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Personally I think the frame of a vehicle will only stay straight for so long, hit so many pot holes, etc
Do vehicles go out of alignment as miles add up?
- Thread starter The motor guy
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I don't believe things just "go out of alignment". Hitting a pot hole should not move anything. Parts wear out, need to be replaced, and then you need an alignment - to adjust for the new parts.
Possibly things wear somewhat and then an alignment might help - for some period of time, but your on borrowed time at that point because whatever caused things to move is just going to get worse.
IMHO.
Possibly things wear somewhat and then an alignment might help - for some period of time, but your on borrowed time at that point because whatever caused things to move is just going to get worse.
IMHO.
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Yeah but everything revolves around the chassis still being straight after 15 years and 250,000 miles. Doors closing properly, etc
I don't think a chassis "warps" does it?
I have seen things like a leaf spring center bolt get worn, which causes the rear differential to sku a tiny amount. Same thing with leaf spring bushings can wear, causing differential sku. Or control arm bushings causing front sku. But again, that is all wear, so an alignment won't really fix things. Maybe buy you some time?
Think about all of the steering and suspension components that wear as the vehicle accumulates miles. Common parts that affect alignment include inner and outer tie rod ends, shock/struts/springs, upper/lower ball joints, control arm bushings/compliance bushings that degrade and wear in wheel bearings. Any change in the initial tolerances will have an impact on proper alignment.
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That absolutely happens.
So what exactly moves, that can then be corrected with an alignment?
Does the tie rod jump a thread, or the camber bolt move? Honest question.
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This was another thread I was going to start. Lol I've never understood how it can be knocked out, and then put back into alignment without going back out again if that makes sense. I suppose if a tie rod gets bent, then that makes sense I suppose
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I think it can happen, but normally doesn't. I have a had a fair amount of vehicles over my life, with very few alignments yet they all tracked straight, wore their tires evenly, etc. Replacing steering and suspenion components can change that of course, but in general a well made vehicle will stay true, IME.
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I've never had an alignment check where it didn't need an adjustment of some sort and I do my best to not hit pot holes, don't jump curbs, etc
As wheel alignment rigs clamp on your wheel….i wonder how many aluminum wheels are absolutely straight and true after 40,000 miles. A bit of lateral run out on your rim is going to effect the reading your alignment rig gets 6-8 feet away.
Often the knuckle slips relative to the strut from the impact. So the bolt is tensioned, but the impact is enough to move knuckle into a new place.
New camber from the slip also means new toe.
Patman
Staff member
I think some cars are sensitive to alignment and others not so much. My Civic has 160,000 miles on it and has never had an alignment and I just got over 60k from my last set of tires and they wore out perfectly even. I hit plenty of potholes and rough roads too.
OK, fare enough. But that is only applicable with a Macpherson setup. An I don't think most mcpherson strut's come from the factory with Cam bolts anymore - do they? If your camber is out, the bolts need to be replaced with Cam bolts - so were back to worn parts again? Unless I am missing something.
I don't think most unibody cars warp much with normal use, at least not since the IIHS crash tests really stiffened the front end up. Oddly enough the only cars I know of, that have problems as the years build up are a few bmw's that will break if driven hard.
If you are road racing with low stiff suspension, or bottoming out often, then they will deform eventually, or quickly with a hard enough hit. I guess subframes might move a little on a truly huge pothole or curb hit, where a low profile tire/wheel is damaged?
Rubber bushings will break down eventually and that would be the only normal change in alignment without a part like a ball joint or strut bearing getting worn.
I don't find alignment changes without a worn suspension part, and then its usually off after replacing the part.
If you are road racing with low stiff suspension, or bottoming out often, then they will deform eventually, or quickly with a hard enough hit. I guess subframes might move a little on a truly huge pothole or curb hit, where a low profile tire/wheel is damaged?
Rubber bushings will break down eventually and that would be the only normal change in alignment without a part like a ball joint or strut bearing getting worn.
I don't find alignment changes without a worn suspension part, and then its usually off after replacing the part.
A trick for free negative camber is to loosen the strut clamp bolts and then retighten them with car sitting on the wheels, so I guess those could move a bit with a hard hit. On the Focus the strut end slides into the knuckle, so when I do struts I make sure the strut is all the way down, so its got no where to go on a pot hole hit.
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I've had it where they didn't tighten the caster camber bolts quite enough and I'd hear a popping noise when braking hard. It was the bolts shifting, had them tighten them up more and it fixed the problem, although I don't recall if they realigned it. I don't think so, but the truck didn't pull, so I was like whatever. I've had a few instances where people haven't tightened things to spec on my truck. I believe the caliper mounting brackets are 150 ft lbs. I got into a pissing match once with a guy that tells me there is no way those bolts are supposed to be tighter than a head bolt on your engine.
dude there is only two or three that hold that bracket on and probably 12 head bolts on the cummins if I remember right the cylinder head bolt spec is 77ft lbs on a 6.7 cumminsFrames in general are VERY good at retaining their shape.
As parts wear, alignment will gradually change. I wouldn't worry about the frame.
I've seen more with adjustment than without.
