Hey guys, have come seeking some advice. Currently driving an Evo VII I've had since 2004, never been in a wreck.

Have had car professionally aligned twice now and the same problem is ocurring. At slow speeds you need to constantly hold slight right hand down pressure on the wheel or the steering wheel will almost slowly "collapse" to the left, unless on a visible right tilting gradient.

The guys that did it today found a worn camber pin that they replaced and gave the car back with the specs as per pic. To me I thought they would have gotten all the tolerances in the green but it is what it is...

Would the settings in the pic cause a slow speed roll or collapse to the left? I will also try swapping front and rear tyres to see if it helps as have read this can be a good idea, but looking also for some opinions.

 

Crappy after results! Caster is non-adjustable but a difference left to right can cause a pull,but your caster difference isn't that bad. Also your rear toe and camber needs work. It can still be green and not correct. I'd take it to a reputable shop...race prep shop preferably.

 

thats a bad alignment. i do alighments all the time at work and that is horrible. there is ALWAYS a way to fix problems. either with replacing worn parts or aftermarket ways. i would take it somewhere else and let them have a go at it. try flipping the front tires side to side if they arent directional and if the pull changes or goes away its most likely a tire.

 

I didn't think it looked too good. You don't think they should fix it up?

 

if they will do it better let them try. otherwise demand your money back.

 

I looked over the report from the alignment shop to see what I could see. I'd maybe like the camber in the rear to be a tiny bit closer side to side and maybe a tiny bit more toe in the rear. In other words, I don't see much wrong.

So, slowonder, you do this for a living, what are you seeing that is wrong with this alignment?

 

I do this for a living as well at a Porsche dealer in Atlanta. Our customers are very particular with their alignments and even bring in there own specs. From what I know about aligning my car...

front caster is non-adjustable(unless you can shift the subframe, or you have aftermarket strut mounts or Perrin lower control arm eccentrics).

Camber up front is a bit of a joke(-1ish or -2ish is all you get with the stock adjustment,just make sure your even on both sides)

Front toe is the usual adjustment with the tie rod ends

Rear camber and toe are adjusted using the typical eccentrics.

You should be able to get everything in the green, and besides front camber you should and can get everything spot on the middle(dead on spec).

If a quality alignment technician cannot get it within spec something is either shofted(ie subframes) or something is bent.

Most tire shops get the car in the green and call it a day, but in my eyes that just lazy, especially on a performance vehicle. This is why I suggested a race prep shop(those that take pride in their work knowing the particularities of their customers is #1 priority). Or take it to a dealership and request the lead technician to perform the alignment.

If I handed back that printout to a customer without an explanation of what is wrong and how to fix it...I'd be fired.

I'm not going to be the guy on the internet that tells you what is wrong without physically touching the car, because the customers that come in quoting some guy on the forums are the worst!

What I can tell you is if nothing is bent or damaged, your alignment can be a lot better.

With that said good luck and I hope your issue is resolved.

CB

 

Front toe should be zero plus or minus 2mm
Front toe is -0.1 mm so that is okay

Front camber should be -1 or -2 degrees plus or minus 30' with the difference between the two sides not more than 30'
Front camber left is -1.28
Front camber right is -1.49
So, while not the same it meets the spec
Still, with wide tires this might be enough to push the car slowly to the left

Rear toe should be 3mm plus or minus 2mm
Rear toe is .9 mm so, just out of spec
Still, many owners run zero toe on the rear as well

Rear camber should be -1 plus or minus 30' with the difference between the tow not more the 30'
Rear camber left is -1.30
Rear camber right is -1.07
This is within spec also

So, overall the front camber is trying to push the car a little to the left and the rear a little to the right which might account for the drift.

I think slowonder and mouseIX are saying that with more work they could have gotten the numbers closer. I agree. Still, most shops, shops that want to make money, get the car within spec and push it out the door. So, saying that this is a very bad alignment, especially without pointing out what is bad, is a little over the top.

I'd suggest taking it back and asking them nicely to jigger the camber a little, both front and rear, rather than getting in their face about it.

 

Quick look. Looks like that left rear camber and that slight right rear toe out is pushing the rear to the right causing the front to go left explaining why you need to keep right hand pressure on the wheel to go straight

 

Good point. Let me rephrase myself. By my personal standards this is a bad alignment. I ignore the +\- portion of the spec card and spend all my time to nail the specs dead on. But alignments at my shop pay 3hours which is why I take my time to get it perfect. Plus I test drive every car after the alignment had been completed to verify my work before the customer lays hands on the vehicle. For what it sounds like they didn't do that, which in my eyes is lazy and it makes me wonder and doubt their attention to detail and level of pride they take in doing their job...

If your ever near Atlanta bring it by lol.

Good luck,

CB

 

Cheers I do think they rushed it, the guy I paid at the end when he looked at the sheet even looked suprised.

I will talk to them on Monday and see if I can get them to sort it. It's definitely not a slow push, on a flat camber you can even almost go around a slight left hand bend with no steering input, and at slow traffic crawl it wants to roll off to the left, the steering wheel will literally roll about 45 degrees left.

Would love to take you up on that offer but I doubt I'll ever get the car to Atlanta from NZ.

 

the other guys hit it. as i said it could have worn parts so i wasnt gonna start saying other things. my car is the first evo ive done. im just very particular bout having things dead nuts center side to side well within the green zone and if i cant get it there we either do it with aftermarket ways or tell them we cant do it unless they fix or replace whats wrong. and i dont do "performance" cars like ours just your usual daily driver. in my 3 years of alignments havent had but a couple complaints and they were all taken care of when they finally "understood" why it was doing what the car was doing cause they were cheap and didnt want to fix something.