Alignment problem

[skitzo]

A friend of mine was told he has a caster problem by an alignment shop and they said they couldn't fix it (didn't give him a reason and he didn't ask for some reason). His car steers to the right and the front right tire wears pretty bad on the sidewalls. I haven't looked at it and I won't be able to til next week so I thought i'd see what you all thought about it because I don't have all that much experience with suspension.

[quiksilvia]

isnt caster the wheel returning to straight? is his tire flat? are the brakes stuck on that side?

[:: orion ::]

Caster is only adjustable on the S13/14 with adj. T/C rods, like the ones from JIC, Stillen, etc...they all have pillow ball mounts, and threaded shafts.

Later - Brian

[96_S14_SE]

Yup the front caster is unadjustable without aftermarket parts like brian said...

Are his TC rod bushings shot out? If so he will have irractic caster that changes with every road deviation or steering input...

Also if the rod is bent or the lower controll arm is bent caster will be off...

[llamabeta]

Orion mentioned the equipment needed to adjust caster. Only thing adjustable up front (stock) is toe (via tie rods). I'd check on what quiksilvia mentioned as well as 96_s14_Se.

[skitzo]

Quote »isnt caster the wheel returning to straight? is his tire flat? are the brakes stuck on that side?[/quote]Nah.. we both work at a tire shop. Its not something that simple.

I'll know more tommorrow when we check to see if a control arm or something is bent/damaged.

I'll make sure to check out the bushings, im not sure exactly what to look for. But like I said I really know very little about working on suspension.

Thanks for all the help.

[Def]

Worn out TC rod bushing will cause erratic caster and toe changes.

Differing caster will cause a pull, but usually wear will be fine.