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my suspension has 211k on it, it doesnt appear to sag but camber is a little off in the front and just a little in the rear. the right rear strut was replaced with coil spring and everything cause of someone hitting the car and thats what insurance would pay for.
Will replacing my struts and coil springs make my alighnment stay correct?
im in auto in my high school and have good hunter alighnment setup. My toe keeps going out every 5k or so and have to realign. Id ask my instructor but he knows more about doges and chevys and doesnt know as much on Hondas compared to his American knowledge.
my main question is will new struts and coil springs check the alighnment in check better like camber, caster, and toe?
camber affects toe so is my solution struts and springs?
No, springs and struts will not correct the alignment.
Camber doesn't affect toe. Camber is related to toe.
If you have a toe problem then it's going to be a control/leading/trailing arm bushing and or ball joints.
The easiest way to diagnose wear or play in the frontend is to have an assistant rock the steering wheel back and forth (moderate to brisk at 10-2 O'clock) while you watch for excessive play in the frontend. Anything over 1/8" of play is excessive and should be replaced.
Do that ^ ^ ^ , also put it on the rack and start testing parts by hand and eyes until you find the worn out control arm bushings or something in that system between the wheel and the rack
If you can get a deal on 3 other new struts, that will help balance the ride of the car.
Camber goes negative when you lower a car with special shocks or cut springs,
but totally worn out struts might do the same. What happens when you do the bounce test on each corner--start with the new one for a frame of referance
ive tested the parts with the 12 and 6 and 9 and 3 oclock method and everything feels tight, both me and my instructor agreed that it didnt have any play, i noticed that my ball joints rubber piece felt very odd, they didnt really show signs of cracking or leaking grease but it just seemed flat and just didnt have much of a feeling like a cushion of anything, maybe its just normal, i didnt get the chance to ask the pro(my instructor).
the bounce test didnt warrant much of my excessive bouce. but it does ride rougher that it did when i bought it 2 years ago. like it seemed to absorb the speed humps alot better when i got it 2 years ago. every bump feels rough and it does seem to lean alot more when cornering.
mine is the type S if that makes a difference. but I can get 4 complete struts on ebay for $220 and people leave pretty good reviews on them.
thank you guys for the help, I hope this info maybe gives better ideas.
BTW my camber was 1.1 on left front and 0.3 on left rear. right side was in the green and I didnt pay much attention to that.
there is also this creaking noise that i randomly hear. i cant remember what side but it is there if i am backing out and i am on a odd slope while turning the wheel either way, if I go over a bump, turn the wheels in a odd position like being on a hill and turning to lock. even if car is straight and you put it in park and let if settle after taking foot off brake(like how it bounces back and forth).
I have a video of the car in park and me moving the car back and forth while holding camera behind the wheel. I will see if I can find it and upload it.
A creaking noise in the front is probably your ball joints. Mine did that and I ignored it for a long time (1-2 years). I eventually developed a 'clunk' in my front end which was a bad upper ball joint.
A creaking noise in the front is probably your ball joints. Mine did that and I ignored it for a long time (1-2 years). I eventually developed a 'clunk' in my front end which was a bad upper ball joint.
Hmmm I do have a Clunk when turning left and my pass wheel hitting like a manhole at low speeds. but Ive always thought that was my CV axle since it shakes on acceleration and has alot of wear on the inner joint from bad motor mounts. Could I be mistaking that clunk? I only seem to hear it if I am at low speeds and turning left
Well I'm sorry you feel that way, I came here just asking the question of does struts affect alignment, and it got answered and thank you to all that left a post and all, but I don't feel as if I wasted anyone's time I mean I'm sorry that I didn't think about the one clunk and random creaks that I have, i just didn't think about it, it's like going to a grocery store without a list and forgetting a few items that you needed.
I'm not trying to be an ass or waste time here I'm trying to get ideas and good places to look at, and I did. I kinda fell that remark a little disrespectful (the "plus your wasting Peoples time)and some ppl might disagree with me on that but we are all grown people and should understand that I just didn't think of that when writing this post.
