94 Q45a Alignment Problem

[SolidLifter]

I just moved down from CA to MD, had to get my 94 Q45a inspected in order for it to be registered in MD. After inspection, the only thing my baby needed was tires and alignment on LF. So I got 4 sumi's and had them put on. I picked up the car and realized immediately that it was tracking right. Drove it on all types of surfaces and still it is tracking right. Spoke to the buffoon who worked on it and told him, it probably needs the alignment done again, but he said, it cant be, because they used some fancy new machine. But I am still going to go see him and see what's what.
Has anyone else experienced this sort of thing with their Q, if you have, please let me know, whether the reason it is tracking right is because of an alignment job done by an imbecile or its something more else. I know, I read somewhere that changing tires on a Q45a was not as simple as it looks, because of the ASUS on the car.
P.S. I am new to Q45a and I don't want to go shot gunning around this problem.

[elwesso]

The active suspension doesn't really make things complicated for aligning the car, the only thing is they must leave it running while they do the alignment otherwise the car will sink too low.

Chances are you have a worn out component.. If you post the results of the alignment, we can help determine what part(s) need replaced!

[SolidLifter]

Thanks guys for replying, took the car back to the shop, looks like it might not be an alignment problem after all. Not sure, here are the numbers, plus there is a noticeable "toe in" on left rear.

Front left------------actual----------before----------specified range
Camber:-------------(-0.99)---------(-0.25)----------(-1.67,-0.17)
caster:----------------5.88------------2.41------------6.17,7.67
toe:-------------------0.02------------0.05------------(-0.02),0.02
SAI:-------------------6.43------------6.58------------12.17,13.67
Included angle:-------5.44-----------6.33-------------10.5,13.5
turning angle diff:--------------------------------------(-7,-3)

Front Right------ actual--------before-------specified range
camber-----------(-1.19)---------(-0.03)----(-1.67,-0.17)
caster------------5.76-------------2.22--------6.17,7.67
toe----------------(-0.01)---------(-0.04)------(-0.02,0.02)
SAI----------------10.14-----------12.94--------12.17,13.67
Included angle----8.95------------12.65--------10.5,13.5
turning angle diff---------------------------------(-7,-3)

Front-------------actual--------before-------specified range
cross camber----0.2-----------0.05
cross caster------0.13---------0.19
total toe----------0.01---------0.01----------(-0.04,0.04)

rear left------------actual--------before-----specified range
camber-------------(-1.88)-------(-0.96)-----(-2),(-1)
toe------------------0.04----------0.03--------0,0.09

rear right---------actual---------before------specified range
camber------------(-1.78)-------(-0.82)------(-2,-1)
toe--------------------0-----------0.09---------0,0.09

Rear-----------actual-------before------specified range
total toe-------0.04--------0.12---------0.00,0.18
thrust angle---0.03--------(-0.05)

[elwesso]

Honestly that alignment doesn't look that bad at all.. Being less than 0.5° side to side isn't going to have a noticeable pull.

First thing I'd try is try and swap the tires left to right, sometimes tires can cause that kind of a pull, and also tire pressure being more than 5PSI off side to side can cause a noticeable pull.

Most Q I've driven either track straight or favor the right, in fact that's by design so if you were to fall asleep at the wheel or something, you're better off veering off to the right (into the ditch) then off to the left (into oncoming traffic).

Most roads are banked slightly anyway (for water run-off), so combine that with a car that's sort of designed to pull right from the factory anyway, this is not an uncommon complaint.

By the way, back in the day they had a TSB on this issue, and Infiniti claimed that on a flat road at highway speeds that if the car didn't cross the white line on the right within 1/4 mile it was considered "normal"..

If the tires are wearing normally, swap the tires side to side and check the pressure, otherwise your alignment looks good!

[SolidLifter]

You are absolutely right. When I bought the car, I freaked out a bit, but I quickly realized that its not just the fact that the roads are banked, but the car does favor to track right. But after changing the tires, its a completely different story. This thing is taking off to the right, and you don't need 1/4 mile to see how bad it is.
So now, tire pressure. I asked the guy to inflate the tires according to spec, he wouldn't do that, because he said it was an old car and needed above 35 all around, which didn't make any sense to me, because;

1, tire pressure is not dependent on ambient temp in my opinion,(unless adverse conditions)
2, on a stock G50 chassis with stock suspension, having sidewalls that stiff just doesn't make sense to me at least. The suspension wont cope with that kind stiff side wall.

Test drove the car and immediately realized the sidewalls were too stiff (mind you this is after I realized the car wanted to take off to the right).
So I rotated the tires as you said and reduced the pressures to 2psi over spec, and the car handled much better. What I mean by much better is, the suspension was keeping up with the tires and the ride was much better, but the car was still taking off to the right.

I thought may be its just me, gave it to my buddy who had driven the car before the tires were changed and he even noticed that it was tracking right quite badly.
So at this point I am stumped. Probably will take a look at it over the coming weekend and try and trouble shoot the problem. Believe me, it is really annoying,

Thanks a lot for taking the time to look at those numbers. I think I have memorized them by heart by now hahahahahaha.

Will keep Nico posted and what happens.