Hi all,

This morning I brought my car to an independent tire shop to address two issues I’ve been experiencing lately: i) pulling to the left (passenger side) driving sensation, and ii) car feels unstable when driving above 100km/h.

The mechanic lifted up my car on the alignment machine, and found out that there is a significant difference in the rear camber (see pic below).

The mechanic then terminated the alignment process and told me to visit the dealership instead in order to find out the underlying cause.

I’ll be meeting with the dealership on 18 September to discuss on this problem. In the meantime, does anyone have any guesses as to what may caused my rear camber to be like this?

I feel like I should find some information online first to equip myself with knowledge before approaching the sole dealership of Lexus in my country.

Also, my car is accident-free.

 

Attached are the rear camber specifications for 2019 NX. I think 2021 should be identical or similar.
The drawing labeled (A) is correct camber as viewed from the rear. Note the angles have been grossly exaggerated for illustrative purposes.
The drawing labeled (B) is your vehicle as described in the tire shop alignment report.

Think back to when you first noticed the symptoms. Was any service performed just prior that involved raising the car on a lift? Unreported mishaps sometimes happen. Did anyone strike a curb, large pothole, or other road hazard?

A common cause of sudden camber shift is bent / damaged suspension members.

 

Hey there! Thank you so much for replying and for this illustration! Makes it much easier to understand the severity of the rear camber yikes.

Unfortunately, I may unknowingly hit a few small-ish potholes throughout the years of owning and driving this car, especially during rainy days when potholes are usually hidden by puddles on the roads. I’m guessing that the collective impacts may have caused the camber to slowly shift over the years. Not only that, certain roads where I live are uneven and bumpy so that may have also contributed to the problem as well.

This reminds me, I do recall ever complaining to my dealership in April this year about knocking sounds that can be heard when driving over bumps WHILE turning the steering wheel to the right. I also complained about the car’s tendency to pull to the left when driving (back then it was just mild).

After several test drives and meetings on different dates, the dealership identified the knocking sounds as a problem originating from the front, passenger side (left side where I live) absorber mount, and have it replaced under warranty.

As for the pulling, they simply advised “that’s to be expected due to roads centerline crown” and called it a day. No alignment job was ever done to investigate the problem. And since the pulling wasn’t so severe back then, and my car was at least stable even when pushing over 130km/h on the highway, I didn’t bother to pushing my dealership to perform thorough investigation.

Unfortunately, now that the alignment has gotten worse since then, do you think the damaged/affected suspension members need to be replaced completely to new ones (honestly dreading this one especially if it’s not covered under warranty)? Or would the typical alignment work suffice in rectifying my car to have the correct rear camber specification?

 

"Note the angles have been grossly exaggerated for illustrative purposes."

The misalignment is nowhere as severe as the illustration suggests. If I drew the tires with the specified and measured "tilt", you would not be able to discern any difference. To put this is perspective, visualize an ordinary 12-hour analog clock: If 12:00 represents 0 degrees of "tilt" (0 degrees camber). 12:05 would be equivalent to 30 degrees camber, and 12:01 would be equivalent to 6 degrees camber. The specified camber is approximately 1 degree, which would be equivalent to 12:00:10 or 11:59:50, depending if negative or positive camber.

Your right tire is within the specified range for an unloaded vehicle, but the left tire is displaced inward at the bottom (where it meets the road surface). Since you evidently have a right-side-drive vehicle, this could have been caused by a skid during a right turn whereby the left rear tire strikes the curb.

The NX suspension does not provide any means to adjust rear camber. The only recommended correction option is to repair the underlying mechanical damage or wear. For enthusiasts who lower or otherwise modify their rear suspension, aftermarket upper suspension rods are available that have an adjustable length to shift the camber.

 

Thank you for the further clarification!

Is my car still safe to drive? It hasn’t been giving me any driving hazard apart from the unstability, floaty feeling but that will only happen if I drive over certain speed. Nowadays, I’m only driving up until 100km/h, or up to 120km/h if I need to overtake some cars. No passengers and no heavy goods in my car.

The reason I ask is that, if driving the car will put “further stress” to rear camber/suspension, then it’s better that I opt to drive a different car until the dealership here has taken a look on the suspension components and repair or replace whatever they deem necessary.

 

It's time to dust off my old plane geometry book .
If my calculations are correct, a camber misalignment of 1 degree means the point where the tire meets the road has been displaced by approximately 13mm, and the point where the hub bolts to the lower control arm has been displaced by ~7mm. The service technician will likely use precise measurements between frame and suspension reference points to determine the cause, because there may not be any obvious visual evidence.

I cannot conceive of any scenario whereby continuing to drive the vehicle on decent roadways will be unsafe or impart any significant additional overstress to the suspension. Perhaps a forum contributor with more suspension experience will provide a more learned opinion.