I took my car in for a 4 wheel alignment (just put on my Spohn Adj. Panhard Bar).

Well, they told me when I picked it up that they couldn't get it aligned with my steering wheel straight (it's at a 45 degree angle) and that they DID align all 4.

Well, the rear still looks out of alignment, car still pulls to the right AND the Caster wasn't adjusted to spec. I'm taking it back tomorrow and either getting a refund, or they're re-doing it.

Here's the Specs they used
Camber -0.2 to 0.8
Caster 4.3 to 5.3
Toe -0.10 to 0.10

Here's what they speced to
LF RF
0.2 0.4 Camber
2.9 2.7 Caster
.10 .10 Toe

Was the specs they used correct? Either way, I'm taking it back.

Car is a 91 Z28-Eibach Sportlines

 

I'm wondering how the hell did they align the rear wheels? That's something done on a WWD (Wrong Wheel Drive) car. Ours are just left-and-right offset, not camber, caster, and toe. And aligning it without getting the steering wheel straight is just
The specs they did it to look alright; myself, I'd prefer to see the camber closer to 0 or slightly negative. I forget offhand how the toe measurement is stated, but it should be slightly toed-in.

Pete

 

Those were the specs for the front. I don't even think the touched the rear.

 

well the reason it pulls to the right is because they set it to do just that. to make it go straight here's the way i set alignments.

.............. left............ right
camber -0.5*.......... -0.5*
caster .....3.50*.......... 4.00*
toe ........ 0.03* ......... 0.03*

now caster numbers can be 'played' with. mine are at 3.00 and 3.50 basically set the right side to it's highest reading. then set the left side 0.5* lower.

now actual specs for thirdgens are here www.fl-thirdgen.org/alignmentspecs.html the above i just put up gives good handling without tire wear.

 

Here's the Specs they used
Camber -0.2 to 0.8
Caster 4.3 to 5.3
Toe -0.10 to 0.10



if they aligned the front to that, no wonder it pulls.


i agree with the above specs, shoot for between -.5* and -1* of camber, as for caster i like lots of it, but that is just me, go at or above 3.5*

i run zero toe on my car, but make sure the toe specs mirror each other, that is why the wheel is off at a angle, not straight.

 

how do you set caster anyway? I understand what it is but I'm not clear on how to change it on these cars. I even have a caster guage!

 

Huh? Did you ever take your steering wheel off? If not, maybe you want to go somewhere else, because I agree with Pete on this one.

They should've centered the steering wheel by spinning the tie rod adjusters. Say the wheel's center points to the right as viewed by someone driving the car. Well, you'd go to the driver's side tie rod adjuster, and twist it so it pulls the inner and outer tie rod close together.

Then you'd go to the passenger's side tie rod adjuster, and twist it the same number of turns, so it pushes apart the inner and outer tie rod.

Now, there's no key on the steering wheel shaft that forces you to install the steering wheel in any one position. So if they really did do a good alignment, and the wheel still points to the side, just pull the steering wheel off, and reinstall it so it's straight up.

 

if they set his toe at +.10 on one side, and -.10 on the other, that accounts for the steering wheel being off.

 

they didn't that's the specs. the toe was set at 0.10 each side. the guy just didn't center the steering wheel when he set toe.

 

which would functionaly give you negative toe on one side, possitive toe on the other. the toe should be set with the wheel straight up and down, and the the toe set to match on each side.

 

When I had my last alignment done, they couldn't center the steering wheel because the pitman arm and idler arm wouldn't be close enough to parallel to the frame. They said it could cause some issues when turning full lock to one side.

This happened because I changed to an AGR steering box. My steering wheel was almost 90* to the left. I thought about pulling the wheel off, but the the turn signal canceler wouldn't line up correctly and shut off the blinker when going fairly straight.