Alignment results

[pridemore54]

Saw my car was wearing on the inside of the tires so I took it in for an alignment but they came back with this.

Does this Info scream anything bad to you guys? Something I should be concerned about on a stock ride height car? Apparently it's so bad they had to ask me if the car was in an accident which scared me a little. They can't fix it was a caster camber kit. The caster is so bad they couldn't get a reading on the right side. They offered their own bare minimum kit for $108 but I'd rather buy a nice kit. Any recommendations as to what I should use? So far the plan is to order the kit, put it on at a buddy's house down the road from the dealership then limp it in for a proper alignment.

 

[jdt1970]

At first glance I might try another alignment shop to see if they return similar results. If they do I would try to see if you can find something warn or broken before you start correcting the current geometry. If you take it to someone who know what they are doing (my experience has shown this is not the dealership) they should be able to check for worn out suspension parts at the same time. I would give them your current reading and tell them you need a diagnostic too so they schedule you for enough time. I'm sure someone will chime in with more knowledge but my first thoughts would be to have someone with experience on your type vehicle find out what went wrong. Have you always had tire wear issues or is this something relatively new ( keeping in mind you may not have noticed it happening until the current tires were shot). Have you had the car long enough to have more than one set of tires? If so was it a similar wear patter? Any thing is possible but I doubt the car was made that crooked. Very interesting. My 2012 pp was at the edge of the camber limit before I used camber bolts to correct it but they were similar left and right. If I had to bet I would bet something is worn out .

 

[PaxtonShelby]

I took my '14 GT to a serious shop ( they work on exotics and all kinds of vintage race cars - a $2 million 1963 Ferrari Lusso was being worked on when I got there ) after I installed my Koni coilovers. It was a pricey job at $100 an hour but I knew all the chain shops would screw it up and still charge me a bundle. They dialed my car in perfectly and I couldn't be happier. My '66 coupe will be heading there soon.

 

[jdt1970]

I had my first alignment done at the dealership. They gave the car back to me with the steering wheel 30 degrees off center (after a test drive). When I complained they did it again but this time the steering wheel was 20 degrees in the opposite direction. The third time it was only 5 degrees off but pulled left. Finally the manager came out and got in my face. He insisted on driving the vehicle with me in it. We did and his comment was it drives straight and the machine shows it aligned so who cares if the wheel isn't perfect. Of course I did. He gave me my money back and paid for me to have it aligned at Action Gator. They did better but the wheel was still a little crooked and it pulled left against the crown of the road. I ended up correcting the steering wheel my self by marking the control arms and moving them both an equal but opposite amount. I then took it to a "real" alignment shop to check my work. These guys align everything from fire trucks to Ferraris. They put the camber bolts in and got my camber set and then made a small adjustment to my lca to get my thrust angle at 0.0. He also checked my pinion angle on request for free and verified the panhard bar was adjusted correctly. $125 bucks. I wish I had never let the dealership do anything other than fluids. I tell you all that just to let you know that just because someone has a laser alignment machine that doesn't mean they know how to set up a gt500. They generally just make toe adjustments on mini vans. Take it somewhere like PaxtonShelby recommended and be done. I wouldn't even mess with putting the parts on because that will likely be something the will have to adjust anyway and the cost savings would be minimal.

 

[barspen]

Wow...that is rough! Wonder if the whole steering rack is F'ed up or came unbolted somehow. I agree that those reading look like the car was in an accident. CC plates will likely do little to 'fix' anything...it will only mask the issue with slightly better alignment specs.

Have you looked under the car to see if anything looks wonky?

 

[jdt1970]

By the way your caster is not that far off. You mentioned it was off scale. I think you are refer to the right front TOE not caster. There is a huge amount of adjustment for toe. Just look under your bumper. That big threaded rod connecting to your wheel is the toe adjustment. If they don't have any adjustment left to work with the car definetly has a worn part or two. Or they just don't know what to do or they are trying to rip you off.

 

[pridemore54]

By the way your caster is not that far off. You mentioned it was off scale. I think you are refer to the right front TOE not caster. There is a huge amount of adjustment for toe. Just look under your bumper. That big threaded rod connecting to your wheel is the toe adjustment. If they don't have any adjustment left to work with the car definetly has a worn part or two. Or they just don't know what to do or they are trying to rip you off.

Thanks for the correction, I meant toe. Not sure why I typed caster.

I have only had the car for a year so the front tires are still the first set for my ownership. I noticed it was wearing on the inside fairly early so the tires aren't trashed yet. It's not a lot of extra wear but enough for me to notice when I was working on my exhaust. I will follow your recommendations and take it to another shop just for verification. Although I do trust the guys at this particular shop. They have helped me out a lot and taken good care of me in the past. We're almost on a personal level. I will try and look under the car this weekend and see if anything looks out of shape or wonky. Nothing sticks out at me yet though.

 

[jdt1970]

By chance did the car have new tires on when you got it last year?

 

[pridemore54]

Here are the tires. The pictures don't really help you see the wear difference but it seems I caught it early enough to salvage the tires.

