Anyone with alignment experience???

M

maxmk8

Registered
Hey there... In the past 10 month I’ve gotten 4 alignments for some reason my car always falls out of spec without me hitting curbs etc etc. It is like a curse xo !
The car goes pretty much straight (yea i know the 8 second rule on the freeway) pulls a little to the left though but it goes straighter now than it ever did. So to get to the point, the outer edge of my driver’s side is wearing more than the inner edge. And the inner edge of the passenger side is wearing more than the outer edge.
I have seen the car come off the rack with the print out of the specs b4 and after. They new #s were smack down the middle of the required specs. But the tires are still not wearing perfectly ::wtf:: . Also when i first got the car my wheel wasn't centered... so after i took it back the mechanic... adjusted the tie rods a tiny bit to make sure the wheel is centered when I’m going straight. Does anyone have any insight for me as to what could be causing these excessive alignment probs?


Inner pic
http://www.lincolnsclub.org/forum/user_files/347.jpg

Outer pic
http://www.lincolnsclub.org/forum/user_files/349.jpg



::wtf::
 
RE: Anyone with alignment experience???

Is your car sitting at stock height? (did you sensor lower it?)

I know one car that is goofy like that is the Mustang Cobra where it sits at a different height at one side than the other. There is a ~3/4" difference between the left and right rear.

How do these numbers look when the car is put on the rack before the alignment? Are they off, or are they still straight?
 
RE: Anyone with alignment experience???

it could be some suspension part gone bad, also inner tie rod, ball joint ect....
 
RE: Anyone with alignment experience???

Well... lets see here. I got new wheels so I then got the mandatory alignment. It was off pretty bad, it was upwards of 2 degrees at one of the measurements. Car was not on the rack since the last alignment since the mechanic told me, that he changed the values so slightly that it won't affect alignment. Don't think anything is loose/bad on the suspention.
 
RE: Anyone with alignment experience???

[div class="dcquote"][strong]Quote[/strong]
... Car was not on the rack since the last alignment since the mechanic told me, that he changed the values so slightly that it won't affect alignment. [/div]

IMHO you need a different alignment shop.

Do you know if the car 'lowered' to park height at the time of the alignment? A common misconception is to turn off the air ride while running prior to driving onto the rack.

In my untrained eye, it appears the toe-in is too much.
 
RE: Anyone with alignment experience???

Hmm... I'm not sure if the car was "lowered". Toe.... i'll think about that thanks... i'll let the shop double check that.
 
RE: Anyone with alignment experience???

Have all the alignments been done on the same machine? when was that machine calibrated?
 
RE: Anyone with alignment experience???

Except for the last 2, every alignment was with a different machine but it seems like i have no luck with finding a good alignment place. No idea when the machines were calibrated but it was Sears so i hope that they keep their stuff up to date.
 
RE: Anyone with alignment experience???

You're getting a 4 wheel alignment right? The first time my shop did mine they told me they couldn't get the driver's side rear quite to spec. I guess something was worn too much or maybe took an impact back there at one time. It goes down the highway pretty good though. I just got a new set of tires and another alignment, so we will see how well this one goes.
 
RE: Anyone with alignment experience???

yep 4 wheel allignment. In the rear it was off by 2 degrees at one point but it showed no signs of wear after 1k miles. Up front after 3k miles... i can tell something isn't right.
 
RE: Anyone with alignment experience???

That's your problem, you're going to sears. I took my '94 to sears more than half a dozen times and they couldn't get it right. One time they didn't even tighten the lower control arm and i could hear it clunk when i went around turns. I took it to a decent independant shop where my friend works and they did a good job.
 
RE: Anyone with alignment experience???

[div class="dcquote"][strong]Quote[/strong]
That's your problem, you're going to sears. I took my '94 to sears more than half a dozen times and they couldn't get it right. One time they didn't even tighten the lower control arm and i could hear it clunk when i went around turns. I took it to a decent independant shop where my friend works and they did a good job.
[/div]
:eek: Funny you mention that!!! My crown Vic clunks when it goes around a turn!! It was also taken to sears btw.
 
RE: Anyone with alignment experience???

Max - if you don't mind going to San Rafael, I've had excellent alignments at Dependable Tire and Brake! The owner used to have an SC T-Bird that he'd fully customized the suspension on, and they're fully competent on both T-Bird and Mark VIII 4 wheel alignments. 'Also had my tires road-force balanced on their Hunter GSP 9700 machine. So far I've had alignments done four times there, (different cars, but all either T-Bird or Mark VIII), and they've always been spot-on. Just make sure you mention you want a specialist who's familiar with the Mark VIII 4 wheel alignment.

After a totally on-spec alignment my Mark VIII still pulled very slightly to the right. I mentioned this, and they knew how to compensate just right, and didn't charge extra when I went back, even though it was already within spec. Perfectly even tire wear since then...

John
[link:mark8.org/lodnca|NorCal Chapter Website]
http://mark8.org/users/johnaec/Mark_VIII_s.jpg
'97 Mark VIII LSC
'96 T-Bird 4.6L
 
RE: Anyone with alignment experience???

Thanks thats good to know. My next alignment will be there. But that will cost me another 60$ (+driving over)... for now i will try to get sears to do it right tomorrow. Thanks for the help.
 
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