Wheel alignment issues

Author
Discussion

JPJ89

Original Poster:

42 posts

89 months

Tuesday 25th October 2022
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Can anyone please help explain what these results mean in terms of suspension alignment and if there are any possible causes/issues? There are a few results noted in red which means out of spec as far as I’m aware, convinced the van is pulling right sometimes on acceleration as well as the steering wheel being slightly off-centre when driving straight ahead. The results were recorded just after the nearside front suspension arm was replaced on its own, could the new suspension arm be the cause of these readings in anyway? Vehicle is a Transit Custom, thanks.

GreenV8S

30,800 posts

298 months

Tuesday 25th October 2022
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Odd that the camber is so different side-to-side, and I wonder whether the vehicle was sitting level. If the reading is right, that might be enough to cause a slight pull on the steering and the steering also looks slightly off center.

Caster is way out but equal on both sides and probably not adjustable. I wouldn't expect any problems from that.

Nothing else looks far enough out to be a problem.

JPJ89

Original Poster:

42 posts

89 months

Wednesday 26th October 2022
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GreenV8S said:
Odd that the camber is so different side-to-side, and I wonder whether the vehicle was sitting level. If the reading is right, that might be enough to cause a slight pull on the steering and the steering also looks slightly off center.

Caster is way out but equal on both sides and probably not adjustable. I wouldn't expect any problems from that.

Nothing else looks far enough out to be a problem.
Thanks for the input. It’s frustrating, had the van looked over whilst in for service today, they confirmed the vehicle is pulling slightly to the right but couldn’t see anything that didn’t look right or anything that was bent/out of shape etc. Think the van previously carried some weight in it now and again….had the nearside suspension arm replaced around 3k miles ago as the rear bush was absolutely knackered according to the garage, & the lower engine torque mount bush is starting to deteriorate as well but not excessive at the minute. Wonder if these issues and the camber being out could somehow be linked to each other.

Mave

8,215 posts

229 months

Friday 28th October 2022
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Did you hit anything before needing to replace the bush on the left? Seems unusual to only need to replace one side, and for that side to also be out on camber...

JPJ89

Original Poster:

42 posts

89 months

Tuesday 1st November 2022
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Mave said:
Did you hit anything before needing to replace the bush on the left? Seems unusual to only need to replace one side, and for that side to also be out on camber...
Not sure about that one, never hit anything personally but could be a possibility…I bought the van second-hand last year and put it in for a service straight away. The worn bush was noted during the service, and put the van back in a few months later to have the arm replaced (garage recommended new arm rather than trying to replace bush alone).
After that I had 2 front tires fitted plus alignment at a local tire shop. Never noticed the pulling issues before the bush was changed and had the alignment done.
The fact that the arm replacement and alignment were carried out at different places has complicated it as well.

SAS Tom

3,661 posts

188 months

Tuesday 1st November 2022
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Changing the arm would have affected the alignment.

As far as it pulling to the right, it is possible for the machine to show you the correct figures but not actually be correct. It’s all down to the person using it. I bought a car which had been aligned and the figures were correct on the sheets. When I got it aligned by my local guy it was clear the previous person had turned the steering wheel to get the correct figures.

If the car isn’t driving straight and you haven’t had anything done since I would take it back to them to correct it.