My car won't align

[98mitsubishigst]

I took my car to my work to get aligned..

We got the car up on the rack and we got the front to be 0 on both sides..
As soon as we took the steering wheel holder off, the wheel turned to the left.. We didnt think anything of it.

When driving my steering wheel was turned to the left, and my car went some what straight but still wandered the road..

The next day i took the car to get aligned again..

We got the car up on the rack and when trying to adjust the alignment it was way off when we centered the wheel.. But we just aligned it the day before..

When we tried aligning the car, the front end when adjusting the driver side tie rod, the passenger side would move.. And when we adjusted the passenger one, the driver side would move... WTF?!?

We finally got it to 0, and when we took the steering wheel holder off, the wheel turned to the right. and now my steering wheel when going straight, the wheel is to the right..

WTF is going on?!

 

[DSM1G90]

Twisted frame.

Has the thing ever been in an accident or similar?

Take it to a frame shop to get some results.

-DSM

 

[enasnitsi]

What is camber at? Either its being compensated wrong, you don't have the brakes held down, or something is loose.

 

[jed344]

i dont think it is frame related personally if his frame was that far off he would have other issues.

 

[talon3394]

camber and caster affect the wandering of the vehicle not the toe.

 

[98mitsubishigst]

so what should i do about the steering wheel issue?

 

[Dsmkauai]

Go to a better alignment shop. Did someone install any new parts related to the suspension? If you just need the steering wheel straight you will have to keep adjusting till its centered again. Make sure the tie rod ends are screwed in equally you shouldn't need to make much adjustment if they are.

 

[98mitsubishigst]

Go to a better alignment shop. Did someone install any new parts related to the suspension? If you just need the steering wheel straight you will have to keep adjusting till its centered again. Make sure the tie rod ends are screwed in equally you shouldn't need to make much adjustment if they are.

what i dont understand is that after we 0 the toe out, the steering wheel moves to the left or right as soon as the steering wheel lock is removed...

 

[Dsmkauai]

Try doing it without the lock, just make sure you watch and kinda make sure it stays straight. Are you guys using the alignment machine steering lock tool or just the cars security lock? Maybe try to do it while the car is running and make sure you turn the wheel a few times left and right then center then lock. Shouldn't move after doing it that way, if I was there I could probably figure it out for you, I was a alignment tech for many years at a shop.

 

[98mitsubishigst]

Try doing it without the lock, just make sure you watch and kinda make sure it stays straight. Are you guys using the alignment machine steering lock tool or just the cars security lock? Maybe try to do it while the car is running and make sure you turn the wheel a few times left and right then center then lock. Shouldn't move after doing it that way, if I was there I could probably figure it out for you, I was a alignment tech for many years at a shop.

you know, i was just thinking that earlier today trying it that way.. maybe ill just sit in the car while my techs at work align it for me and ill put the wheel in place..

We used the actual tool.

 

[BurrowZ]

Had a similar issue with a repeat customer's blazer. Ended up being his mini u joint on the steering column. Sounds goofy I'm sure, couldn't hurt to take a couple seconds to get down there and check for play.

 

[98mitsubishigst]

Had a similar issue with a repeat customer's blazer. Ended up being his mini u joint on the steering column. Sounds goofy I'm sure, couldn't hurt to take a couple seconds to get down there and check for play.

ive never messed with anything on my rack besides the inner and outer tie rods.. Refresh my memory!

 

[90tsiawdturbo]

Look at your steering rack underneath the dash to see that u joint he's talking about

 

[Dsmkauai]

^^ Ya I thought about that being bad too, that was my next suggest was. Good thinking

 

[98Spyder_GS]

Any good alignment shop would check your front end to make sure you don't have any loose/worn parts before they even attempt to do an alignment. If it has bad parts, you're doing an alignment for nothing. They should decline to do your alignment because as soon as you move off that rack, the alignments off already. Moving or bad parts = inaccurate toe/camber/caster readings right? (common sense stuff...)

This being said, cars are aligned rear to front...not front to rear like how 90 percent of people think. What i mean by that is, people have this idea that "setting the toe" on a vehicle will straighten their wheel out and they'll have no more wear/alignment issues. Completely false. You cannot set the front toe to 0 if the rear is not set to 0. In other words, if the rear is out of adjustment, so will your front. Plain and simple. Rear to Front. The alignment machines are setup this way. If you noticed, you do your rear toe/camber first before you move to the front. DO NOT skip this when doing alignments. A lot of techs do ### they're lazy and don't wanna do shit the right way... That could be your whole problem right there. Imports are sensitive as F*** when it comes to alignments. I've been doing them for years and i can align a car by eye to get it tested by the computer at dead on 0 so im sure i know a bit when it comes to alignments (this with the rear being set to 0)

I doubt the u joints are bad if the shop checked the front end...they'd notice that right away...starting the car will help the release the stress off the steering wheel (when its held in place with the holder) which may help but what type of holder are you using and are you SURE it's not moving? We had to replace ours numbers of times because they skip or don't hold the wheel perfectly still...

BTW if you can't find out what it is and just want your wheel straight anyways, count the number of turns in and out for both sides and adjust to either sides...if the cars at 0 (according to the computer) your toe is not out, it just needs to be straighten out. It's easy. Have someone sit in the car and watch the wheel as you spin the inner tie rod either 2-4 turns in then 2-4 turns out or whatever it may be. That'll center out your wheel without messing up the toe.

 

[performance]

Sorta off topic, but when I was a mechanic at Brandon Honda I had to align a brand new Pilot. The passenger rear would not align. No wreck or anything. The caster/camber/toe was out by a few degress. MAybe it was never aligned correctly... or it was wrecked, and you were never notified. Check the vins and fresher undercarriage coating.