Alignment question
05-09-12, 01:02 PM
#16
I had Prestige Lexus adjust my rear and front subframe (which they did, I felt a noticeable difference), but the car still pulled. Like some of you have said the brackets may not fix it, so that is why I am just going to live with the pull. It's a very minor pull that I can live with. I drove from NY to MD and back in one day with the pull and I barely noticed it, but it's still there. No point in wasting money taking it to an alignment shop if I know the pull is still gonna be there.
However the next time I get alignment I'll ask for the printout, and I'll post it so people have an idea of how to deal with this common problem.
However the next time I get alignment I'll ask for the printout, and I'll post it so people have an idea of how to deal with this common problem.
Last edited by VtotheJ; 05-09-12 at 01:05 PM.
05-09-12, 01:22 PM
#17
I had a long response, but it was accidentally erased.
In short: the caster brackets might not fix the problem. It didn't for my car. If it doesn't work, subframe needs to be shifted ~1-2 mm to even out caster and camber left to right on the car. That is what mine took.
In short: the caster brackets might not fix the problem. It didn't for my car. If it doesn't work, subframe needs to be shifted ~1-2 mm to even out caster and camber left to right on the car. That is what mine took.
I had Prestige Lexus adjust my rear and front subframe (which they did, I felt a noticeable difference), but the car still pulled. Like some of you have said the brackets may not fix it, so that is why I am just going to live with the pull. It's a very minor pull that I can live with. I drove from NY to MD and back in one day with the pull and I barely noticed it, but it's still there. No point in wasting money taking it to an alignment shop if I know the pull is still gonna be there.
However the next time I get alignment I'll ask for the printout, and I'll post it so people have an idea of how to deal with this common problem.
However the next time I get alignment I'll ask for the printout, and I'll post it so people have an idea of how to deal with this common problem.
05-09-12, 01:28 PM
#18
Lead Lap
Thread Starter
I have an appointment for Sunday so i will have a printout done to show the adjustments for everyone with this problem. Tampa Lexus seems to be pretty knowledgeable and aware of this issue with these cars so hopefully this will solve my problem. I am irritated that being a certified car that this wasn't seen and fixed by dealership in Indiana that certified the car before selling it. Lexus describes their certification process as being very stringent so i assumed things like this would have been corrected before selling a $40k used car
05-09-12, 02:20 PM
#19
Lexus Test Driver
NO, it took 5-6 trips to the dealer and working directly with the chief diagnostician at the dealer to get it fixed, including discussions with the GM of service, who personally looked at the print out and and said " this is obviously a sub-frame problem as the cross measurements of the frame were not equal.
Be persistent. Friendly and cordial.
Be persistent. Friendly and cordial.
06-11-12, 09:08 AM
#20
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So, is anybody being fought on this issue by their local Lexus dealer? I have this issue, and my dealer had all kinds of tire and alignment comments, but no help to offer.
06-11-12, 12:38 PM
#22
Tech Info Resource
iTrader: (2)
What you're looking for is the camber across the front to be balanced. If there is more than a 0.1 degree difference in camber and you have a pull or drift, you might want to adjust the front subframe. The other thing to look at on the printout is the thrust angle. It basically tells you how square the rear subframe is with the centerline of the car assuming a lot of other small measurements are balanced correctly. If the thrust angle is not zero after the alignment tech has the rear toe balanced, you'll need to figure out why and get it sorted out or the car will want to steer itself no matter what you do.
Many alignment techs these days have very little experience with RWD platforms and fail to realize the things you do to FWD will have a negative impact on a RWD car (like staggered cross caster which is normal for FWD to combat torque steer). This is why it's worth the money to take your car to someone who also does race cars. They'll know what will work and can get you there (or very close).
The biggest problem with all of this is the tires have the biggest influence on how the car drives and it's possible the tires are at the root of the problem too. So you can spend a lot of time and money getting all the numbers to look pretty and still have a car that doesn't drive straight and it's not the tech's fault or the car's fault. The very first thing you should try is a left/right wheel swap to see if the problem moves or changes. If it does, you'll need to sort out the tire issue before you can do anything productive.
The last thing - and the first thing of all of the things you do - adjust your air pressure on all four tires to the numbers on the sticker inside the driver's side door frame. Be critical. Get them within 0.5 psi. This impacts how the car drives and also impacts the final numbers for your alignment. If you have a 2 - 3 psi variance in your tires when you put it on the alignment rack, the numbers won't be right, and any subsequent adjustments will deliver something other than what you expected.
Many alignment techs these days have very little experience with RWD platforms and fail to realize the things you do to FWD will have a negative impact on a RWD car (like staggered cross caster which is normal for FWD to combat torque steer). This is why it's worth the money to take your car to someone who also does race cars. They'll know what will work and can get you there (or very close).
The biggest problem with all of this is the tires have the biggest influence on how the car drives and it's possible the tires are at the root of the problem too. So you can spend a lot of time and money getting all the numbers to look pretty and still have a car that doesn't drive straight and it's not the tech's fault or the car's fault. The very first thing you should try is a left/right wheel swap to see if the problem moves or changes. If it does, you'll need to sort out the tire issue before you can do anything productive.
The last thing - and the first thing of all of the things you do - adjust your air pressure on all four tires to the numbers on the sticker inside the driver's side door frame. Be critical. Get them within 0.5 psi. This impacts how the car drives and also impacts the final numbers for your alignment. If you have a 2 - 3 psi variance in your tires when you put it on the alignment rack, the numbers won't be right, and any subsequent adjustments will deliver something other than what you expected.
Last edited by lobuxracer; 06-11-12 at 02:44 PM.
06-11-12, 07:48 PM
#24
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I just put on continental extreme contact dw all the way around. I had balanced and aligned with the install. Shortly after I noticed a slight pull to the right, now becoming a little more noticeable. Are these tires not of suitable quality? Also just had the air pressure looked at again.
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