DMPesso

It still drives really good even though the camber and caster are off. I guess if it's less then a whole degree off you don't feel it as much?

Aristo722

You're pulling to the left because of Caster, but road crown and your negative camber on one side only are causing it to attempt to equalize so that's why it drifts lazily, I wouldn't worry about any of the measurements except that camber, correct the abnormal camber or equal it out on both sides. It is possible the tech did not do it right, the order in which an alignment done should be starting with the rear first, Set camber then toe, then swing caster in the front again, adjust camber, caster, then toe last and it should be done, making sure to jounce the suspension before and after toe adjustments. You dont have to re swing the caster when working on the front, but its what I like to do to get great measurements, heck, when I align my car I make it dead straight, I even make sure my tire pressure is even all the way around before I start to ensure the best alignment possible.

DMPesso

how can he correct the camber in the rear if it is not adjustable besides buying a new bolt? So you are saying its normal the caster went off that much when he aligned everything else or there is a chance he didnt do it in the right order which is why? It just doesnt seem right that he couldnt fix the caster when it looked almost perfect prior to changing everything else. I want to tell him to fix the caster but I dont want to sound stupid...

DMPesso

Now I am confused, your saying the tech should set the rear camber first? How is this done if the rear camber isnt adjustable on my car? Sorry I am SO confused with this

Mr Jokster

iTrader: (8)

Dude c'mon, you're making things more difficult than you need to. Unless you're gonna do it yourself, you dont need to know the technicalities, just go in and get it redone properly. I already clarified even with pictures that its correctable ! No offense, but you clearly arent understanding the concept of alignment, nor the adjustment capabilities of the GS (hey, some people got it, some dont. no insult there), the more questions you ask, the more confused you're gonna get. Unless otherwise clarified why the camber was not corrected by the shop (and can ONLY be explained by the shop) its quite plain and simple, the shop made no attempt to align the rear axle. Pops should have immediately questioned the discrepancy or at the very least the shop point out and explain to him why it was in the red. Personally, I'd get my money back and take it to another more competent shop.

DMPesso

I do fully understand how alignments work now and I understand each part of it; caster, camber, toe and what each one does. All I am trying to figure out now is how can I go there and tell them to align the rear camber to green if the camber (to my knowledge) isn't adjustable in the rear? And the caster in the front as well, he is just going to say to me "you can't adjust the caster in the front either". Now based on what the other guy said he could have done everything in the wrong order, but this guy supposedly has been doing alignments for 30 years so before I go in and question him and get told there's no adjustments I just want a clear answer on if there actually IS something he can do to get it in the green without replacing any parts so I can actually be right. Sorry to be a pain in the *** I hope you understand.

Mr Jokster

iTrader: (8)

What I don't understand is that you've asked the same questions more than once and have been answered. Ask yourself this question, If the internet didn't exist, what would you do? You'd go in and ask why the camber wasn't corrected in the rear. I don't know how much clearer anyone can be. His answer will be, "I dont know why it wasn't corrected, let me redo it" or, "this part is damaged and needs to be replaced before correction can occur".

DMPesso

There is no need to get rude about it. I only kept asking because at first you made it seem like the tech did something wrong to cause the camber and caster to go out but now your saying there might be nothing he can do. At first you made it seem like it was a poor job that was the reason for the alignment not being perfect. Now your're saying go there and ask him why it's red because he might've done everything he could but at least he can tell you what to fix, this is why I was confused. All I wanted to know before I went in to him was whether he did something wrong or not! Thanks!

Aristo722

Agreed with Mr. Jokster, Just take it back in, get the camber corrected and not worry about a thing, Caster is not a tire wearing issue, so you should be fine

Mr Jokster

iTrader: (8)

So whats the verdict? Its Wednesday. I find this an important thread for locals to know what to look for when going to this shop or rather avoiding it.

DMPesso

Unfortunately I have been working late this week and haven't been able to go yet. Will definitely go this week or Saturday the latest and will report back. The shop is Hilna Tires on Stilwell avenue in Brooklyn and the tech is a new hire because the previous one is sick and this guy supposedly has 30 years experience so I was checking here before discrediting his job. Will report back with what he says about it later this week

Mr Jokster

iTrader: (8)

Hopefully its just a case of miscommunication.

marshun

if you adjust one thing, it affects another.

just tell that shop to fix their work

DMPesso

I do notice when making right turns the steering wheel doesnt re-center itself as fast as when making left turns because of the negative caster on the driver side. Othen than that I barely notice anything and it drives good. I am going back on saturday to see what he says about the caster and camber which I am sure he will give me the usual answer "your car has no adjustments for caster in the front and camber in the rear, when I aligned everything else they went red, there is nothing I can do unless you replace these parts" blah blah...

DMPesso

So now I go back and just as I suspected even being as nice as possible the guy gets offended thinking I'm telling him he doesn't know what he's doing. So now after arguing with him for nothing he ended up throwing out the camber in the front to the point where it's almost red just to fix the caster. I told him what he did and he walked away from me so instead of punching this guy in the face I walked off and left. Now my question is obviously something is wrong with my car as to why it couldn't be aligned better but I'm getting this feeling if I go to the best place in my area that told me the tie rods were bad in the first place (only reason it wasn't aligned there in the first place is because they were closed) that they might be able to somehow dial it in better. They were real *******s never going there again they couldn't even take the time to do it better the second time how he threw off my rear toe more and couldn't even bother checking what could be the reason why he can't align the caster and camber in the rear. "It's an old car the frames bent" is all he said. What do you guys think?