Car Still Pulls After Alignment

[InvalidUserID]

So my '96 Camaro had been out of alignment for a bit and I finally got some free time to get it taken care of. It had been pulling to the right, not horribly but noticeable. To go straight, the steering wheel would have to be a little to the left. So I took it in to Les Schwab and this is the print-out that they gave me afterwards, which I can't decypher:

Code:

Front: Left

       Actual | Before | Range
  
Camber: 0.0   |   0.0   | -0.1 to 0.9
Caster: 4.3   |   4.9   |  4.3 to 5.3
Toe:    0.00  |   0.02  | -0.10 to 0.10
SAI:   14.1   |   14.1
Included Angle:   14.1  | 14.1

Front: Right

       Actual  | Before | Range
  
Camber: 0.0    |   0.1  |  -0.1 to 0.9
Caster: 4.6    |   4.4  |   4.3 to 5.3
Toe:   -0.02   |  -0.03 |  -0.10 to 0.10
SAI:   14.1    |  13.9
Included Angle:   14.1  |  14.0

FRONT:

                       Actual | Before | Range

Cross Camber:           0.0   | -0.1   |   -0.7 to 0.7
Cross Caster:          -0.3   |  0.5   |   -0.7 to 0.7
Cross SAI               0.1   |  0.1      
Total Toe              -0.02  | -0.01  |   -0.20 to 0.20

Rear: Left

                       Actual | Before | Range

Camber                  -0.2   |  -0.2
Toe                     -0.07  |  -0.03

Rear: Right

                       Actual | Before | Range

Camber                  -0.2   |   -0.1
Toe                      0.03  |   0.01

REAR:

                       Actual | Before | Range

Cross Camber            0.0   |   -0.1
Total Toe              -0.04  |   -0.02
Thrust Angle           -0.05  |   -0.02  |   -0.25 to 0.25

(That's a lot of typing!) So after I left the shop, I notice that I hold the steering wheel straight to go straight, great. On a flat road though, if I let the wheel go, it still drifts to the right though not as dramatic. On the freeway, does the same. Tried it on every street, freeway, and road I could find. Still pulls to the right. To elimate the tires, I rotated the tires and the pull is still there. The shop has a 30-day warranty on alignment jobs so I'm guessing I should go back and ask them to take a look at it. Anything look out of place?

 

[Rand]

IMO looks like they did very little but I'm not an expert. LES SCHWAB has a terrible rep around here.

 

[Rock_Hudstone]

Had the same type of issue with STS tire center. They did the aligment, on the drive home the car still pulls, back I go to STS thinking they would take care of it..nope! The cranky old manager wips out the aligment print sheet, says its within factory specs and thats it, nothing can be done, something else must be wrong with the car. Lots of arguing, still got nowhere. Took it to Firestone, they redid the alignment; bingo problem solved with no hassles or excuses. Moral of the story: don't let them blow you off with a piece of paper. Insist they either do it again, or ask for a refund and go elsewhere. I'd suggest the latter.

 

[InvalidUserID]

That's sort of what I'm expecting to hear: that the #s are within the (wide) range of specs. I'll have to call in tomorrow and see what the manager says and take it back when I get the chance. But I think if I ask them to do a road test (they didn't do it before or after), they'll see that it still pulls.

 

[Highline9]

Try rotating tires. Move rear tires to front and fronts to the back,switching side to side. Cars likes to pull to the right when edges are buffed of tires. That is because roads are crowned for drainage. Even if alignment is good this will happen. If your rear tires are flatter than your fronts car will drive better. Rotate em.

 

[jaj]

It's not clear what their readouts mean but it looks like the front end is toed out ("-0.3 degrees"). If that's true, no wonder it wanders. In any case the toe is not equal side to side, so it will need the wheel slightly cocked to get it to run straight. Get the warranty work done.

 

[Billbert]

Ask them to increase the R/Front caster to 4.9 degrees

 

[david_ES2]

Rear toe is not adjustable right? I forgot

 

[ComfyShorts]

Alignment is good. From chart if anything it would be slighly pulling to left due to least caster on LF. You're most likely having a tire pull. Whoever aligned that car actually did a decent job.

 

[ComfyShorts]

Originally Posted By: jaj

It's not clear what their readouts mean but it looks like the front end is toed out ("-0.3 degrees").

Yes it is clear what the read outs mean, oh and there's a difference between 0.3 and 0.03

 

[Turk]

Originally Posted By: Highline9

Try rotating tires. Move rear tires to front and fronts to the back,switching side to side. Cars likes to pull to the right when edges are buffed of tires. That is because roads are crowned for drainage. Even if alignment is good this will happen. If your rear tires are flatter than your fronts car will drive better. Rotate em.

Yes, do this in addition.

 

[pcoxe]

The tires may have a wear pattern from misalignment that makes it still seem to be misaligned. As mentioned above, try rotating the tires.

 

[meep]

the numbers look real good to me too. well inside of spec, very little deviation (it's hard to get things perfect). I am wondering if the machine is off-calibration. I know you said you rotated tires, but if the alignment is indeed what it says it is, it's either a tire problem or road crown... or maybe slight wear in the PS valve body.

 

[punisher]

Ditto on the above, swap front tires side to side, double check all tire pressures. Are all of your tires the same? Not an oddball in the set? If your tires are OK, and you still have a pull, I would not be adverse to dialing in a bit more camber on the LF to correct the problem. We had a real pro front end tech at my old dealership who knew how much cross camber to dial in, no matter what the specs say. Just because something is in spec, doesn't mean you can't have a problem like this.

 

[InvalidUserID]

First thing I did was try to see if it would drive straight on different roads. Different roads and freeways, still pulls the same. That should eliminate the roads. I rotated the tires, no change in the pull.

 

[ComfyShorts]

Did you rotate side to side or front to back?

 

[mechtech2]

Front right is toed out a bit. [neg toe is toe out] But road crown is a factor. Tires may not be perfect - they can pull. Also, the REAR is important. it steers as much as the front, concerning pulls!

 

[bdcardinal]

Seeing as this is a 96 Camaro, it has a solid axle so there is no adjustment at all. What type of tires are on the vehicle? Are they directional? The specs look good, ideally I would have liked to see them tighter on the specs if I was doing the alignment. Just for giggles measure ride height and compare them side to side. Find a fixed point to measure from that you can get a straight shot to the ground, preferably a point on the chassis not the body.

 

[Highline9]

Originally Posted By: InvalidUserID

First thing I did was try to see if it would drive straight on different roads. Different roads and freeways, still pulls the same. That should eliminate the roads. I rotated the tires, no change in the pull.

I fixed alignment first. lAnd I had the same problem that you described and it was tires worn on edges on passenger side. I moved font right tire to the left rear. And left front..... After tire rotation car drove strait. 2007 camery.

 

[mechtech2]

Sagging springs or bent/misaligned parts will still cause the rear to steer off to one side. And steer they do, as much as the fronts.[in straight driving]