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"Alignment Woes: The Epic Adventure"

P

Pale Horse

Veteran CEG'er
Joined
Feb 19, 2004
Messages
540
Location
Somewhere in MO. Bleeding Mercon 5
I have a severe alignment problem. Let me give you a little background on the vehicle. It is a 98 E0 with a '97 build date. It runs the 4-bolt control arms and subframe. A little over a year ago, I had a wreck in it (my first wreck ever). It was bad. I hit a concrete retaining wall somewhere in the 100MPH area. I hit the wall at an angle that crushed the front end in from the passenger side ( probably around a 45 degree angle). The frame ended up having a slight buckle behind the passenger wheel. It sat in the frame shop for about 2 months before it was fixed. I had to take a front clip from a salvage car in order to allow the frame shop to pull the frame. They had to weld from just in front of the shock tower forward. The work looks very professional, with good welds and all of my body panels lined up without problems when I started to put it back together. Everything seems fine as far as the frame shop's work is concerned. When I got the car running again it pulled hard to the right. I went through the suspension and replaced everything that even looked questionable. I replaced the control arms, ball joints, tie rod ends, right side knuckle, and wheel bearing with hub. The shocks looked fine upon examination as well as the springs. At this point I had it aligned. The guy said there was no way he could get it aligned and that all he could do is compensate for tire wear. I said "ok, i'll do some more research." Upon further exam. I end up replacing the drivers side ball joint and passenger axle. Then I took back to the alignment shop and had them align it again. This time it is pulling really hard to the left. It can make a left turn just by giving it gas.
I am at a slight loss as to what is causing this. The only things that I can think of is a misaligned subframe (which didn't get bent in the accident but perhaps it got skewed from the impact) or a problem with the LSD. The impact took the passenger side wheel off but left the hub of the wheel attached to the knuckle...yikes! So perhaps I could have damaged the LSD somehow. I don't know guys. I am just at a loss as to why this is still a problem. Is there any kind of adjustment that can be done to the subframe? It's been a long time since I have had the motor out of the car. I can't remeber if there is any way to do this.
Thanks in advance guys and gals!
 
Alignment readings would help.

My guess from the information given is that the subframe is bent or that the other repair work did not properly align the subframe to the car.
 
This is what I'm afraid of. All of the corners are in spec except for the passenger side front wheel. It is still off by 2.3 degrees and as stated above it pulls hard left. The front pass. Strut body is straight but perhaps if the strut rod was bent internally it would cause an issue. I really don't think that's the problem though. I'm probably going to take it back to the frame shop and have them go through it again. That would probably be my best bet. Am I right thinking that there is no adjustment at the subframe? That little bit of information will help to make my decision as what to do next. Thanks for your input Jim
~Eric~
 
There is no intended adjustment for the subframe although sometimes it can be moved a little to overcome minor problems.

I'm sure that something is still bent. My guess is either the subframe of the strut. The frame shop should be able to identify the problem.

Depending on what is out of spec and how far it is off, caster/camber kits might help. I suggest you go to the Specialty Products site and look up your car and print off the information for the kits, including descriptions and installation instructions. Take them with you to the frame shop.

It would be best to sort out the problem as best possible before adding the kits.

Here is the URL:

http://www.specprod.com/
 
Big Jim said:
...My guess from the information given is that the subframe is bent ...
Click to expand...
I'm with Big Jim on this. One of my previous cars (Cavalier) had a side impact accident on the driver wheel (major front damage to the Volvo who Tboned my Cavalier) and I had to get the "A"-frame "pulled' so that it could be aligned properly. A reasonably experienced "old school mechanic" should be able to tell just by looking at the subframe.
 
That is where I'll start then. Thanks for the confirmation Tony. Hopefully I can get everything sorted with the next paycheck. If any one else has anything to add that may not have been covered, feel free to chime in. TIA
 
as tony sig. said's "Always do the cheap and easy ones first." I would replace the strut be for i took it back to the frame shop at 75 an hr
 
Agreed. In no way am I going to paying for shop labor. If they can get it sorted out and have the car pointing straight, then, at best, I will send them some more business. Hopefully I'll never have to use them again.
 
UPDATE:
I decided to get underneath the car one last time and go through the checklilst of replaced parts and look for anything that might be askew. I decided to pull the passenger side front subframe-to-body bolt. Sure enough, it was hard as hell to remove. When I pulled it out (finally) it was bent to the left and slightly twisted. Where there is one bent subframe-to-body bolt, there are three more. So I got some more bolts, did a few measurements, and the car is finally pointed straight. Wow...my left arm can finally have a break from pulling the steering wheel to the left to keep the car between the lines. Thanks for the input here guys. As always, it is appreciated!
 
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