I'm in no way trying to argue or disrespect you at all. I don't have the experience most of y'all have with these cars, hell this is my first car!
Anyways if anyone feels as if I wasted their time I do apologize for that, it wasjust a small mistake I didn't think of until we got into the discussion.
Again I'm not trying to disrespect you 01acls, i know you and 01tl4tl and chojun have commented on plenty on many of my posts and I thank you for all the knowledge I've gained from y'all!
Well hope y'all understand I'm just letting you know the situation and wasn't trying to waste yalls time, hopefully this thread will be useful to anyone else with a similar question
the point being- disclosing ALL that you know about the car is important when looking for oddball problems and fix, While a new strut may mean yadayda- important things like a 2 year long thunk and worn cv all contribute to wear on other parts- things you wont see or feel easily
Clunk is often upper or lower control arm bushings
sometimes one problem leads to another and we want to cut direct to the faulty part
Thats what was probably mean about wasting peoples time
Rides rougher points to worn shocks, you did not give exact results of corner bounce test so we have only your guess as to them being ok
note 0 degrees camber is the spec and no reason for it to be off unless something important is BENT or the shocks are so worn they allowed the car to sag = negative camber (top of tire points in)
I am assuming those were negative camber numbers you gave
So the side replaced should have been zero camber when it was finished in repairs and all was back to perfect stock settings
a lowered car reads neg 1 to neg 1.5,,more than neg 1 causes tire wear and should be compensated for with adjustable camber kits. You cannot adjust the camber on a stock gen2 TL!!
I completely understand that an all I was just wanting it to be clear that I wasnt leaving parts like the clunk out in the original post, I just didnt think about it at the time of writing.
to be complete clear here is my alighnment specs after i realigned toe.
Let me know if there is issue with yall loading it.
to clarify bounce test I did it and there didnt seem to be any excessive bouncing on any of the 4 corners.
have hit the curb before and it only hit the subframe (didnt hit a wheel, curb was low, it put a dent in the middle of subframe scrapped oil pan and didnt seem to cause an alighnment issue since ive gotten it alighned 2 other times prier to me doing it and the specs were all in the green) curb was prob 5k ago alighn was 6k ago and now the toe is fine but caster and camber were a little off.
Check your radius rod bushings for wear as this could possibly be the cause of your clunk and caster being out of spec. The subframe should also be checked and moved as needed.
There is no adjustability on the upper strut mount where it bolts to the strut tower. The angle of the knuckle is determined by the upper and lower ball joints and there is no adjustability there either unless you get aftermarket adjustable upper control arms or ball joints, as 01tl4tl already mentioned.
Have you checked for worn bushings or bent control arms on the left side?
Alright I will try to move the sub frame over. Just to make sure I'm getting this right, I would be loosing the frame like I'm dropping the frame? Like I need to brace the engine? Or just loosen it at the frame where the radius rod is at the points where you adjust alignment right? I'll show this to my instructor too since he would prob have a better understand of exactly what y'all mean.
Haven't checked the bushings or so I will do that tomorrow when I can get it on the rack and check out the suspension and also check the alignment again too. Lol it's really going to mess me up if the damn camber is in spec where it's suppose to be
alright well i wasnt able to actually get car on rack today, since someone else was using it. anyway i did get underneath it and all the bushings look good, no signs of cracks.
will prob get new complete struts and also replace radius rod bushing and strut fork bolt bushing on control arm just since it will be apart, if funds allow i might get new ball joints upper and lower and might as well replace the tie rods since im there too. but none of these parts seem to be completely faulty just would replace to restore ride quality completely
one thing that did pop out to me was this
is that ball joint suppose to look like that?
