Alignment technical question

[revhigh]

Hi All,

I recently replaced the driver's side half shaft on my daughter's 2002 Protege LX. I had the ENTIRE knuckle and hub off the car. I seperated the tie rod end, ball joint, and disconnected the knuckle from the strut. I'm thinking that it doesn't need to be realigned, as the adjustment on the tie rod was not disturbed, and that seems to be the only adjustment in the front.

My mechanic thought (without looking at it) that there was adjustment in the strut attachment points but there arent, so I'm thinking putting it back together didn't change a thing.

Anybody know ?

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[Maxx Mazda]

Did you remove the strut?

 

[revhigh]

No, just disconnected the knuckle from the bottom of the strut by removing the two big nuts and bolts on the bottom of the strut itself. The strut itself stayed completely intact.

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[Maxx Mazda]

As long as you didn't adjust the tie rod end, I'd think you'd be safe without an aligment.

 

[revhigh]

Thanks MM, that's what I thought too ... I didn't see how I changed anything that would affect alignment, but my mechanic mentioning that make me think twice. I guess some cars adjust alignment at the bottom of the strut with eccentrics on those strut mounting bolts, but my Protege doesn't have them.

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[Maxx Mazda]

Correct. The protege uses the top of the strut mounts. They're eccentric, and marked with a white dot. If you ever remove the struts, make sure to note where this dot is and reinstall them in the same place.

 

[revhigh]

Thanks !! Good to know !

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[DiS]

Yep, you're good to go. No need to worry about alignment as long as you did not adjust tierod in or out. As far as the strut hats go, Maxx Mazda is correct. Some cars require camber adjustment via strut hats. Ours don't, thank god. I hate doing alignments on those cars with passion, lol.

 

[revhigh]

Thanks DiS !!

I appreciate the reply.

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[DiS]

You got it!