05HAcc86

Well I noticed that my car is pulling right after having an alignment. I had it rechecked at another branch of the shop as well since its nationally covered for six months, and the alignment is correct. So I called the dealer about the problem and they advised me that "The problem is inherent to the vehicle due to it having an offset transmission, we can have the service department look at it but they will tell you the same thing.". Is this a complete load of bullshit or is it legit? And if it is legit is there a way to shim something to allow it to drive straight?

GoLowDrew

http://www.in.honda.com/Rjanisis/pubs/SB/A06-068.PDF

todd bayliss

I've never trusted alignment shops since I caught one purposely setting my alignment out of spec and telling me I needed new tires.

Looking at how a suspension is put together, the only way a car could be out of line is if something is worn or bent in which case, to me, the offending part needs to be replaced. The Chevy Tahoe I used to have actually said in the owner's manual that the vehicle should never need alignment. My wife recently blew a tire wide open on a pothole, no change in alignment.

If it's pulling now and it wasn't before you took it to them, they probably cocked it up. If you're interested, I can outline how to check your own alignment. I haven't had a car in for an alignment in 10 years, including one that I bent then straightened the frame on.

K24power07

check ur tire pressure and see if one side is off...

philafelman

adjust tire pressure and rotate the front tires (left goes to right/vise versa)....if it pulls the other way, it is a tire causing the pull/drift. if there is no change...then the alignment is off. just because all the specs are within limits, doesnt mean they are correct. the line about the offset tranny though sounds like complete bullshit. the tech working on ur car could have sucked at doing alignments....yes, it does happen ALL the time.

GoLowDrew

One shop once set my alignment for my Civic with Accord spec. The tech probably did not know the difference. I noticed it months after, when I saw the little note on the print out.

Funny, it track perfectly, and (by feel) it was one of the best and dead on perfect alignments I ever gotten. Really....

philafelman

probably because most of the civics and accords really only had adjustable front toe, which had the same specs.

TheAsian

Spec is given in degrees with tolerance. If total toe (front driver and passanger toe added togather) isn't equal to thrust angle (rear toe driver and passanger added togather then the car will pull one direction left or right. Front or rear camber being different by more than 1.5 degrees can also cause a pull.

Like said above you can have everything in the green on the alighnment machine and still have a pull or drift.

Also as said above check you tire pressers. A differance of 10lbs can cause a pull

Also as said above if you want flop your tires from one side of the car to the other. Tire wear can cause a pull.

05HAcc86

I had the alignment rechecked and it was correct... they said that the caster which is not adjustable on my car is different on each side, one being 3.6 the other being 3.2. But after I swapped the front two tires it pulled to the left, so I am imagining that it is radial tread wear. thank you guys so much for all of your help as well.

bjones

sounds like a tire pull to me