[RESOLVED] went to get an aliment and....

[chehsgsx]

not only did i have a bad tie rod end but also my cvshaft was destroyed got it all fixed and they still cant do the aliment ### of how bad the tires are..... and to top it of they say theres a noise coming from my front diff because of how low the car was dropped .. something with the angle of the drive shaft!!!! anyone heard of this problem ??? ####ing 400$ latter and still no aliment done wtf !?@??@@?@?!!!?!@

 

[DanThMan1983]

not only did i have a bad tie rod end but also my cvshaft was destroyed got it all fixed and they still cant do the aliment ### of how bad the tires are..... and to top it of they say theres a noise coming from my front diff because of how low the car was dropped .. something with the angle of the drive shaft!!!! anyone heard of this problem ??? ####ing 400$ latter and still no aliment done wtf !?@??@@?@?!!!?!@

I am the alignment guy at my dealership and the general rule of thumb is if the tires have less than 30% of tread left the alignment should not be done. So you can either buy 2 tires or swap the rears to the front. The alignment can be done but it will be off if you ever buy new tires. I am not sure about your driveshaft issue, how low is your car? I would not think the problem is from your car being lowered

 

[GORBS88]

not only did i have a bad tie rod end but also my cvshaft was destroyed got it all fixed and they still cant do the aliment ### of how bad the tires are..... and to top it of they say theres a noise coming from my front diff because of how low the car was dropped .. something with the angle of the drive shaft!!!! anyone heard of this problem ??? ####ing 400$ latter and still no aliment done wtf !?@??@@?@?!!!?!@

A bad CV shaft has nothing to do with an alignment, they should not of replaced it.!!

 

[chehsgsx]

they replaced the cv shaft ### it had no boot basically but today i set the ride hight again to 5 inches to that little jake lip under the car it was 4 in the front and 5 in the rear but i was waiting the the car to settle soo no its 5 inches front and rear to the little lip still don't think a drop would do this unless ## slammed to the f en ground like a race car. but my knowledge is limited so any help would be great.

 

[redyute1]

you can lower your car till you rub the fenders the only thing it affects is your struts andd camber off course

 

[chehsgsx]

thats what i thought because the shaft should work though a wide range of angle from the suspention just moving up and down. i havent changed how far the suspention move so the shaft moves the same amount as stock.. anyone want to second that? and if thats not the noise u guys got any ideas what it could be? its coming from the driver side front wheel im gona try to get a vid of it so u guys can hear it tomarow.

 

[maxboostjc]

Can you describe the noise and does it happen only when the car is in gear?

 

[Daaan]

I could possibly be wrong but, could be a wheel bearing? And do you here the sound louder when moving the wheels in a certain direction??

 

[GORBS88]

I could possibly be wrong but, could be a wheel bearing? And do you here the sound louder when moving the wheels in a certain direction??

Yes, a wheel bearing will generaly make more noise when slightly turning going down the highway. I cant remember what way it is to turn to figure out what side but if i you know its on the driver side then go for a drive. Take it to highway speeds and just slightly turn the wheel . IF its a wheel bearing the noise WILL become louder.

 

[knochgoon24]

I have a bad driver's side wheel bearing right now. I'm not looking forward to replacing it. When I make a right turn between 10 and 45 mph, I can hear it. It sounds almost like the sound of someone using a mortar and pestal except louder.

 

[Mr Peepers]

I am the alignment guy at my dealership and the general rule of thumb is if the tires have less than 30% of tread left the alignment should not be done. So you can either buy 2 tires or swap the rears to the front. The alignment can be done but it will be off if you ever buy new tires. I am not sure about your driveshaft issue, how low is your car? I would not think the problem is from your car being lowered

I'm still trying to figure out how tires would affect your alignment

 

[chehsgsx]

ok the sounds a clank ( metal on metal) it is not effected by any input ( steering, braking, accelerating, nothing) the noise only happens if im going froward as in backwards no noise. it doesn't change its sound the faster you go either. it makes the noise even if im coasting with the clutch in the trans in neutral. but its not a constant repeating noise, its very random when it will make a sound. maybe ill have a video today ill see what i can do

 

[illeffekt vr-4]

You have to make sure all these things are in good shape BEFORE you go for an alignment (tires, bushings, inner/outer tie rods, no bent/cracked control arms,etc).

