Alignment problem that no one can fix

[F1GT]

I've had an alignment problem since the first day I bought my car. I didn't bring it in until 9k and the dealer told me they only warranty it til 7500. I've had it aligned at various shops and every print out states it's with in specs. Yet, it continues to wear out on the frt right outer tire. If I let go of the wheel it would go straight for maybe 5 sec or so at the most, then it will slowly began drifting to the right. But sometimes it will drift to the left too, but not as often as the right. Everywhere I go, I tell them and their response is that it's within specs.....
Anyone else has this problem??

[V6Bob]

Did you buy the car new?

When the sfcs were installed was the car supported by its' wheels?

I'm thinking maybe your chassis is tweaked. A good body shop could check.

[ January 12, 2004: Message edited by: V6Bob ]</p>

[F1GT]

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by V6Bob:
Did you buy the car new?

When the sfcs were installed was the car supported by its' wheels?

I'm thinking maybe your chassis is tweaked. A good body shop could check.

[ January 12, 2004: Message edited by: V6Bob ]<hr></blockquote>

yea it's happening since I bought it with 7 miles on it and I put the Subframes around 26k. But the alignment machine not only checks between the left and right wheels within the same axle, but it also checks between the frt and rear too. By this, I mean it will check the wheelbase difference between the left two and the right two wheels. I'm lost here....

[F1GT]

Well, let me dig up my print out and uploaded. I'm not sure where I put it,.,.gotta look...

[Runnin-SAtown]

Just a thought, this might help, might not, have you thought that it could be drag somewhere, like in the wheel hub, something causing friction somewhere to slow the front right down... not just the allignment

[F1GT]

Well, here is the link to the print,,,if anyone can figure this out...I know how to read the top two boxes...as for center boxes, I'm not so sure.
this is from June 2002. I can't find my latest one...

http://www.fbody.com/members/f1gtcamaro/ALIGN.JPG

What's thrust angle? I noticed it's red...is it the position of the axle? like if the axle is "turning" left or turning right??

[ January 13, 2004: Message edited by: F1GT ]</p>

[black98V6]

you might want to take your car to a good body shop and see if the frame is off, if so they might be able to straighten it, weld the SFC's back on and then that might help hold your car straight. Then of course you'd have to have it realigned but at that point it should align correctly.

being that you bought your car new, I'd just toss this one up to the wonderful GM quality control that we have all grown to know and love, right along with their customer service.

[V6Bob]

"What's thrust angle? I noticed it's red...is it the position of the axle? like if the axle is "turning" left or turning right??"

Look at your rear toe. The RR is toed out a little bit, the LR is toed in a litle bit. So your axle is pointing R (thrust angle) a little bit. It's just barely out of spec, so it's in red.

I have no idea if that could be the problem. Once again, was the car supported by its' wheels when the sfcs were installed? If not, that could be it.

[steve44England]

Sorry I can't help with the posted problem,but can anyone tell me what the alignment settings for my '98 3.8 Camaro should be?
Its not in the manual and no tyre place here in the UK has the settings in their machines!!
Thanks in advance,
Steve

[stonny9]

hey if gotham city is in south florida in the hollywood area post back because my brother in law is a front end specialist and is very honest. I could have him look at ur car and he will tell u what is wrong if anything.

[F1GT]

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by V6Bob:
[QB
Once again, was the car supported by its' wheels when the sfcs were installed? If not, that could be it.[/QB]<hr></blockquote>

It was doing this b4 the SFC. The SFC were installed jacking up the axle on the diff. The front 2 wheels were still touching the ground.

[F1GT]

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by camarofan:
Thrust angle is basically the angle of the rear wheels in relation to centerline of the car. Being a solid axle, the front tires are aligned to the rear wheels as they are. Although it's nothing to be alarmed about, but if you were to get an exact measurement in mm,s on your wheelbase, you'd see the left side would be a little shorter then the right.

As for the measurements you posted, I don't see anything wrong there. They are almost dead on actually. Front camber should be +.4, caster should be + 4.8, and total toe 0.00 The center boxes you are talking about refer to the difference between the 2 wheels. Generally if the cross caster or cross camber becomes too obsessive it will create a pull. Pull will go to either the side with the most positive camber, or to the side with the least positive caster.

How quickly does it wear tires? Were the tires already starting to wear and then an alignment done, or alignment then new tires and still wears/pulls?

It might be a good idea to check with a frame/body shop to see if maybe something v6bob referred to may have happened.<hr></blockquote>

It wears out slowly, but noticeble. My first set wore out at 58k because of it, while the rest still had a couple of mm left. I aligned it twice with the stockers. Then I got new tires and aligned it again, thats the print out of it. Then I just aligned it a few months ago. I think v6 bob is right about the rr rt wheel. I think it is causing a "toe out" kind of deal in the rear, and making the car slowly drift right a bit, though it does not wear out the tire on the inner edges at all on the rr rt tire.

Now with these Dunlops at 70k worth of roads, its time for new ones again because of this wear. Prolly do another 10-15k if it werent for this alignment prob.

STONNY: The BatCave is 3000 miles from u ;) ...Thx for the offer though.

[ January 14, 2004: Message edited by: F1GT ]</p>

[black98V6]

I just came across this page and thought it might help.. dunno if anyone will check this post by now though.

http://www.familycar.com/alignment.htm

[F1GT]

Dunno, prolly won't ever figure it out. Prolly just have to live with it as I don't want to put in so much time into figuring it out. Gonna put in a new set of tires real soon and get an alignment from the dealer this time(first time ever in my life), and see if it makes any difference. I've been to Big O's and Auto Innovation(friend's friend's place that sells wheels and tires) for alignments.

[KBeezy]

uhm, if your car pulls right after 5 seconds or so, thats a good thing. Its a saftey setup designed by engineers for drivers who fall asleep at the wheel so they do not veer on straight or to the left -- instead it pulls them off the road by themselves. [img]graemlins/thumbsup.gif[/img] just thought i'd clear that up for you! ;)