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Hi all,
So last weekend I finally broke down and had a new set of tires put on and had an alignment. My old tires were wearing on the outer edges pretty bad so I knew I needed an alignment also. Not to mention the tires should have lasted another 10k miles easy.
So I went back to the H-rated bfg traction ta's, had the v rated 245's on but with 108k miles I don't see myself pushing this car much anymore.
I have never been able to have a perfect alignment on the car due to the driver side, with the stock springs which were sagging they could not adjust out the last degree of negative camber. So a few years back I put on some 1LE springs and bilstiens all the way around. In the alignment after that I was able to get a good alignment though both sides were never exactly the same, a few tenth's of a degree difference. Also the rear end was prettymuch in alignment though I dont' remember the measurements exactly it wasn't an issue.
So this time around after leaving the car for new tires and alignment they said the passenger tie rod end was gone, I was having breakfast so I let them replace it. I got back to the shop before they got it off and sure enough it was shot. GM in their wisdom did not see fit to make these greasable from the factory. Ok so I admit at first I thought they were trying to screw me but they were right.
About 45 minutes and $790 later I have 4 new tires and a newly aligned car.
Post alignment I still have a slight .7degree postive camber on the driver side, the SAI has a 2 degree difference side to side with the passenger side angle being the larger of the 2 at 14degrees. So the left side of the car is tweaked and as best I can tell always has been. There are no signs of frame damage or repair and I have had it since 01 when it had 34k miles.
Now on to what is most unsettling and that is the rear end. The thrust angle is sitting around neg .35 degrees right side is showing positive toe and left side is showing negative toe. So the way I read this is that the whole rear axle is pointing slightly to the right. When the car is full of gas or carrying any sort of load the panhard bar goes closer to horizontal and this would make the rear end point even more to the right, at least that would be the net effect the way I see it.
Now what I'm thinking is that I could invest in some adjustable BMR lower control arms and panhard (with the bushing ends not spherical rod ends) and have a full 4 wheel alignment done and get that axle pointed in the right direction. I realize that with a 3 point floating axle it will never be perfect because in compression or rebound the axle shifts in relation to the frame.
So my question is has anyone been down this road? I was thinking about taking it by a frame shop and seeing if they can get a better diagnosis, if I just have a bent LCA then I'd just replace those with non adjustable ones, but I also know those LCA's undego alot of stress especially with the roads around here being so rough I don't want something breaking in a year if I need to go with something adjustable.
Any good advice?
So last weekend I finally broke down and had a new set of tires put on and had an alignment. My old tires were wearing on the outer edges pretty bad so I knew I needed an alignment also. Not to mention the tires should have lasted another 10k miles easy.
So I went back to the H-rated bfg traction ta's, had the v rated 245's on but with 108k miles I don't see myself pushing this car much anymore.
I have never been able to have a perfect alignment on the car due to the driver side, with the stock springs which were sagging they could not adjust out the last degree of negative camber. So a few years back I put on some 1LE springs and bilstiens all the way around. In the alignment after that I was able to get a good alignment though both sides were never exactly the same, a few tenth's of a degree difference. Also the rear end was prettymuch in alignment though I dont' remember the measurements exactly it wasn't an issue.
So this time around after leaving the car for new tires and alignment they said the passenger tie rod end was gone, I was having breakfast so I let them replace it. I got back to the shop before they got it off and sure enough it was shot. GM in their wisdom did not see fit to make these greasable from the factory. Ok so I admit at first I thought they were trying to screw me but they were right.
About 45 minutes and $790 later I have 4 new tires and a newly aligned car.
Post alignment I still have a slight .7degree postive camber on the driver side, the SAI has a 2 degree difference side to side with the passenger side angle being the larger of the 2 at 14degrees. So the left side of the car is tweaked and as best I can tell always has been. There are no signs of frame damage or repair and I have had it since 01 when it had 34k miles.
Now on to what is most unsettling and that is the rear end. The thrust angle is sitting around neg .35 degrees right side is showing positive toe and left side is showing negative toe. So the way I read this is that the whole rear axle is pointing slightly to the right. When the car is full of gas or carrying any sort of load the panhard bar goes closer to horizontal and this would make the rear end point even more to the right, at least that would be the net effect the way I see it.
Now what I'm thinking is that I could invest in some adjustable BMR lower control arms and panhard (with the bushing ends not spherical rod ends) and have a full 4 wheel alignment done and get that axle pointed in the right direction. I realize that with a 3 point floating axle it will never be perfect because in compression or rebound the axle shifts in relation to the frame.
So my question is has anyone been down this road? I was thinking about taking it by a frame shop and seeing if they can get a better diagnosis, if I just have a bent LCA then I'd just replace those with non adjustable ones, but I also know those LCA's undego alot of stress especially with the roads around here being so rough I don't want something breaking in a year if I need to go with something adjustable.
Any good advice?
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