sohctodohc

So I recently just swapped over to manual steering (new rack, tie rods inner and outer, subframe) and when I did this i also decided to pick up some gsr front knuckles.

So after installing everything I tried to get the alignment close as possible so I could get her somewhere to get a real alignment.

When i set the appointment up I explained to the woman behind the counter that I wanted negative 1.0 degrees of camber on the front tires(adjustable skunk2 control arms) she said no problem.

Two hours later I get a call from the woman and she is trying to sell me adjustable upper ball joints so the mechanic can adjust the camber in the front.

I laughed and explained he needs to look for the four aleen head style bolts break them loose and start adjusting. She said she would inform the mechanic, 2 more hours later I get a call saying the car is done.

I go to pick it up, they hand me the print out of the car with some notes, 1) the mechanic broke one of the bolts off in the upper ball joint driver side but the note said "its ok the other three bolts are good" haha, 2)camber from side to side in the front is off by .1 and I told them -1.0 of camber and they came out -1.4 and -1.3.

Then the last note said the mechanic "bottomed" the tie rod out on the driver side trying to get the wheel straight, which im no genious but I would have to assume he didnt adjust the inner tie rod whatsoever and so now my steeringwheel isnt even straight!

what would you guys do??

PreyStayShun

Cry....

They better figure that $hit out, and pay for your new skunk 2 control arms.

sohctodohc

well you can buy, the replaceable ball joints from skunk2 but im at the point of just throwing the stock ones on and getting rid of the skunk2 arms but i duno

nineohnine

Take it back and ask to speak to a supervisor, manager, or owner. I would demand that the bolt they broke be replaced as well (use fearing for the safety of yourself and your children if they don't want to comply), and ask they do another alignment (to the specs you asked for) from a different employee (also be a dick and ask for one who knows what they are doing LOL) if it is a reputable shop they will do as you ask and try to accommodate you.

who did you take it to btw?

sohctodohc

its just a local shop, not a big name or anything.

the supervisor or owner there is also a part owner of the machine shop i work at, so i dont know if i can be to big of a dick and not feel the repercussions at my job haha

nineohnine

then talk to him (or try to) lol that's what i would do. tell him whats going on and see if he will try and fix it.

98civdx

You payed for an alignment, and he can't even get the freaking wheel straight?
I hate lazy *** shops.

how low are you? The camber being off by -.1 is noithing, it's fine.
Also, some shops have a hell of time getting the camber exactly where you want it. I woulnd't worry about the -.4/.3

sohctodohc

the toe in the rear is .07 one side and the other is .1 is that a problem?

im not that low its a H swapped car so cant go to low due to axle binding, probly two finger gap from top of tire to fender

96electronH

first off should have took it to a reputable shop. like honda im sure they have aligned more than a few lowered civics. and the camber you have is not why your steering wheel isnt straight. toe in or out affects steer ahead. and if he turned the outer tie rod to the end there is a problem with one of the tie rods possibly a wrong aftermarket part.

bgdriver

It's not hard to do alignments with just string and jackstands. After a few tries I got it to drive straighter than a Firestone alignment.

You probably didn't center the rack correctly before you installed it. That's why the tie rod maxed out.

sohctodohc

honda is a three hour drive for me, so your suggesting i should have killed a set of tires to go there to get my alignment?

yes they are both new inner and outer so more then likely the inner needs to be adjusted to meet the needs something very basic when doing alignments....

superg6819

Im suprised they gave the car back to you with a broken camber bolt! I brought my civic to get one done and i get a call later saying that my car is not safe and that my springs are loose. I have coilovers so yeah when u put the car on a lift the spring will be loose. they had no idea what they were looking at and said they couldnt work on the car cause they thought i was not safe to drive. The guy tried to rip me off and say i would have to spend $400 on all new ball joints and the allignment. I told them to go to hell and im not retarded and not that easily ripped off. My manchanic just looked at all my ball joints and said they were fine. So i just picked the car up from their shop without getting it done. what a waste of time.

sohctodohc

so I crawled underneath the car tonight, low and behold the passenger side tire the side the tie rod bottomed out on when turned to the left cant even make it to full lock cause it hits the frame rail. while the driver side has over two fingers wide worth of room.

worst alignment ever!

98civdx

My toe has never been dead on, it's always off in rear. Right now I have like .10 and .14 or something. Tires wear perfectly so I would worry..


Go back, and demand they fix the car.

Krut

I agree with everyone else about telling them you want the camber bolt replaced. But this stood out at me. When you did the subframe/rack change are you sure you put the splines on the column back in the rack right? Because I've seen this before where someone did their own rack and put it in all miss aligned so you could turn the wheel like 4 times to the right and only 2 to the left lol, that caused the tie rod to "bottom" out since there are only so many threads you can adjust with, at this point the guy was pretty much screwed since there is no way to make that wheel straight with no more threads, he had to take it out again and straighten it+put it back together+come back

sohctodohc

well i had the wheels straight when putting the rack in and it slipped in perfectly smooth, i need to double check straighten the wheels and see if the passeneger side is straight or if its off when the driver side is straigh i guess

raticosa

get yourself a camber/caster gauge and toe plates and do it yourself. hardest part is finding a level surface but if you have a garage, that's usually good enough. (i have to use a parking garage in LA which always gets interesting.) it may not be as accurate but you can get it where you like it by the gauges and feel and shops never seem to do it right anyways.

sohctodohc

ok, so this is sounding like it could be the cause of my issues, so my question now is whats a good way of "centering" the rack? do i have to adjust the inner tie rods to do this?

Krut

Turn the steering wheel to the far left lock position, count turns to the far right position, turn the wheel back half that amount, mark the steering wheel with a piece of tape and then verify it's the exact amount of turns from center to left-lock and center to right-lock.
Adjust the tape as necessary until the tape is at the 12-oclock position and it's the exact same number of turns (and fractions of a turn) to left-lock and to right-lock from center.

That tells you where the steering wheel should be set to put the rack in it's center of travel.

Then get an alignment.

sohctodohc

i cant get to full lock position while turning it to the left since the tire hits the frame???

Krut

Then take your wheels off and do it in the air

sohctodohc

ok im still a little confused about the last part of your directions, to put the rack in the center of its travel do i adjust the inner tie rods? or just take the joint that connects the rack to steering column loose?

Krut

the joint, but first you need to verify that that is your problem by finding out if from lock to lock is an even amount of turns or not.