I have been trying to get the alignment done on my 3.0, and have had no luck with different shops. I brought it in to have it checked because nothing had been done in 2 years. The car was still driving perfectly straight at that time. Now after the first adjustment it hasnt been the same, as a fact, it has been pulling to either the right or the left after every time i bring it back and they make adjustments.

Suspension components are mint and nothing is seized and is stock ride height. Camber and caster are crossed and within spec. It is the toe that is going left and right. Tie rods look brand new and have no play in them. My only concern is the rack and pinion. It appears to be leaking but I cant tell if that was from the recent Krown treatment i had (there is no play in teh steering wheel either).

Do you guys have any insight to why two different shops still cant get my alignment correct? Should I sit in the car the whole time as they make the adjustments (I weight 200lbs). Any help will be hugely appreciated. Please and thanks. -S

 

steering "ottawack"? lol

 

are you sure ur tie rods are good? simple test : raise front of vehicle and grab both <sides> of tire try to move it.really you're trying to wobble it to see if there is play. outer tie rod is easy to see. so take the tire off. move it back and forth. movement should also be tight and smooth . listen closely for any loose noise when u wobble it. what kind of shops are you going to? Make sure the shop is certified. Sears. Town fair tire are a couple shops that do alignments constantly. If it pulls go right back and let them know. it has to be perfect

 

Glad someone picked up that OttaWack thing (sounds like "out of whack" for the idiots, I also live in Ottawa, Canada)

ProjectCl, thanks for info. I did my own suspension check late november and I know everything is in great shape, including the tie rods. I did that upper lower ball joint test, including the side to side tie rod test. Visual inspection came up excellent too. Gonna try these idiots once more tomorrow or get them to pay another shop to do it. These guys have always been good to me. The tech is good, but I think the machine might be messing up every time.

Here is another question. Unless mounting bushings were loose for the rack and pinion could there be a possibility that there is play immediately in the rack and pinion itself (because it attaches to the tie rods)?

 

there is always a small play in the rack in pinion. But it shouldn't be major. Not to the point of messing with the controllability of the car.

If its not the suspension, go buy a tire depth gauge from the auto store, and check your tires, see the difference between the outer edge, center and inner edge of the tire. If you did not align the car in a couple of years, your tires could'v been worn in one way, and now that the tire sits differently, it could cause a problem! Also double check the tire air pressure.

 

^^^I have covered all those. Tires are brand new as of last season with no wear on them at all. I am also very religious about my tire pressures.

Thanks for the heads up about the rack. I figured there would be some play but nothing that would keep my car consistently out of alignment. Maybe I will take to another shop and get my money back. Anyone else have any insight?

 

You said you put new tires on? It pulls to the left and to the right? Does it allways pull or only sometimes?

Another guess would be that the tires are larger, so they follow the grooves in the road.. If your on the side of the groove, it'll pull you into the center of it.. thus making you pull left and right..

Check if your tires are unidirectional, if they are, make shure they are installed right on all four tires. this could also make your car pull in some cases!

 

These tires are new and installed last year. I already have about 6000kms on them. My alignment was perfectly fine but I wanted to make sure everything was good (preventative maintenance). They made a couple adjustments now it is all F*cked up.

 

I got everything sorted out afterall. On the hoist, the rotating pads that the front tires sit on were almost seized. So when they were making adjustments to the front wheel tie rods, they were jamming the steering rack and the appropriate adjustments were not appearing on the screen properly....frig.

Thanks for the help.

 

do you mean brake pads?

 

Not brake pads. The things that the tires sit on when they turn the steering wheel.