front struts replaced,

[foresthawk]

Just had the front struts replaced. Is an alignment needed? I have generally heard, "yes," but want to ask here. Drives fine, no vibration or anything unusual noticed in driving.
The vehicle is a 2004 Chrysler Town and Country minivan.
Thanks for any advice.

 

[maxdustington]

Maybe not on that old heap.

 

[Oro_O]

I did a test on this last time I installed struts. I had tires about to be replaced, and I left them on afterwards w/o an alignment to see what happened. My conclusion was yes, it needs to be done if you have tires with good life left in them. Full story:

Car was 2002 ES300. I measured the front ride height on both sides as precisely as I could before touching it. I pulled the suspension and changed ONLY the cartridges with OEM units, and re-used the original springs. So this was a milder change than a whole new ready-strut, for example. When I put it back together, the measurements were exactly as before as closely as I could measure (by tape and eye, no way to use micrometer on this!).

Within short order it was apparent the tires were wearing badly on the edges, both sides. No great loss as I was getting new tires anyway. I probably did loose some life out of the tires, but it was worth it for the lesson demonstrated to me.

 

[maxdustington]

Originally Posted by Or
I did a test on this last time I installed struts. I had tires about to be replaced, and I left them on afterwards w/o an alignment to see what happened. My conclusion was yes, it needs to be done if you have tires with good life left in them. Full story:

Car was 2002 ES300. I measured the front ride height on both sides as precisely as I could before touching it. I pulled the suspension and changed ONLY the cartridges with OEM units, and re-used the original springs. So this was a milder change than a whole new ready-strut, for example. When I put it back together, the measurements were exactly as before as closely as I could measure (by tape and eye, no way to use micrometer on this!).

Within short order it was apparent the tires were wearing badly on the edges, both sides. No great loss as I was getting new tires anyway. I probably did loose some life out of the tires, but it was worth it for the lesson demonstrated to me.
That's what I always assumed, that even if it looks good and drives straight it is probably way out of whack. Especially if you remove the ball joint from the control arm instead of removing it from the knuckle. I use paint to mark the ball joint bolts, but it is probably going to be out of alignment simply due to new parts.

 

[spk2000]

Normally yes.
Not likely struts can be replaced and not need an alignment.

 

[spasm3]

Not familiar with that vehicle but probably. What i do is raise the front ( or entire car if it has 4 struts) of the vehicle and put it on jack stands. I remove the wheels and use a small pen laser pointer and put it on the edge of the hub. I take a sharpie and make a mark on the concrete at the laser dot. I change the struts and then adjust the camber until my laser pointer is back or close to the mark on the concrete. Not perfect but will get you close enough to get to the alignment shop with out shredding the tires.

 

[Trav]

Yes, camber is probably off which will also effect toe.

 

[Nick1994]

Yes, I replaced the struts on my grandparent's Chevy Trailblazer with the same Monroe Quick Struts it had before, we didn't get it aligned and it wore the tires funny. It drove fine though. Got an alignment and they wore fine after that.

 

[mclasser]

At least get the alignment checked.

 

[DeafBrad]

I just worked on our van. I had to replace several motor mounts so I ended up unbolting everything to take the axle out of the right side. I went down to have it aligned, and it didn't need any aligning. FYI- Les Schwab will check it for free. If no adjustment is needed there is no cost to you. Maybe you have a Les Schwab near you or another shop that offers free alignment checks?

 

[zzyzzx]

You should at least do this after replacing struts:

 

[camrydriver111]

Originally Posted by Trav
Yes, camber is probably off which will also effect toe.


If you use quick struts you might even get positive camber.

Hahahaha!