Some shops will not do alignments on lowered cars and much less on cars that are slammed to the ground. Find another place if you're having problems with the current shop.

 

[wret]

I'm still trying to figure out how tires would affect your alignment

I'm wondering about this myself. It has come up before, also mentioned by an alignment guy. We never got a definitive answer and the consensus was that the amount of tread or even tire size would not affect alignment.

DanThMan1983, why does your dealership not perform alignments on cars equipped with significantly worn tires?

 

[Death_Trap22]

You could have damaged the shaft since its lowered and something on the ground could have come up and hit it...
but as for the noise i would check the U- joint...

If you are stopped and you shift it in diff gears it should make some clanking type noise....then that would be ## u-joint needs replacing.

 

[Anonymity]

i think the whole tire thing has to do with the old tires being worn one way and setting the alignment to fit the tires. then when you get new tires you would have to fix the alignment to work with the new set.... thats the best i could come up with

 

[Daaan]

you would definatly have to show us a video, its hard to tell.. it could be a number of things

 

[Splitpi]

Ball Joints?

I am also confused by what you mean by DriveShaft... do you mean the shaft connecting the differential to the rear? Or the half shafts connected to the CV's/front axles? If the differential, then there is not a chance in heck that dropping the car would affect it unless its litterally rubbing on the ground.

But I could rationalize changing the geometry angle on the CV's could cause noise since they are rubbing in a "new" angle than previously. However, I would check your lower control arm and lateral control arm ball joints.

 

[lgoss5127]

i would take it to a different guy and see if they say the same thing. if they do ask them about it. that might be your best bet

 

[chehsgsx]

i do not belive it is the cv shafts any more. after more thought about this lowering the car dos not change the opperation range of the halfshafts because the suspention still travles just as much as stock the cv's are desinged to work though a rang greater then the suspention travle just for the fact if you hit a really big bump you cv shafts wont fall out of there sockets. am i correct? and i did find out that the upper control arm is hitting the fender well anyone run into this problem and could this possible be my noise and yes i will look into the ball joint. its funny befor i cheecked my post like 5 min. ago i was reading up on the recall on the ball joints and i should have a video in a few mins

 

[chehsgsx]

You must be logged in to view this image or video.

you can hear it at the very end. and you have to click on the video to make it work. let me know what u think

 

[bluetlr2001]

The only thing i could think of with them talking about the drive shaft is it could be fro myour pinion agnle being off wearing the bearing on the output of your tranny. but this is normal from doing 4 wheel drives

 

[chehsgsx]

well anyone else got an idea on the noise im starting to think that ball joint issue is what it is.

 

[Splitpi]

Could be ball joints..... I found out mine were bad when I was tightening my lug nuts and notice that I could move the knuckle and heard a clicking sound as the entire wheel moved and the knuckle hit the control arm.

 

[DarkLaser]

I do alignments all the time on slammed cars at my work, just know that if there is no way to adjust it. . it ###### wont get adjusted (ie. coilovers making you have a stupid amount of camber). What youll ###### end up with is a "toe and go" thats when they make sure your steering wheel is straight and it drives straight down the road. As far as the tire issue goes. . We have actually challenged that theory at my shop. We took a 2g and put bald tires on it and performed an alignment (hunter machine), then put new tires on and rechecked the alignment. It was almost identical to the bald tires. Unless you have different amounts of tire wear or overly abnomal wear if wont make any difference. One thing that is overlooked most of the time is tire pressure. Tire pressure can make the car pull or throw the alignment off if there not reasonably close to the same all the way around. Just though id throw in my 2cents