Alignment?

tw1st3d_cl0wn · Post by **tw1st3d_cl0wn** » April 1st, 2005, 1:21 pm

Ok, I hope I am posting this in the right area. This may be a stupid question, but when I first bought my MX3 2.5 months ago, it shook when I hit about 60mph. But it was perfectly aligned. It didn't drift or anything when I would let go of the steering wheel. I got my wheels balanced, because of the shaking. And when I got my car back, I noticed it was out of alignment, but the car didn't shake anymore. When I now let go of the steering wheel, it drifts to the right, and also the when I hit about 75mph, it feels like my steering wheel wanders from side to side, and I have to work harder to keep my car going in the straight line. Could my wheels getting balanced have put it out of alignment? It didn't do this until the mechanic worked on it. Any advice is appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Tunes67 · Post by **Tunes67** » April 1st, 2005, 2:42 pm

Balancing your wheels shouldnt have taken your car out of alignment.. how well do you know the mechanic that balanced the wheels? Also.. might want to check your struts.. if they are getting weak you will notice play in the steering at higher speeds. The air pressure on the body of the car at the higher speeds literally can cause the struts to shift (they would have to be pretty old struts though) and the steering can feel jumpy as a result. With your car pulling when you let go of the steering wheel, its definately out of alignment. And if it wasnt doing that before you took your car in to have the tires balanced.. well.. I'd be wondering if they made an "Adjustment" to your alignment to get a bit of return business.. but then I am also paranoid like that when it comes to shops & mechanics

Tunes67

tw1st3d_cl0wn · Post by **tw1st3d_cl0wn** » April 1st, 2005, 2:56 pm

Tunes, thanks for replying, you always help me out,

.

Yeah, I'd never been to this mechanic before. I don't know a good place to go where I live, so I try out different places. (I live in Deerfield Beach, FL, if anyone knows a good mechanic

) Every place I've been to they've tried to rip me off in some way. Now, I brought up to some people that I thought the mechanic may have "adjusted" my alignment for me, so I would go back and have them fix it, but they all said they wouldn't have done that to me. Haha...yeah...right. And I just hate hearing it may be struts since I've had so many problems with struts on the car I used to drive. I bought my MX3 not too long ago, and don't know really what's been done to the car, so for all I know the struts are old and might need to be replaced soon. Anyway, I'll get the alignment, and see what happens. Thanks for the advice!

Tunes67 · Post by **Tunes67** » April 1st, 2005, 3:09 pm

Glad to help. As for the struts.. one of the nice things I have seen about the MX-3 is that struts are relatively cheap for this car. At least in comparison to my old Subaru XT. I recently took my car into a Firestone here in the Seattle area to have an alignment done. 4-wheel lifetime alignment was $150.06 after tax. Granted this is a bit high priced and you can usually get it done for less than half that cost. But I prefer to get my car aligned at least twice a year. So within a year from now.. I will be getting free alignments

Firestone is nationwide I think so you should be able to find one down there somewhere. Best of luck

Tunes67

jschrauwen · Post by **jschrauwen** » April 1st, 2005, 8:10 pm

We could look at it this way. Poor alignment is probably more noticeable at higher speeds and especially dangerous onslippery road conditions. I suspect that your alignment was always out. You just didn't realize it because the effect of the unbalanced wheels were masking / over-powering that deficiency. Depending on the severity, driving for a prolonged period of time with unbalanced wheels will reduce the life of the tyres as well may have a detrimental effect on other suspension components.
I'd follow Tunes recommendation for the alignment unless you have some very reliable sources as to a quality shop/mechanic.
Your still the man Tunes!!

TsiMiata · Post by **TsiMiata** » April 1st, 2005, 11:28 pm

Sounds like your toe is out of whack, to much toe out.

93SOHC · Post by **93SOHC** » April 2nd, 2005, 2:43 am

how do your tires look. If for some reason they might have been worn funny(bad struts, low pressure, possibly unbalanced for a real long time). It kinda depends on if its more of a drift or a pull. A severe pull could be alignment, or possibly a bad tierod or balljoint. If it less severe, I would have to agree w/ the above response of struts, but in common with uneven wear on tires(which again can be caused by a # of things) If it is possible, raise your car(safely) and run it up to the MPH you are feeling the difference. Have someone watch to see if there is a 'wobble' or not. Have fun and good luck

mitmaks · Post by **mitmaks** » April 2nd, 2005, 1:11 pm

check tire pressure in each wheel

tw1st3d_cl0wn · Post by **tw1st3d_cl0wn** » April 4th, 2005, 2:38 pm

The guy who owned the car before me, he always drove the car below 60 mph, because he didn't know why the car shook above that speed. He only owned it for 6 months, and during that time, bought new tires. Little did he know all he needed to do was get his wheels balanced. So he was driving around like that for a few months. But the tires look to be in good condition, no uneven wear or anything that I can see. When I bring my car in, like for the balance, or to get my tires rotated etc, they don't tell me about my tires, like if they're wearing funny. I checked my pressure. It's good. I check it once a month. To answer 93SOHC, it felt like more of a pull, not just a drift. But I got a 4-wheel aligment on Saturday. Immediately after I got my car back, I got onto the highway to see how it handled. And well, it seemed to be a little better as far as pulling to the right. Smoother turning. But my steering wheel would wobble from side to side alot more. This morning (Monday) on my way to work I got onto the highway and it feels like it's starting to pull to the right again. So somethinng's gotta be up. I'm so paranoid about my car it's ridiculous, so I defintely know when I feel something odd happening while driving. I'm thinking it's got to be struts/balljoints or who knows what, but the mechanic *should* have checked all that stuff out according to what I was told. Another thing I noticed, is I hear like a pulsating rubbing (bad description) sound from the passenger front wheel area, and it's louder when I turn right slightly, like going around a bend. I hear it also when on the highway. So it pulls/drifts to the right and the sound is on the right! But yeah, that's where I'm at now. Sorry this is so long, tried to get as much info in as I could.

