Alignment help!!

[00protegees]

First of all, I have a sedan, but I'm posting here because I think the pro5 section gets a bit more traffic.

Back story. Replaced lower control arms and tie rod ends about 2.5 months ago, used all MOOG parts. Got an alignment, everything was spot on. One tire just had a radial pull that we couldnt get rid of, but my alignment techs are great and I trust that they did everything right. I drive in town where a lot of roads are really crowned etc so it always kinda pulls one way or another, no big deal.

The other day I noticed a bit of alignment wear on the outside of the right tire. Not completely trusting my ability to get bolts tight, I took it into the shop tonight to make sure nothing came loose, and to figure out the wear.



Obviously camber is WAY out of whack. What the heck. What could have caused it to get so bad in the 3 months since an alignment? Or period? How do I fix it? My alignment guy sure didnt think that the LCA's could have affected it like that over 2 months. I never hit anything, but city streets do SUCK around here. Any thoughts would be appreciated!

 

[MrGiggles]

Wheel bearings, lower control arms/balljoints, and the strut mounts all affect your camber. It all needs to be looked over. Is the worn tire on the right side as well?

The toe just looks like the steering wheel isn't straight ahead.

Camber can also change with strut compression. If you installed new springs or something, they may have settled.

 

[00protegees]

LCA's and ball joints are brand new as stated, worn tire is on the right. The alignment was set perfect when they were installed. Wheel bearings are fine, everything is tight.

I'm not real worried about the toe, that's easily adjustable.

No new springs or anything, only thing on the struts that was touched was the bolts to take them off the spindle to change LCA's.

I just dont understand how it can get that bad in just a couple months.

 

[Jackie chan]

Spindle bolts are tight? Upper strut mount orientation?

Another big one would be tire inflation. You said the wear is on the outside of the tire. Negative camber would cause it to wear on the inside.

And as stated above, the wheel doesnt appear to be completely straight. This would cause more negative camber to be present in the outside wheel and more positive in the inside wheel.

I'd also check your rear end alignment. You might be driving diagonally. Those cambolts can slip.

 

[00protegees]

I didnt actually put a wrench on spindle bolts, but they "appeared" snug, they arent camber bolts so even if they were loose they "shouldnt" cause issues. Strut mounts are both oriented to the inside, same location as they were when it aligned fine the first time.

A guy i know runs the shop, and he was the one that checked the alignment. He told me to come back this week to have one of his expert techs take a look at it. Think that just a little angle on the wheel would cause that much camber angle? You can visibly see the right wheel sitting in at the top.

It pulls to the left, so with the wear on the outside of the right tire, I assumed the right tire was toe'd in. But you're right, outside wear and that much negative camber doesnt make sense.

Left rear camber was on the the edge, but still within spec. everything else on the rear was dead on center.

Maybe I'll just take it back and have the expert look at it, see what he thinks