Question for you Oppo

"LJ909" (lj909) 07/12/2017 at 19:39 • Filed to: None

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At over 130 thousand miles now, the Sonic has been still going strong. Outside of regular things like tires, oil changes,etc there have been no major problems (thank god). But recently, the time came for the car to have an alignment.

With me having the Mustang, my girl uses the car to commute from home and to work or to do things around town with our son. She works less than 5 miles away. She let me know the car had been off center. She said that to keep the car straight, the wheel had to be turned to the right a little. I said ok I would take it for an alignment on my off day and get some new front tires.

So on my day off, I took the car to Sears Auto Center (they sent me a 15% off coupon). After waiting for almost 2 hours, I get the car and drive off. I went straight to the tire place from Sears to get new tires for the front. As I’m driving there, I notice that the car now is off center but to the left, the reversal of what my girlfriend said: to keep the car straight the wheel needs to be to the left slightly. Keep in mind all this was on the 7th. I decided I was going to take the car back.

So fast forward to today, my next off day and I take the car back to them, and let them know I don’t think they did the alignment properly. I told them the wheel went from being off to the right to off to the left now. They let me know they would take care of it no charge. I got there at a little after 10. I didn’t get my car back until 1, so much time that I had time to go browse in the mall and sit down and eat a Cinnabon. I waited all that time for nothing to be done.

When the tech tells me he needs to speak to me, he asks me had I hit anything. I told him no never. He tells me that the front caste is off and cant be adjusted and provides me documents showing to the degree which it is off. He then tells me I need to take it to a body shop to have them see if they can do something about it. I took my papers and left confused because I have never hit anything in this car and I know for a fact my girlfriend hasn’t.

SO my question is, if the front caster is indeed off, why wasn’t I told of this upon my first visit? If it is off could they even have done an alignment? Or did they charge me for something they didn’t do?

Highlander-Datsuns are Forever > LJ909 07/12/2017 at 19:47

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That’s very odd. Caster is such a strange setting too, even if off a little it shouldn’t result in strong pulling one way or the other.

Logansteno: Bought a VW? > LJ909 07/12/2017 at 19:50

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Take it to not Sears. Mind you, I’m not by an alignment machine right now to tell me for sure, but I’m pretty certain front Caster can be adjusted on Sonics.

There’s also the possibility the tech didn’t know what he was doing and fucked up the caster sweep which gave him wrong readings but not the first tech.

LJ909 > Highlander-Datsuns are Forever 07/12/2017 at 20:03

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Thats what I was thinking. Mind you the off center steering is only sight. Maybe a few degrees, say 3 or 4 off center.

LJ909 > Logansteno: Bought a VW? 07/12/2017 at 20:04

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I considered the wrong readings as well. I found it weird that he also told me that the machine they used gave different readings for one side and the other. He said it showed the right good but not the left. Im going to take it to Chevy next. But I’m not going to bother with it too much, I want to trade the car soon.

Logansteno: Bought a VW? > LJ909 07/12/2017 at 20:10

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Different readings from side to side is totally normal for an off alignment. My S10 always had off caster on the right and not the left.

jimz > LJ909 07/12/2017 at 20:19

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The Sonic has MacPherson struts up front, and caster is never adjustable on a MacPherson strut front suspension. Take it to an independent shop and have them check the alignment.

now, just because I said caster isn’t adjustable doesn’t mean it can’t get out of whack. on a car with struts, if caster is truly out of spec (and there hasn’t been any body damage) then the most likely cause is worn out control arm bushings, ball joints, or upper strut bearings. if your car has over 130k miles it’s reasonable to expect that one or more of those things is worn out.

jimz > Highlander-Datsuns are Forever 07/12/2017 at 20:23

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caster misalignment will absolutely cause a pull, or more likely wandering. Caster being out of whack, however, will not cause irregular tire wear like misaligned camber or toe will.

LJ909 > jimz 07/12/2017 at 20:27

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Thanks for this. I hadn’t even considered that one or more of those things would be worn out. Given how much the car has been driven it would make sense. Ill have somewhere check it out for an alignment before going to any one of those things though.

jimz > LJ909 07/12/2017 at 20:31

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I speak from experience. I had a 2004 Dodge SRT-4. it was a blast to drive but that goddamned car ate lower control arm bushings for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

merged-5876237249235911857-hrw8uc > LJ909 07/12/2017 at 23:01

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Caster should only really make an impact on returning to center after turning, but while driving straight, it shouldn’t affect much.

Did they give you the printout from the 2 alignments? They should have and as long as the toe and camber are close, you should be okay. Did you get new tires yet? Changing the tires could affect things as well if the old alignment was off. Also, it could be the crown in the road as well. Have you been able to give it a drive on a flat road? Or where you can straddle the crown in the road.

LJ909 > merged-5876237249235911857-hrw8uc 07/13/2017 at 00:55

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Yea they gave me printouts from the first time I went when I had the alignment and today showing the degrees or whatever. When I went through first time I went straight from there to get the new tires so I’ve had them on the car for about four days. But most days I drive on flat roads and it still goes to the left now slightly.

merged-5876237249235911857-hrw8uc > LJ909 07/13/2017 at 10:02

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Since they said the caster was off, maybe it’s time to look at the lower control arm bushings, if there’s any breaks in the rubber, just swap them out.

I’ve seen it on an HHR where the control arm bushings looked good and we couldn’t get the joint to move when it was up on a hoist, but as soon as it was on the ground and moving forwards and backwards, the wheel would shift a good 1/2" both sides of center. Replaced the arm and it was good to go. But it looked decent, but not perfect when off the ground, so we thought it was okay. Could be a similar issue with yours, just not as extreme. So when traveling down the road, there is enough deflection in the joint to cause the car to pull left. Good luck and report back please.

LJ909 > merged-5876237249235911857-hrw8uc 07/13/2017 at 13:31

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Thanks for the info. Ill make sure to update.

tpw_rules > LJ909 07/18/2017 at 06:52

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Just my two cents but I’ve been involved in a shitstorm for the past couple weeks involving at least 2 dramatically incompetent Sears Auto Centers here. I do not trust any of them anymore. It’s funny cause their google ratings are all like less than two stars and every other auto place has at least four. But again, I picked them cause they were the cheapest. Oops...

LJ909 > tpw_rules 07/18/2017 at 17:14

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That was my thing for going there. They were the cheapest and they sent me a coupon. But you get what you pay for and you’re right about their ratings. Ive never seen one with a over a 2 star rating.