Caster out in range but blamed for pull
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Registered User
Joined: Aug 1998
Posts: 61
From: Detroit, MI, USA
Caster out in range but blamed for pull
Guys,
I have a basic V6 1995 Chevy Lumina 4 door. I just bought 4 new tires and had the alignment "done". When I got the car back it pulled to the left MORE than it had been before the tires and allignment. I checked the print-out and all four wheels were showing to be within manufactures specs.
I do not have the report but the one thing that stuck out was that the camber was + 4 (or so) on one front wheel and - 3 on the other. After rechecking everything the techs claim that the frame or subframe is bent giving me the bad allignment. However this car has never been in an accident! They say that Michigan's bad roads could have done it. I find that very hard to believe since I have had crummy FWD cars before and they all held allignments OK. To compound my problem the Lumina only has adjustable toe!! The struts and hub are one part so you can't adjust camber.
What I want to know is how can the car show as being alligned within manufacturer's specs (Including the cross camber and front to rear measurment) but still pull? Any easy (read: cheap) way to fix this?
Also, does anybody have experience with a well cared for no accident FWD car's (sub)frame bending??
I have a basic V6 1995 Chevy Lumina 4 door. I just bought 4 new tires and had the alignment "done". When I got the car back it pulled to the left MORE than it had been before the tires and allignment. I checked the print-out and all four wheels were showing to be within manufactures specs.
I do not have the report but the one thing that stuck out was that the camber was + 4 (or so) on one front wheel and - 3 on the other. After rechecking everything the techs claim that the frame or subframe is bent giving me the bad allignment. However this car has never been in an accident! They say that Michigan's bad roads could have done it. I find that very hard to believe since I have had crummy FWD cars before and they all held allignments OK. To compound my problem the Lumina only has adjustable toe!! The struts and hub are one part so you can't adjust camber.
What I want to know is how can the car show as being alligned within manufacturer's specs (Including the cross camber and front to rear measurment) but still pull? Any easy (read: cheap) way to fix this?
Also, does anybody have experience with a well cared for no accident FWD car's (sub)frame bending??
Registered User
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 715
From: Brookville, PA
+4 on one side and -3 on the other? Ahh, I don't buy it. I think the rack is completely screwed. Negative caster would have to come from completely screwed up accident. Shopping cart's front wheels have negative caster. You really can't even get that on a car without some SERIOUSLY F*cked up parts. 
Caster can make the car pull. It's called caster lead. If you have more + caster in the LF wheel than the RF, the car will pull to the right.
Also -3 wouldn't be anywhere near the factory specs. Maybe it was a typo.
Check your tire pressures. And not a bad idea to toss a tape measure on the front tires and get a rough toe measurement (measure front one tire to the other on the front edge, and do again on the back edge, the difference is the total toe. If it doesn't come close to the read out, you know the rack was completely messed up.
Caster can make the car pull. It's called caster lead. If you have more + caster in the LF wheel than the RF, the car will pull to the right.
Also -3 wouldn't be anywhere near the factory specs. Maybe it was a typo.
Check your tire pressures. And not a bad idea to toss a tape measure on the front tires and get a rough toe measurement (measure front one tire to the other on the front edge, and do again on the back edge, the difference is the total toe. If it doesn't come close to the read out, you know the rack was completely messed up.
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