Just got car back from alignment. Before I took it there I only drove it around the block. The steering wheel does not return to center. I swear it did before it was aligned. I'm not 100% sure. He said he put positive camber on it. Would this cause an issue. It handles good you just have to steer the wheel back to center. I do not care for this. An Ideas.
Thanks
It can easily be adjusted to center with the tie rods ends. Take it back to have the job finished.
:RantExplode:
Quote from: krops cars on May 12, 2020, 09:35:23 AM
Just got car back from alignment. Before I took it there I only drove it around the block. The steering wheel does not return to center. I swear it did before it was aligned. I'm not 100% sure. He said he put positive camber on it. Would this cause an issue. It handles good you just have to steer the wheel back to center. I do not care for this. An Ideas.
Thanks
Take a picture of the upper arm eccentrics & post it for us to look at
You do NOT want positive camber. None. In fact, NEGative camber helps handling and improves tire life, to a point.
Maybe he meant Caster?
Positive caster does help the steering wheel return to center you DO want that.
Many alignment guys are not trained to think outside of what their computerized alignment machines display.
A small amount of negative camber along with some positive caster helps stability and handling.
I'm talking between 1/4 to 3/4 degree of NEGative camber and as much positive caster as you can get. Some cars may only be able to get 2 degrees. That is fine for a street car. Toe should be at zero or IN no more than 1/8".
Alignment guys that go by the published specs from the 60s and 70s are doing their customers a disservice. These cars handle so much better with these revised specifications whether you use radial tires or reproduction bias ply tires.
Sorry I miss understood "wheel not centered". Not doesn't come back to center on it's own... my most important "request" with manual steering. I'd better be able to let the wheel slip in my hand after cranking a corner. Take it back.. better yet another shop.
A car with zero or negative caster requires constant input from the driver to keep the car on course. The car will be twitchy and want to go all over the road. Positive caster is the exact opposite. The more caster you have, the more that the front tires want to go straight and it takes effort to turn.
Some Manual steering cars were specified to have zero camber, maybe even lightly positive along with zero caster. Yeah, it helped make it steer easier but you'd better keep both hands on the wheel because the car would seem to steer wherever it wanted and you'd need to make constant steering corrections.
Quote from: krops cars on May 12, 2020, 09:35:23 AM
The steering wheel does not return to center.
Power steering or standard? If power, could need the steering valve adjusted.
I should have said it had power steering. I use to do alignments in tech school. That's been awhile ago. That was when you set per spec. I never add or subtracted camber. I can not get pictures to work. There is a pic of the suspension in my post going to the show. They are PST tube uppers with reinforced lowers. I also agree with you guys that he did not do it right. Thus my bitching. I try to do every thing I can on my own or I regret it. I meant caster.
Quote from: krops cars on May 12, 2020, 04:37:26 PM
I should have said it had power steering. I use to do alignments in tech school. That's been awhile ago. That was when you set per spec. I never add or subtracted camber. I can not get pictures to work. There is a pic of the suspension in my post going to the show. They are PST tube uppers with reinforced lowers. I also agree with you guys that he did not do it right. Thus my bitching. I try to do every thing I can on my own or I regret it. I meant caster.
I wanted a picture now after the alignment to see where they have the adjusters , the front one should be almost all the way to the tire side & the rear one to the engine side, that gives the most + caster
I will try to get the pics.
Thanks