lower, alignment done, 200 miles late toeing

[John Becker 2]

Ok I lower my 2005 STA about a month ago, had the front end alignment done, everything was fine. Right around the 150-200 mile mark it start pulling to the right (toe). It's gotten slightly worse lately....the steering wheel is in the 1 o'clock position while driving straight.. That drives me nuts.



I lowered the rear 1'' and the front 1.25''.



Any suggestions?:banghead:

 

[John Becker 2]

correction on original post...toe is left which makes me pull the wheel to the right

 

[TRACket Paul]

Take it back to the shop that did the alignment. They should fix it without charge.

 

[EddieS'04]

might be a belt shifton the tire or air pressure is low. Could be a camber issue. or A ball joint. Maybe an inner tie rod. Or outer tie rod. Maybe a nice pot hole damaged one of those parts. Many things can happen in 200 miles.. I would check the air pressures first. and try swaping the tires around. Might save



As Paul said,might need the machine again. GL....

 

[John Becker 2]

alignment was done at a shop I've trusted for 20 some years, I was thinking ball joint or tie rod also but wanted more opinions.

 

[swshawaii]

alignment was done at a shop I've trusted for 20 some years,

The quote really says it all. Have you changed your opinion of them?

Something loosened up or failed to affect the alignment that much, IMO.

Keep posted, and let us know the cause of it. Good luck.

 

[Richard L]

Many alignment shops will tweek the front end to compensate for the usual crown in the road for water drainage, or your vehicle might tend to pull slightly to the right. Perhaps your trusted shop over-compensated for the crown of the road and now have the vehicle pulling slightly to the left?



They could have made a mistake, or failed to notice that you had a worn tie-rod end. Because you have been using the shop for 20 years does not mean that they don't occassionally make a mistake. Also, they probably do not have the same tech's there that they did 20 years ago, so the equipment and people change....maybe you got a new front-end alignment tech who is not that familiar with the alignment equipment they have?



Take it back and let them recheck the alignment. If you have been a loyal customer for 20 years, they certainly should not charge you to recheck the alignment and make any adjustments neccessary to make you happy. I know I would not want to lose a loyal customer over a minor tweek to the front end alignment.



...Rich

 

[John Becker 2]

No, my opinion on the shop hasn't changed one bit, but if a ball joint is worn or is wearing out would it knock the toe out? Quite possibly that something got knock out of whack driving on PA roads!!!



Thanks for the replies

 

[Richard L]

The first rule of wheel alignment is that you cannot properly align a vehicle with worn, or damaged front end parts. I doubt that your ball joints or or tie rod ends went bad in just 200 miles. If they are worn, the tech should have caught that before he did the alignment.



Why don't you take the vehilce back to the shop and let them look at it, and see what's wrong??? I have never had a shop refuse to look at my vehicle if there is a possibility they may have done something wrong, or overlooked something. If they missed a bad tie-rod or bad ball joint they probably will fix it for you and not charge you for the follow-up alignment



It's really hard for anyone here to diagnose problems when the vehicle is not here to examine. That's why you should take it back to the shop that did the alignment and let them know you are having some issues. If you have been a regular customer for twenty years, they should bend over backwards to keep you a happy customer. Anything anybody says here is just a wild-ass guess.....Kind of like asking a doctor to diagnose your illness over the phone.



...Rich

 

[John Becker 2]

Well found out the end link on the sway bar failed. Replaced. STA is tracking on the straight and narrow. I didn't think it was the shop, but a failure of a suspension piece after the alignment.:banana:

 

[H D]

It doesn't take much of an inspection to notice a broken end link. Surprised that was missed. Glad you got it figured out!:supercool: