the same thing happens. after a couple of weeks driving it the car starts pulling to hte left and the steering wheel gets offset. its offset like 45 degrees i swear! look at the pic! so yeah the steering wheel is about 45 degrees to the left when both wheels are straight. also the front right tire gets eaten up from the inside, furthermore 2 alignment shops dont know whats wrong... halp!

Has the car ever been in an accident? If it has, your steering problems may be a symptom of a bent frame, engine cradle, or control arm.

Have all the front end parts been checked for tightness? If you have a loose ball joint, or tie rod, or a failing wheel bearing, correct alignment settings may be impossible to attain. Considering the recurring issue, you may have worn splines on your steering sector shaft or on the combined slip yoke universal joint in the column, that are beginning to slip. An offset steering wheel will not always cause a pull, or tire wear.

Contrary to poular belief, the most common cause of pulls, or, drifts, is not toe.

Improper toe can cause the steering wheel to be off center, but unless the the toe is extremely off, all it will do is effect the cars ability to track on a strait road.

Camber and caster on the other hand, unless excessive, will not be noticeable by just looking at the vehicle, but if set improperly will have a dramatic effect on the cars ability to travel in a straight line. On a factory 240SX, neither caster nor camber are adjustable, but this can be remedied by way of aftermarket parts.

You say you are wearing the inside of your right front tire. Improperly set toe will wear both front tires. Caster and camber rarely cause tire wear issues. In my experience, a loose lower ball joint on the right side would be the first place to look, it will cause both inner tire wear, and erratic alignment settings.

My advice to you, take your car to a good shop, ask in the regional forums, and on local automotive related boards, find somewhere willing to cater to your needs. There is a good chance, you will find a tires plus/goodyear, or something of the like with a car geek like myself willing to take the time to do things right, willing to work with you. Explain your problems, not to the service writer, but to the technician actually doing the alignment, that way he can perform pre-alignment checks accordingly. Once he has performed the alignment, make sure you get a printout showing your before and current settings. That way, if the problem returns, you can prove the car was aligned, and the problem lies elsewhere.

If you have the chance, post up your before and after alignment specs, I can look them over to possibly point you in the right direction.

I have Tokico shocks and Eibach 1" drop springs 17" wheels, adjustable upper control arms in rear and front and rear tower braces.

Just had my car aligned and it drifts to the right when I let go of the wheel on a flat road. Alignment man says car has no adjustment for this. Is he wrong or can I find a part that will allow for adjustment.

Just to let you know, thread jacking like that, makes you look like a complete douche. Search, read, learn, than make your own thred.

[Hype]

Damn, that was extremely thorough FlatBlackIan!

Contrary to popular belief, the most common cause of pulls, or, drifts, is not toe.

Camber and caster on the other hand, unless excessive, will not be noticeable by just looking at the vehicle, but if set improperly will have a dramatic effect on the cars ability to travel in a straight line. On a factory 240SX, neither caster nor camber are adjustable, but this can be remedied by way of aftermarket parts.

Your situation looks pretty drastic, but to anyone else who may have just a slight problem traveling in a straight line after an otherwise good alignment with new tires, look at caster. When I got new polyurethane tension rod bushings, it through my caster off a bit. It only affected the behavior of the car in a straight line. IIRC, the only way to provide adjustable camber is with adjustable tension rods.

[Cone Junky]

Damn, that was extremely thorough FlatBlackIan!

Your situation looks pretty drastic, but to anyone else who may have just a slight problem traveling in a straight line after an otherwise good alignment with new tires, look at caster. When I got new polyurethane tension rod bushings, it through my caster off a bit. It only affected the behavior of the car in a straight line. IIRC, the only way to provide adjustable camber is with adjustable camber plates.

Tension rods/strut rods effect caster

To the OP-it definitely sounds like you have loose/broken parts. I doubt a shop would leave something loose after an alignment 3 times, so they are not properly checking your suspension/steering components properly.There are 3 things to check BEFORE doing an alignment-*Ride height (possibility of fat person in driver's seat)*Tire pressure*Loose/worn partsThere is no reason for an alignment to keep going out of spec, unless you keep running into things

[janda240sx]

I had the same problem. had the car alighned 4 times and still the same. I decided I check things out myself. After about 15 min. of investigations I found that I had a loose tie rod end on the right side.

[ChuckNC]

Yes, I was going to suggest the tie rods, too. What's the test? Jack up one of the front tires and pull back with one hand and forth with the other at the 12-6 o'clock positions on the tire and then again at the 9-3 o'clock position, I think? If it's loose at the 9-3 spot, then look at your tie rod. Can someone help me out with this?

[ADF932]

I know what just happened in your situation. Who ever did your alignment did not use a steering wheel depressor when they aligned the car. That keeps you steering wheel centered and stationary when working on the alignment. I know this because I do my own alignments on my car.

You might want to take it back to the shop you took it to and get it aligned properly, sounds like your toe is off if the tire is getting eaten up. extreme negative camber degress also cause inner tire wear.

[silpena]

that be hard since the computer tells them to set toe by using the "brake depressor" your talking about. ONce on a aligment on a certain truck. We could not figure out why camber wasn't going to stock or toe even when it said it was/ WE came to conclusion after checking the set back on the front. Someone has been joyriding and jump it too many times. Suspension was toast.

[jerryk]

I have Tokico shocks and Eibach 1" drop springs 17" wheels, adjustable upper control arms in rear and front and rear tower braces.

Just had my car aligned and it drifts to the right when I let go of the wheel on a flat road. Alignment man says car has no adjustment for this. Is he wrong or can I find a part that will allow for adjustment.

Continue.The printer was not working so I do not have any print out.Have new tie rod ends and the steering wheel is centered. On my second trip, the shop person switched the wheels front to back to see if the problem moves. It did not. The car still drifts to the right. I have purchased adjustable front caster rods. We will see what happens.

[ADF932]

Your soppose to install the steering wheel and the brake depressor and remove the brake light fuse, and make sure the sensors are leveled properley. Those are the steps before starting the alingment.

[silpena]

i was never told to check for the brake light fuses. How would that cause the the car drift to the side? I'm i skip over those things during an aligment since a brake problem is not the problem. how are the upper mounts on the struts? worn? are the springs placed in right?

[ADF932]

You remove the brake light fuse after you install the brake depressor. This keeps your bulbs from burning out or possibly draining the battery.Think about it this way, if your aligning the car with the brake depressor on with the brakes lights on for about half an hour , think of what might happen. If your a technition you dont want a comeback over a few burned out brake light bulbs. Its more of a precaution that most techs take.

[silpena]

but don't u only have to only turn the steering wheel lock to lock to set toe? i usually turn the car on to set toe and once its centered we lock it with the brake depressor and turn off the car so it doesn't keep the brake lights on and re do it again when asked to do it again by the computer. I guess it is a good safety precaution to do so.

[ADF932]

I never tried it that way. Everyone has there own way of doing things. As long as it works for you.

[(Q)240]

my car kinda does the same thing.. except the steering wheel is tilted to the right but not as much as yours... . it was like yours a while back ago after getting my new rack installed.. but got it aligned. and straightend out. but some times when ever it wants it just tilts to the right a littlebit or sometimes it wil be straight... does yours also do that...?im also in need of knowing what this could be...