What could affect my caster on the right side to be out of wack?

Also before the alignment with messed up toe, my car was pulling to the left and I had to hold my steering wheel a little to the right for it to go straight, after alignment I have to hold my steering wheel to the left because it's pulling to the right.

 

Worn upper strut mount, worn lower control arm. bent strut., bent steering knuckle(highly unlikely)

Unless there is obvious damage or wear I wouldnt worry about it, its not that far out, it actually still within spec for an SS(do you have any SS parts?)

Are you sure it actually pulls to the right, or is it just following the crown of the road?

In a flat parking lot(NOT a road) does the car go striaght with your hands off the wheel?

If it doesnt go straight on flat surface take it back. Make sure you have the proper prssure in your tires(30PSI COLD) and that youre tires dont need to be rotated.

 

Well I found an issue that might be causing a problem. Since I have the lowering springs and the dealership has replaced my strut tops, they fucked it up. They put the top seats into where the old indent is from the stock spring instead of lining up the dimple towards the engine so now both dimples are facing in wrong directions, the right one is facing all the way away from the engine and the left one is facing forward, I'm pretty sure that can be an issue so tonight I'm going to realign them to face the engine. I guess I'm going to have to take it back to kost tomorrow to check the alignment incase it will affect the toe in/out.

 

what he said....

 

the damn toe is even off. i'm guessing it's the same machine i use .03 makes a difference on how the toe is set

after you get an alignment you should not see any red on that print out either

 

Um, I am pretty sure thats why hes posting, because the caster is in the red......

 

Hi.

given your right side caster and low included angle number compared to the left side, I'd start by looking at the strut.

 

The Included angle is different from left to right(and likely causing the pull if it truly is pulling) because of the varying SAI and camber from side to side.

A bent strut wont dramatically affect SAI unless its really mangled, the most likely cause for the SAI difference if control arm bushing or upper strut mount wear, or ball joint wear, and then bent lower control arm or subframe.

But if like he said the the upper spring perches were not properly installed that would aslo alter SAI(and therefore IA) I stand by thinking that the caster and the strut arent the issue

 

Alright well I took apart both struts realigned the upper spring seats so the perches point towards the engine and tightened everything back together, I'm going to go back to Kost tomorrow first thing in the morning and tell them to run an alignment check, hopefully that readjusts my caster and brings it back into the green, I don't know if the readjustments I've done today will affect the toe but if anything I hope they just realign it without charging me 50 bucks again because honestly, that's the only thing they can align on our cars.

 

You get your SAI (steering axis inclination) number by taking you included angle number and subtracting your camber number (since his camber is negative, -(-)=+). Assuming that the strut mount itself is in good order, I don't see how a spring misalignment alone is going to account for .8* of caster.

I suggest he check the strut out to verify its not bent. with his IA and SAI numbers, I would suspect a strut long before i would look at a control arm/cradle/knuckle.

 

I looked at the strut after taking it apart, I looked fine, went up and down right and didn't leak or anything. I don't think that it's the issue

 

agreed. Fe5 bushing in control arm prolly f****d...:

 

I am aware that the Included angle is the angle formed between the camber plane and the streering axis inclination plane.

I never stated that the strut was the likely cause for the caster out of spec. A bent strut could cause caster issues if were loading the bushings, but its not likely.

A spring misalignment wont cause .8* caster, but the caster isnt the issue I dont think(even though it is nearly out of spec for an LS) a misaligned spring casuing a trim height variance from side to side would however affect SAI.

I dont see how a strut that was bent but still functional would cause SAI numbers to be out(again unless its so bent that it is putting forces on other parts, that would likely be visible though and would cause other ride/handling issues)

The Included Angle is great fun to talk about but in reality its just a function of the SAI and Camber, it isnt adjustable in of itself, it only changes when SAI and camber change.(you cant subtract camber from Included angle to get SAI, included angle isnt measurable)

 

remember all the discussion about the coil overs from B&G and how they were great. Suxxost had them and was really happy....a week or so ago. Now? LNF performance posts:

Originally Posted by boostking
how is your susp. doing? I had this same setup on my 08 ss/tc. I took them off because they were rubbing the rear susp. member and the sway bar link mounting brackets wouldn't tighten up enough and it caused the links to rotate around the coilover untill they broke (more than once, they are $50.00+) ..... good luck if you plain on using them for anything other than street use...(I will never buy another B&G product)they do give the car a nice stance. if you go to my build thread thats whats on the car in the pics.
Suxxost says:
I AM having some clunking in the front when I turn the wheels left and right.* Been trying to figure out what we did wrong.** ??? FIX?

sounds like Maven you were right....again....

 

i know what suxxost problem is....i had it....

i need to post up MY alignment specs 3/4" of total toe = tires gone in 1000 miles...lol

 

Maybe it's not the alignment after all, maybe the stealership messed up when they put the steering column in and the steering wheel is just not aligned correctly with the wheels

 

Does it pull or is youre wheel just crooked?

When you drive slowly with your hand off the wheel does the car go in a straight line or does it veer one direction or the other?

 

It's crooked, doesn't really pull. I'm at the dealership now and they're replacing the steering column and try better align it 100% right else I'm going to come back and keep coming back all day long until they fix it

 

See, like I always say, we need the whole story, people like to leave out parts.......

Like how it doesnt really pull, and how you had stuff replaced in the column, LOL

Good luck man keep us updated

 

Sorry I posted the story in the other thread, stealership rant in the lounge... Can't copy pasta now.. On the iPhone. Check it out though