Rate my alignment sheet. I'm not liking it.

[SnowFox]

So typical lead up. Swaped out springs. Moved away from non progressive springs to Steeda progressive springs. Also added the alignment kit for the rear cradle.

Once installed car slightly beers to the left if the wheel is straight. This is new, but expect. (typically I swap springs and the alignment alignment change isn't precivable)

Anyway, went to get it aligned. Drove it some and it still bears to the left if the steering wheel is straight. I swapped the front tires in case it was radial pull. No change.

So, my thoughts are either the alignment kit is currently to blame ( I did notice the center hole on one of the alignment spacers didn't SEEM to be perfectly centered..but hard to tell looking at a clear hole whole through a shiny black sleeve.)

Here is my alignment printout. Give me your thoughts. either way the end result will be another alignment.

It shows they corrected the steering wheel some...but it feels almost no different.

I do NOT have camber bolts or plates. But maybe I should

Sponsored

 

[GTP]

My feeling is that they didn't get the steering wheel quite straight when they aligned your car.

Usually the tech will allow me to sit in the car and put the wheel straight to my liking. I tilt the wheel all the way up and then eyeball it against the two dash bezels behind it.

You can fix this yourself. With two adjustable wrenches loosen the tie rod lock nuts. Lengthen one side and shorten the other side. Change by one flat at a time then test drive the car.

 

[SnowFox]

My feeling is that they didn't get the steering wheel quite straight when they aligned your car.

Usually the tech will allow me to sit in the car and put the wheel straight to my liking. I tilt the wheel all the way up and then eyeball it against the two dash bezels behind it.

You can fix this yourself. With two adjustable wrenches loosen the toe link lock nuts. Lengthen one side and shorten the other side. Change by one flat at a time then test drive the car.

Ok I'm digging adjusting the wheel myself like you said.

Follow up question: if I adjust the wheel to the left. Would this cause the car to vear harder to the left then already is? Or does this adjust the wheel without effecting that?

I'm alignment ignorant

 

[Mike Pfeifer]

I agree that they probably didn’t have the steering wheel straight when they performed the alignment. I use a special level that fits on the wheel so I know it’s right. Also should have been caught on a road test and fixed before giving the car back. Either way, you paid for it, they should make it right.

 

[GTP]

Once installed car slightly veers to the left if the wheel is straight.

Anyway, went to get it aligned. Drove it some and it still bears to the left if the steering wheel is straight.

So, my thoughts are either the alignment kit is currently to blame ( I did notice the center hole on one of the alignment spacers didn't SEEM to be perfectly centered..but hard to tell looking at a clear hole whole through a shiny black sleeve.)

Ok I'm digging adjusting the wheel myself like you said.

Follow up question: if I adjust the wheel to the left. Would this cause the car to veer harder to the left then already is? Or does this adjust the wheel without effecting that?

I'm alignment ignorant

Perhaps the cradle alignment kit changed the rear thrust angle and they corrected for that.

Hold wheel straight and car veers left. Conversely, does the car run straight on a level road if you let go of the wheel? Even though the wheel is now angled to the right?

If the car tracks straight then you can adjust both sides equally and in the same direction. So toe IN the LF wheel and toe OUT the RF wheel.

This will adjust your steering wheel without changing the alignment.

 

[Pistol_91]

Perhaps the cradle alignment kit changed the rear thrust angle and they corrected for that.

Hold wheel straight and car veers left. Conversely, does the car run straight on a level road if you let go of the wheel? Even though the wheel is now angled to the right?

If the car tracks straight then you can adjust both sides equally and in the same direction. So toe IN the LF wheel and toe OUT the RF wheel.

This will adjust your steering wheel without changing the alignment.

Have any pictures of what exactly to adjust here? I need to do this.

 

[GTP]

Be sure to mark your toe links before starting this. It's easy to get confused under there.

Not that both tie rods have right hand threads so keep that in mind. Ask yourself "Which way do I turn this link to lengthen it?" (And shorten the other side of course.)

Also, snug the smaller adjustable wrench down on the 15mm toe link flats because you don't want it to slip and round off the flats' corners.

