I recently had my front lower ball joints and rear strut assemblies replaced. I went to the local Tires Plus to get an alignment (3 year alignment) but the rear before and after is the same. what would I need to do to get the rear in spec? are there any bushings that might be causing this to be off?
they told me its ok, nothing to worry about but I am not lowered and I thought the rears were pretty adjustable.

the rear struts are new KYBs, the bellow and bump stop are new. the coil springs, strut mounts and rubber spacers/boots are used with 20k miles on them but for some reason they rear still sits as low as before.

 

Looks like the only adjustment they made anywhere was front toe. Nothing else was touched. I'd figure that one out before worrying about failed components.

Regarding it sitting low, I'd try to measure and figure out exactly how low it is. Full tank of gas in there will affect things. Driver in driver's seat too. Right now, I've got a few hundred pounds of tile in my LS400, and it is riding REALLY low.

 

i plan on taking it to another location and see what they say. wanted to see if anyone else has run into a similar situation.

the tank was 1/4 full, trunk is empty. the driver side sits about 1/2" lower than the passenger side currently.

 

our car's camber AND toe can be adjusted front and rear (to a certain extent of course).
the rear camber can certainly be adjusted back to within spec using the eccentric bolts, but most likely the tech didn't bother with the right rear as it was right at the tolerance limit.

make sure your tire pressures are the same before the alignment.
some places even allowed you to be inside the driver's seat while they performed the alignment to compensate for your weight, but the difference is negligible.
only a high performance vehicle will benefit from such OCD.

lastly it is normal for the ride height to be off a little left to right, and front to back. your last picture looks normal to me.
make sure you are on a completely level surface before checking but there will always be some deviation (never perfectly distributed left to right).

 

just got back from another store. talked to the manager. he said they did not want to adjust the rear camber because they did not feel comfortable with the condition of the bolts, they said if they tried adjusting them it might work or they might break (which he said he sees a lot of on older toyotas). they do not have replacement camber bolts at the moment and said the camber is not a issue. he said it would be best for me to get new bolts installed and then come back for an alignment.
anyone know what part number those bolts would be?

 

a full 4 wheel alignment on our cars takes time, at least an hour since there are plenty of adjustments to be made. I'd actually be mad if they got my car done in less than 20-30 min because I'll know they didn't do a proper job with all the adjustments.

I once went to a shop that gave me that exact excuse, oh its a 20 yr old car, we're afraid that if we touch X bolt, that it'll break. This was when I lived in AZ at the time, so I knew they were full of BS since you can literally take apart the entire car with hand tools since its the mildest climate for a car to be in regarding nuts and bolts, Dry and hot makes bolts come out easily with minimal effort. I promptly told them to stop and went else where.

The next shop took over an hour to do the job, but I know that they did it properly and attempted to do everything in their power to correct anything that was off the specs. I noticed immediately after on the drive home that the suspension, steering and ride were a lot better than when I went in. I did my front shocks, strut mounts, LCA bushings, so it was pretty far off after installing new parts when I initially took it in.

Our LS400s have a pretty complex suspension, which is great for dialing in stuff exactly, but difficult if something is off due to damage or worn out parts. The rear especially has many adjustments to get everything in spec.

 

That sounds like a fair excuse ... not knowing what your bolts look like, but knowing you had a broken spring.

But if you paid for a 4-wheel ALIGNMENT and all they really did was a measurement and front toe adjustment, I'd expect them to do it again for free when you get those bolts.

Sorry I don't know the part #. I'm in CA, where we've declared ourselves a sanctuary from rust.

 

What do you think of dealer doing it,and any ideas on costs?

 

I got a 3 year alignment deal with them so I can go as many times as I want and at various locations.

I'll call the dealer to see what the number is and how much they charger to install them.

 

if its not too bad I wouldnt mind them doing it. I'll call them up tomorrow and ask.

 

Dealer will charge minimum 0.5-1hr labor at shop rate to put 2 bolts in, better off asking the alignment shop how much to install if you bought new bolts for them.

Personally I think they're jerking you around with their answer, those eccentric's don't "break" often. But you're in a lake-effect state so who knows the kind of rust they've seen.

 

manager was def jerking around. told me it might work but worst case it snaps they need to order new bolts and new lower control arms and I would be looking at a $600 job minimum...their labor rate is $140 an hour. I dont think he wanted to do it.

I'll soak the rear end with PB Blaster in the meantime and buy the bolts from the dealer. I'll take it back to the same guy who did my struts and have him install those. I have front strut rod bushings and a trans mount to do anyways.

 

Had the same issue awhile back when I took my 97 LS400 to an alignment shop. One tech couldn't aligned the rear camber so he told me I need a new camber bolt & disc (looks like a washer w/ marks). Went & bought the parts at the dealer then drove back to the shop the next day but then another tech worked on it & was able to adjust the camber so didn't have to use the new parts. What does it tell us: Not all techs are equal. Some has better skill than other. Anyway, here's the p/n & they're about $15 each.
Camber bolt: 48190-22030
Disc: 48198-22020

 

I did a field alignment with my '91 LS, and the bolts and nuts loosened without drama. Rear eccentrics did the camber, front eccentrics did the toe. I looked at road contact edge on tire footprints for camber, and felt across the tread sipes for toe.
a) My contact edge was further toward the inside shoulder, (negative camber) decreased length of control arm by 1/2 mark.
b) My treads are smooth as you palm the tire from the outside to the inside, but rough as you pull your hand back, that is too much toe-in. Lengthened the front eccentric by a half mark.
After driving 100 miles, I added another half mark for right rear tire, and now all treads are smooth back and forth, and contact is exactly centered on footprint of each tire. This is fiddly for sure, but I like Kustom Home Alignment so that I know for myself that the suspension is correct. Interestingly, adding that little bit of rear toe out to my initial discovery really tightened up the turn-in responsiveness.

Here is a left rear suspension:

 

Im impressed Am,something waaaay beyond my abilities.I copied that and emailed it to myself.I cant do it,but I think a nephew could if I needed it.Thank You.