Ken S Posted December 17, 2004 Share Posted December 17, 2004 There have been some reports of people with misaligned cars from the factory. Toe and camber are adjustable so that's a relatively straightforward correction by any qualified technician/dealer. However, caster is not directly adjustable. A large cross-caster difference can lead to drifting even if the usual toe and camber are within spec. I've read about a couple people getting warranty work done to readjust their alignment including caster back to spec. A few questions for those folks and any others: - How much did your car drift to one side before the correction? - What were your front caster measurements? - What did the dealer tell you were the correct front caster specs? - What did the dealer do to correct your drift and eventually front caster? - How difficult was it to get your dealer to address the issue? How long did it take? Ken Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaxx Posted December 18, 2004 Share Posted December 18, 2004 ?? how would you adjust castor only thing i can think of is shimming suspension pieces ..icky Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken S Posted December 18, 2004 Author Share Posted December 18, 2004 I believe boostjunkie and cinchy had the suspension loosened up and re-tightened down to correct the problem. Ken Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaxx Posted December 19, 2004 Share Posted December 19, 2004 hmm .. i don't see how that coudl account for a "large cross-castor difference" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken S Posted December 19, 2004 Author Share Posted December 19, 2004 I guess part of my question is what Subaru considers to be a large enough cross caster spread. A 0.5 degree difference is certainly enough to bias a slight drift towards the side with less caster. It may also be possible to get rid of a 0.5 degree difference through some retightening of the strut mounts and lower control arm. Ken Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JuxtaGT Posted February 26, 2005 Share Posted February 26, 2005 This sounds very like much the problem my legacy has. It drifted to the right off the lot, but took a bit of freeway and other non-crowned roads to notice. Took it back to the dealer to have it adjusted, they said they made a change to the toe-angle. The problem feels 90% fixed, but the car still "drifts" to the right at high speed (65+ mph). Problem is slight in my mind, but does this sound like your caster problem? If it is, then I could present a possible thing to check with my dealer instead of "it drifts right", and them saying that this is normal or some other bs without checking. -B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken S Posted February 26, 2005 Author Share Posted February 26, 2005 It does sound like what I have been experiencing. It's slight, but enough to become annoying at times. The other factor to consider is radial pull. A good shop with the latest Hunter balancer can also mount the tires in a way to have as close to net zero pull as possible or to bias it one way or another. Right now, I have my tires mounted so that the radial pull negates the right drift. I'll follow up with my dealer at my 15K service. I've spoken with them on the phone but they don't think 0.5 degrees is going to do anything. Ken Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boostjunkie Posted February 28, 2005 Share Posted February 28, 2005 I did have the same problem. My local dealer cross rotated my tires and sent me on my way. Problem still there. I went back immediately and they ended up sending my car out to a local tire/alignment shop. They guys there measured the caster as being out of spec. It is however a non-adjustable parameter. Their solution was to lossen the bolts on the front subframe, give it a "calibrated" shove and then torque everything back in place. Worked like a charm. Caster is back in spec and my car drives straight. According to the guys there it is a fairly common problem for many cars, not specifically the LGT. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmcgliss Posted March 1, 2005 Share Posted March 1, 2005 Our 2000 LGT was aligned last year but started pulling right. I took the tech for a ride which convinced him to solve the problem, not just say the alignment was within spec. JC, Chicagoland bassist & opentracker 2005 LGT 5MT Ltd wagon 2005 LGT 5MT Ltd sedan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken S Posted March 1, 2005 Author Share Posted March 1, 2005 I did have the same problem. My local dealer cross rotated my tires and sent me on my way. Problem still there. I went back immediately and they ended up sending my car out to a local tire/alignment shop. They guys there measured the caster as being out of spec. It is however a non-adjustable parameter. Their solution was to lossen the bolts on the front subframe, give it a "calibrated" shove and then torque everything back in place. Worked like a charm. Caster is back in spec and my car drives straight. According to the guys there it is a fairly common problem for many