 

[GTP]

Have any pictures of what exactly to adjust here? I need to do this.

First you need to be sure your car tracks straight regardless of wheel position. If so then you can use this method to correct an off centered wheel.

You can turn the wheel all the way to one side and then lie on the floor to see what you're working with.

Toe plates allow you to make small toe corrections but that's beyond the scope of this thread.

 

[GJarrett]

Your alignment looks good to me; guys use a lot more front camber than you have in red on the left, and you've got zero steer ahead and zero thrust angle with acceptable toe-in. I personally prefer a little less rear toe but it's still okay. If I understand you correctly, you simply don't have your steering wheel centered while going straight ahead, but if you let go of the wheel it doesn't veer left or right... so your alignment is fine, but the steering wheel doesn't match your track. If so, @GTP has explained exactly what you need to do. Adjusting the tie rods takes 24mm and 15mm open ended wrenches. For a photo, look at his post link below which contains a pic clearly showing the tie rods and where to turn them. He's even color coded his.

https://www.mustang6g.com/forums/th...toe-between-street-and-track-settings.206030/

 

[SnowFox]

Hold wheel straight and car veers left. Conversely, does the car run straight on a level road if you let go of the wheel? Even though the wheel is now angled to the right?

If on a flat plane and the wheel is straight it will track left unfortunately. If I let off the wheel going straight the car will continue straight, all though the wheel a fraction to the right in that circumstance.

I love the irony. Finally added alignment spacers alignment now more trouble with the alignment than ever (I don't blame them nessisarily yet)

 

[SnowFox]

Your alignment looks good to me; guys use a lot more front camber than you have in red on the left, and you've got zero steer ahead and zero thrust angle with acceptable toe-in. I personally prefer a little less rear toe but it's still okay. If I understand you correctly, you simply don't have your steering wheel centered while going straight ahead, but if you let go of the wheel it doesn't veer left or right... so your alignment is fine, but the steering wheel doesn't match your track. If so, @GTP has explained exactly what you need to do. Adjusting the tie rods takes 24mm and 15mm open ended wrenches. For a photo, look at his post link below which contains a pic clearly showing the tie rods and where to turn them. He's even color coded his.

https://www.mustang6g.com/forums/th...toe-between-street-and-track-settings.206030/

I'll give it a shot. On the upside, I got the 1 year alignment adjustment warranty. I wanna try it myself, but if I screw it up or make it worse I'll just drag it back to them.

 

[GJarrett]

If on a flat plane and the wheel is straight it will track left unfortunately. If I let off the wheel going straight the car will continue straight, all though the wheel a fraction to the right in that circumstance.

I love the irony. Finally added alignment spacers alignment now more trouble with the alignment than ever (I don't blame them nessisarily yet)

Ok then. Follow @GTP 's instruction above and if I am thinking correctly, start by shortening the left tie rod one flat turn (1/6 turn) and lengthen the right tie rod by turning it out one flat. Try a test drive to see how much that changed the steering wheel position and then adjust from there.

If it's worse it means I told you backwards so go back the other way LOL, but I think I mentally pictured your situation correctly.

 

[GTP]

Ok then. Follow @GTP 's instruction above and if I am thinking correctly, start by shortening the left tie rod one flat turn (1/6 turn) and lengthen the right tie rod by turning it out one flat. Try a test drive to see how much that changed the steering wheel position and then adjust from there.
...

Correct. Basically you are changing the toe in the direction of the wheel so that they then "agree".

 

[SnowFox]

Thanks you the input and direction. Much appreciated

 

[SnowFox]

I decided to give another shop I try it. A more performance oriented shop know for alignmens.

They definitely made some tweaks that made handling much more tight and fun

But and issue thats been present since the springs and cradle alignment spacers. When I get above 70mph shit feels floaty with a very minor vibration.(Maybe wheel balance issue?)

When the second shop did the alignment they took a peak at the cradle alignment spacers. They noticed on one of them the hole the bolt goes in is slightly off center.

(I actually thought I saw this too originally, but the glossy/shiny black exterior of the deralin made it hard to really tell)

They put it back in...so I assume it was a non issue. But WTF do I know

Sponsored