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Hey all I was wondering if there is a way to check camber with a magnetic angle finder? On my 96 legacy wagon the steering is way out I have had to the alignment shop numerous times and they said it will stop pulling right when I get new tires. Looking at my old tires that still have some life on them I notice that r front has a camber issue due the inside of the tire is worn down a lot compared to the rest. First is how much do tire issues affect alignment. Yes I replaced the front struts a while ago what shim could be upside down? After reading through the strut install sticky I do not see that coverd. Just trying to get this taken care of before I use my refund check to put new tires on the car. thanks!!

Hi,
I'd recommend you take the car to see an accident repair specialising panel-shop. They will check all your body's alignment and bend the chassis if needed to correct camber problems. Alignment shops only do what is adjustable.

Yep allready did that the alignment shop I went to did both. Im hoping new tires will fix the probem it just a big gambel.

If you are suspicious of the tires, swap them left to right. If the car then pulls left, it's the tires causing it.

Simple enough!

well, if you went to an alignment shop I would expect a printout of the numbers. You can actually run a lot of negative camber without tire wear issues, as long as everything else is straight and in good condition. I daily drive with over -2 degrees in the front. Since the toe is 0 I don't worry about wear.

Swaped the tires so well see if the pull changes. During the rotation I put an angle finder on the strut inbetween the bottom of the spring and the top bolt on the bottom. I dont know how reliable this is but the right side was 6 degrees and left was 3 degrees.

Camber is of the wheel, not the strut. If you look closely at the hub you will see that the axis of the bearings is not quite perpindicaulr to the strut. The wheel's centreline and the strut's centreline converge at the point the tyre touches the road.

If you had the car up in the air when you did the measure the angles will be wrong.

The difference left to right could be caused by the car not being flat. I am imagining here that you're using a gauge that measures from the horizontal?

Yes and yes had the car in air and and I was using a gauge that mesures horizontal. The car still pulls right all the time after the tire rotation.

No brakes dragging?
No different circumference tyres?
Tyre pressures are all good?
Have you jacked it up and ran the motor to make sure the power steering doesn't slowly creep around to the right?

If those are all good then I would have said it it will be alignment, either front or rear have incorrect angles or the whole car is crabbing. Did you get a read out from the shop? Can you post it?

I know tire presures are all at 30lbs but I will check the other 3 today. No I dont have a print out from the allignment it was about 6-8 months ago.

I checked all the areas that log1call pointed out and none were an issue so I think I am back to an allignment shop. I also swaped the tires from my 94 sedan to my wagon so will see if that makes a difference.

When they align your car are they doing all 4 wheels? Get a printout of your alignment specs, usually alignment shop monkeys are basically retarded, so don't simply believe what they say.

There are only so many things that could be wrong. Do you have a modded suspension? Are your front upper perches binding on the upper mounts?

Jack your car up and see if you have play in the rack or in the outer tie rod ends.

i doubt its camber related, if you cannot tell that the tire has negative camber when you look at it then it doesn't have enough to affect steering.

Don't measure the camber when its in the air, these cars have bump steer galore!!!

If your steering axis inclination is off it will cause problems as well, so will caster. Caster will be a bitch to measure.

(I am prejudiced towards alignment shops, one time my friend took his wrx that had 17" wheels to a shop and the idiot said the wheels were going to ruin his center differential... fuckin idiots...)

Thanks for the tips

also if a belt in the tire slips it could cause the car to pull one way

Yah I'm pretty sure its a tire issue cause after swaping a set of tires from 94 it pulls left instead of right.

lol. you have crappy tires.