cars, not specifically the LGT. How far off spec was your caster before? Do you mind letting me know which alignment shop you used -- I might have mine call yours. Ken Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken S Posted June 30, 2005 Author Share Posted June 30, 2005 Digging up an old topic... I had my dealer perform an alignment during my 15000 mile service which convinced them that the caster was indeed out-of-spec. They spoke with the district technical manager, showed him the measurements and he was surprised at how far off the specs were. They are wondering if the vehicle was strapped down too tight during transport resulting in the front struts to move out of alignment. In any event, they have recognized this as an issue and will be addressing this under warranty. I'll keep you all updated on the progress. Ken Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PGT Posted June 30, 2005 Share Posted June 30, 2005 I had mine looked at a few times. It was wrong from day one. The right front caster was way off......car drifted right for 10K miles until it got fixed. Even then, the dealed claimd they fixed it by rotating my tires. Ironic, since I have three sets of wheels and tires and all had the same issue. I argued with them about correcting what it said in the service record, as caster WAS the issue. I saw the alignment sheet. They didn't want me to catch them in a lie, as they didn't check the alignment when I brought it in at one week old like they said they did at the time. Freakin dealers.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken S Posted June 30, 2005 Author Share Posted June 30, 2005 The right front caster was way off......car drifted right for 10K miles until it got fixed. Yeah, I was getting the brush off initally even though I had alignment numbers from a local shop that I paid for out of pocket. I was told that the caster spread wouldn't make a big difference and that it was all radial pull. However, my dealer was willing to take a look and once they got the same measurements from their shop, they acknowledged that the caster was off. May I ask what your caster settings were before and after and, more importantly, how the dealer fixed it? Ken Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PGT Posted June 30, 2005 Share Posted June 30, 2005 I believe it was 5.3 and 4.0, but the dealer still hasn't given me a copy of the alignment (though I saw it). As for the fix, I assume a BFH did the trick. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken S Posted July 1, 2005 Author Share Posted July 1, 2005 BFH? Ken Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PGT Posted July 1, 2005 Share Posted July 1, 2005 lol......big f*cking hammer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken S Posted July 1, 2005 Author Share Posted July 1, 2005 D-oh! Well, I guess I'll find out soon! Ken Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robinasu Posted November 25, 2005 Share Posted November 25, 2005 My cross camber is off by 1 degree. . . pulls nicely to the right. I will have to have this addressed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NHLEG Posted November 25, 2005 Share Posted November 25, 2005 6.4 right, 6.9 left. Toe is perfect and I get a pull to the right at highway speeds. Right is out of specs by .5 as max is supposed to be 6.4. This is w/ iON's. Before the iON's it was 5.2 and 5.7 so it was out .5 before and after install, but the 6.9 is still bothering me. This along w/ my rear camber being -1.2 (-1.3 is max spec) because I got more than a 1" rear drop is strike 2 against the iON's. I may be looking into coilovers next Spring. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobY Posted November 26, 2005 Share Posted November 26, 2005 Holy crapoly.... 6.9 and 6.4? Factory spec is supposed to be around 5.5 for both sides. Trust me more rear camber is good. I would want it to be at least -1.5 in the rear if I could make it that way. -2.0 if im feeling really feisty. Im running -1.8 front camber right now, and around -0.8 in the rear. This balances the chasis nicely. If I could get more negative camber in the rear I would run -2.8F and -2.0R. A general rule of thumb is high camber on a mcphearson suspension (front) and about 1 degree lower on a wishbone type suspension (rear). That being said get sombody who can do and has experience doing performance alignments, the diffrence will stun you. Alignment specs are only second to tires when it comes to factors that effect the handling performance and feel of your car. The reason BMW's 3 series feel so good is because they run such agressive alignment setting out of the factory. That being said. If you look at the specs of the E46 M3 and the Legacy the front suspension geometry is nearly identical. The only diffrence may be kingpin inclination which can be adjusted with a set of camber plates and a bit of fiddling between the stock camber bolts and the upper camber plates. Edit: caster will change upon lowering in a mc phearson suspension Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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