Front passenger

Front drivers

 

[pridemore54]

By chance did the car have new tires on when you got it last year?

No I had to replace the rears almost immediately and the front were still in good shape

 

[jdt1970]

I see what you mean. Other than getting a second opinion I would compare the parts on the right side of the car to the left and just look for something like a cracked bushing or bent metal. Maybe the last guy whacked a curb. I hope you get it figured out. I know how frustrating it is. The good news is you will either find somebody who pinpoints the problem right off or you will be an expert on the front suspension by the time it's fixed. Good luck man.

 

[RedVenom48]

In my professional opinion, those alignment angles mean youre having to hold your steering wheel 180 degrees to the right going down the road to keep it off the left retaining wall. It also appears to be capable of performing a lateral g test pattern on its own if you let go of the steering wheel.

So, your car is either royally ****ed or the alignment shop ****ed up the compensation on the sensors, Dont know what the hell they are doing, trying to screw you or all of the last 3.

Those alignment angles seriously would make your car undriveable. No exaggeration.

Id honestly get a second opinion at a different shop.

 

[pridemore54]

In my professional opinion, those alignment angles mean youre having to hold your steering wheel 180 degrees to the right going down the road to keep it off the left retaining wall. It also appears to be capable of performing a lateral g test pattern on its own if you let go of the steering wheel.

So, your car is either royally ****ed or the alignment shop ****ed up the compensation on the sensors, Dont know what the hell they are doing, trying to screw you or all of the last 3.

Those alignment angles seriously would make your car undriveable. No exaggeration.

Id honestly get a second opinion at a different shop.

Thanks for the feedback. Driving the car is actually pleasant. It drives straight as an arrow. The only exception is from time to time the steering wheels likes to shake. It isn't bad and it isn't 100% of the time.

 

[pridemore54]

I see what you mean. Other than getting a second opinion I would compare the parts on the right side of the car to the left and just look for something like a cracked bushing or bent metal. Maybe the last guy whacked a curb. I hope you get it figured out. I know how frustrating it is. The good news is you will either find somebody who pinpoints the problem right off or you will be an expert on the front suspension by the time it's fixed. Good luck man.

That's what it's looking like. And my suspension skills need some brushing up anyways lol..

 

[Bouttime09]

Like when I took my car to a dealership to get an alignment quote. They told me it would be x amount of dollars for a front and rear alignment. I was in my 2004 Mach 1. This was in 2012, so I don't know why in the world they thought my car needed a rear alignment. I went somewhere else.

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[RedVenom48]

Thanks for the feedback. Driving the car is actually pleasant. It drives straight as an arrow. The only exception is from time to time the steering wheels likes to shake. It isn't bad and it isn't 100% of the time.

Most likely whoever did the "alignment check" probably didnt have the drive on rack down on the safety lock. All alignment racks are supposed to be level out when on the locks. Or the sensor heads were not in any way, shape or form mounted to your wheels correctly.

Your steering wheel shaking means you probably have a dynamic imbalance. A simple wheel balance should solve that. Though, a bent wheel can also at times manifest in a shaky wheel. Wheel balance will discover any out of round issues you may have as well.

Like when I took my car to a dealership to get an alignment quote. They told me it would be x amount of dollars for a front and rear alignment. I was in my 2004 Mach 1. This was in 2012, so I don't know why in the world they thought my car needed a rear alignment. I went somewhere else.

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Its still important to perform a 4 wheel alignment on all cars. Tech speak might make it seem like you would be paying to have a rear adjustment on a stock live axle car. 99% of the time there is no factory adjustment.

It IS however still critical to view the rear alignment angles, specifically thrust and camber as it will reveal if you have any control arm issues or bent rear axle flanges.

Believe it or not, rear alignment angles directly influence front alignment angles like toe.

 

[jdt1970]

As far as the steering shaking if the above recommendations don't turn anything up I did read that some cars ( in sorry but I don't remember the year) need a software update to the electric steering assist. I think the problem presents as a "nibble in the wheel" under hard deceleration. Odds are that's not your problem but worth keeping in the back of your mind.

 

[Catmonkey]

If camber is that far off, you should be able to physically see it. First thing I would do is take it to another alignment shop to verify those readings. If it is that far off, I would make sure you don't have a bent strut or control arm and inspect bushings. I don't think camber plates or crash bolts will bring it back into spec. Measure your ride height at the front left and right fender lip and see if one side is higher than the other. That could also account for a skewed reading.

 

[Catmonkey]

As far as the steering shaking if the above recommendations don't turn anything up I did read that some cars ( in sorry but I don't remember the year) need a software update to the electric steering assist. I think the problem presents as a "nibble in the wheel" under hard deceleration. Odds are that's not your problem but worth keeping in the back of your mind.

His signature shows the car is a 2008, which would not have EPAS. The steering wobble issue was in the first year of EPAS, 2011.

 

[GT Premi]

I don't really know how to read alignment tables, but what stood out to me was the header of the report: "2008 Ford Mustang (including Shelby GT500)" Doesn't the GT500 have it's own unique alignment specs?