Thanks for your help everyone. I'm real paranoid about this stuff, can you tell?

Tunes67 · Post by **Tunes67** » April 4th, 2005, 3:55 pm

Take a look at the strut shaft at each corner.. do you see any oil on the shaft? Do the seals appear to be intact (where the shaft goes into the housing)? Also.. do your CV Boots appear to be in good condition.. no rips.. or grease all over the place (Just something to check while your down there) This next thing may sound like a bit of a hassle.. but in absence of a trusted mechanic.. I would say.. take it to midas.. get them to do a full inspection (usually this is free) Then take it to a couple of different Tire Shops and get them to do a full inspection as well. Then compare the lists. Find the items (Problems) noted by all 3 places. Usually shops will add little unneccessary things onto their quotes to ding you for a bit extra.. but not all shops follow the same patterns.. so if you get 3 inspections/quotes.. you should be able to get a fair idea of what issues your suspension is having. Best of luck.

Tunes67

neutral · Post by **neutral** » April 4th, 2005, 4:13 pm

Worth checking for these things too:

1. Worn out motor mounts - mechanic might have missed checking these and in that case, would still see a perfect alignment. I had a broken motor mount on a Yota that allowed the engine to torque sideways enough under accel. and at highway speeds to cause a bad pull AND made it sound like a CV joint was going bad. The CV was only clicking on start-from-a-stop and slight turns because of the engine block rotation and resulting drivetrain misalignment under those conditions. All probs cleared up w/a new mount-old one had rubber center completely broken loose.

2. Broken or damaged/worn stabilizer bar drop/end-links - would expect the mech to catch these but ya never know and a bad one can cause the car to pull; actually feels more like your ride won't return easily to a straight line after turning.

3. Worn tie rod ends - These surely would have been checked during alignment but ck em again. Also, did you happen to get a printout of the mech's alignment specs and corrections? Worn tie rod ends make the car feel unresponsive to steering wheel movement and also feel like "the wanders" on straight-line high speed driving.

jaydog5678 · Post by **jaydog5678** » April 4th, 2005, 6:43 pm

Well, you are not supposed to align a car that has any play in the tie rods (the Mx-3 for example). If it's still pulling, cross the front tires to see if it will pull to the other side. If it does pull to the left, you have a bad tire that needs to be replaced. It's called a radial pull. You have to make sure you are keeping atleast 32psi in all tires. A tire with a lower pressure on one side may cause a pull as well. If the tire pressure is right, the tires have been crossed, no loose suspension/chassis parts and still pulls to the right, then you definately have a camber/caster issue. A caster or camber split of .5 degree or more may cause it to pull. Lets see your alignment printout to see how far off it really was..

jschrauwen · Post by **jschrauwen** » April 4th, 2005, 6:44 pm

Everybody's lookin' at suspension problems. If someone could collaborate, what if you had a real sticky/semi siezed caliper. Wouldn't that generate a similar response? This would never be detected by an alignment or wheel balancing. Just curious, don't alignment shops usually do a test drive post alignment?

Twisted, after a long enough drive, quickly pull over and put your hand on the hub or rotor of each wheel and see if the offending side is warmer than the rest. FWIW, costs nothing, simple to do.

jaydog5678 · Post by **jaydog5678** » April 4th, 2005, 6:50 pm

jschrauwen wrote:Everybody's lookin' at suspension problems. If someone could collaborate, what if you had a real sticky/semi siezed caliper. Wouldn't that generate a similar response? This would never be detected by an alignment or wheel balancing. Just curious, don't alignment shops usually do a test drive post alignment?

.

No.. I've worked cars that had locked up calipers. They smoke the pads literally and can get over 800 deg. F. That's hot! On a lesser degree, some cars will pull only when you hit the brake pedal. That's another indication of a bad caliper.

Most people don't even realize that pads will wear out uneven from a caliper problem. You can't notice or feel it in normal braking.

jschrauwen · Post by **jschrauwen** » April 4th, 2005, 7:18 pm

jaydog5678 wrote:
jschrauwen wrote:Everybody's lookin' at suspension problems. If someone could collaborate, what if you had a real sticky/semi siezed caliper. Wouldn't that generate a similar response? This would never be detected by an alignment or wheel balancing. Just curious, don't alignment shops usually do a test drive post alignment?.
No.. I've worked cars that had locked up calipers. They smoke the pads literally and can get over 800 deg. F. That's hot! On a lesser degree, some cars will pull only when you hit the brake pedal. That's another indication of a bad caliper.
Most people don't even realize that pads will wear out uneven from a caliper problem. You can't notice or feel it in normal braking.

Granted Jaydog, no arguements here. I guess I should have taken it one step further by saying perhaps a warped rotor from prolonged heat exposure stemming from a sticky caliper. That oh so small grabbing effect that would give the impression of faulty alignment or wheel balancing. I know I may be reaching here, but who knows?