I would have just thought it would have a little more boldness or fatness look around where the rubber is.
but my instructor was onboard with the subframe being moved like what you said 01acls so i just need to wait for a good day at shop.
appreciate all the help guys! and will post again once I can start messing with the frame and will update as this issue gets fully corrected.
Hey guys just a little slightly off-topic question while we're on the subject of ball joints - I (over) paid a mechanic to do mine - is this something that can be done in your home garage? I hate paying $300 for a $50 ball joint.
^ Yes you can. It's actually easier because you can destroy the old part get it out. Try the double hammer trick (wear goggles to protect the eyes) or a fork tool.
You can, but many people replace the entire control arm at that time for peace of mind since the bushings wear out as well and cause clunking noises. The bushings cannot be bought separately.
Ok, so I found this on 1aauto.com, it is a kit that's comes with upper(with new ball joint installed) and lower control arms, inner and outer tie rods, stabilizer links, lower ball joints comes with two of each for driver and pass side for $180.
I know it's wrong to just start throwing parts at it, but with the mileage and for the money I think it's time to just start with fresh parts and having peace of mind knowing everything is new.
My next question is on the inner tie rod, is that usually pre greased?
All the videos I've watched they never grease the inner rod just the outer.
I'd be wary about the quality of the parts that you're getting if the price of $180 includes everything that you listed.
I am a little wary about that, but at the same time, my dad bought the same type kit for his nissan maxima and his kit is still running good with over 30k miles so i figure id give it a try since the price is right for my tight budget.
id love to get everything moog since ive heard alot of good things but they are to expensive...
So got all my parts in, but I'm planning to replace struts and springs(complete struts)with LCAs, tie rods inner and outer and balls joints and stabilizer links.
The paper that came with complete struts says break in 500miles
Do I get alignment immediately after replacing everything or within 500 miles to let new springs settle??
again I'm replacing everything in same day
If you're replacing OEM struts/springs with OEM spec struts/springs, I wouldn't be too concerned with driving the car for a while before getting an alignment done. Any spring settling will be minimal anyway.
The bigger concern is if you're going to be able to keep your toe settings close to spec after replacing both the inner and outer tie rods. That's going to be what determines whether you can wait a bit for an alignment or need to go in for one right away.
Before installing anything with camber off like that on the L front you need to see/inspect what is bent. You shouldnt have Positive camber and replacing those parts wont fix it. You should look at the lower control arm and inspect it for being bent.
Before installing anything with camber off like that on the L front you need to see/inspect what is bent. You shouldnt have Positive camber and replacing those parts wont fix it. You should look at the lower control arm and inspect it for being bent.
Will do fsttyms1, If there isn't a control arm that's bent, what would be the cause of it being positive like that then? Other than y'all mentioned trying to realign the engine cradle. Is there anything else?
I have looked at previous alignment records from as little as 5 or 6k miles ago when camber and caster were perfect and I haven't hit any curbs or any accidents. Maybe some rough roads but nothing major would that cause this?
Being that its positive camber id be looking at the lower arm to be bent or the spindle itself, or the subframe where the lower control arm attaches. If it were a upper control arm or shock tower area it would be negative camber.
Got everything installed but haven't taken it for alignment yet(finished last night Nd drove it home, but man it was bad I couldn't go over 40 without it going all over the road, the damn tired squeal half the time when going straight, all the suspension bolts were good and tight so I'm hoping it's just the toe that is off really bad. I counted the turns for the tie rods and stuff but maybe the casting was a little different. I'm thinking about getting it towed to an alignment place cause it's a little scary to drive with other people around. I drove it home at 1 in the morning and there was like no one out so
better safe than sorry, you might hit someone/something or you might wreck your tires.. you should get it towed to an alignment shop asap.
I drove it with my hazards on the shop I used is so close the car is still cold when getting there, only went about 30. But haha damn my right toe was 3.14 and left toe was 1.75.
Also the only thing I didn't change was the LCA but I am not having any camber issues anymore! All was in spec after alignment!
12-07-2015, 10:55 AM
