BailsVT

OK, so after several conversations with the dealer, test drives, another alignment, etc they swear there is no way anything can be bent and that my caster values are normal. I drove my car then a stock one back to back and it did pull on crowned roads, but no where near as bad as mine. I looked under the car this weekend and saw scratches on the backs of the control arms and the oil pan. The only thing i can think of is the car was towed improperly. Why it was towed, i have no clue. I measure the wheel spacing on both sides and the passenger side wheel sits a little over 1/4" further back than the drivers side front wheel. Here is the new alignment sheet, the caster is still off.
The alignment tech said that the caster will not make the car pull to one side until there is more than a 2 degree difference, which i don't agree with. Is there a way to determine if the lower control arm is bent. Will measuring from the lower ball joint to the mounting points tell me anything?

mrpartsman

so u bought the car used, and u lowered it and ur problems started, ur u did have the pull issue before the drop, and I don't trust carfax anymore, they can do so much stuff, without the insurance or carfax knowing, back to ur issue, there is lots of guys here on the forum with Tanabe spring and me one of them , have no issues on pulling at all, so most likely ur arm is bent or some other something else, I would take it to somebody else and get a second opinion on it.something is not right here.

BailsVT

The car always had a slight pull to the right that got worse once it was lowered. The caster is so far off that something has to be bent. Going to put it up on the lift tomorrow, pull off the front wheels, and take some measurements to compare both sides.

mrpartsman

well if u had that problem then ur arms are bent, but which side u will figure it out, thats for sure, either the car got hit and u dont know abt it, or they towed it and pulled it from the lower control arms, and I have seen that a lot.

robert1408

A 2 degree caster difference will pull for sure on any car that has a steep caster angle like a GS or LS Lexus has. Even a 1 degree difference would produce something between a drift and a pull. It will be hard to see any bend in that lower arm with a visual inspection. A rearward bend of only .2" to .3" is all it takes to lose a degree of caster. It's tough to measure because of the curved shape. When I did this kind of work, we would recommend first replacing that control arm. 80+ percent of the time it would be enough. To diagnose frame damage requires setting the car up on a body shops frame machine. That is usually more expensive than the control arm.

To sum it up, there is really one realistic way to fix this. Replace that control arm and remeasure the alignment. Be prepared to add bracket(s) if needed to bring that caster in to at least equal left and right and preferably a tenth or two higher on the right for road crown. The only question is who pays.

BailsVT

I finally had time to put the car up on the rack and measure the arms today. The right lower control arm is definitely bent. (will post the measurements tonight) Long story short, I talked to the service manager and he was giving me the run around because the car has been lowered yada yada, but as of now they are willing to put the new arm on and align the car if buy the new arm. I can get it from Sewell for $350 plus shipping. I don't feel like I should have to pay anything, but since the car has been lowered and I've put about 1,500 miles on it since i bought it (had 8,500 when i bought it) I don't feel like spending weeks or months arguing to get it done for free.I just want my car fixed so i can drive it and enjoy it. Thoughts?

robert1408

Looking at the whole situation, I would take their offer. Book time on the labor won't be cheap and neither is an alignment at a Lexus dealer. Having a car that drives nice and straight is sure worth it.

BailsVT

I had the control arm I bought from Sewell installed yesterday and had the car aligned. (dealer covered the labor and alignment) The car drives much better now, and doesn't pull hard to the right anymore. Here are the new alignment specs.

robert1408

Thanks for the update. Those measurements look better. I hope the car drives straight enough to satisfy you. I would imagine there might be a slight pull/drift to the right based on the remaining small caster difference. If that's the case, those brackets would almost certainly fix it. A -.20 left and a +.20 right should be used. If it drives ok for you, leave it alone. Small caster differences won't harm anything and all the other measurements are good for a lowered car. You should get reasonable tire wear.