robcarync
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- Location
- Raleigh, NC
I have had 3 alignments since January... Mid Feb I got my alignment all in the green. I have not really been offroading since then...but do drive on about a 1.5 mile stretch of gravel road during my daily commute. This area can be quite bumpy and washboard like. There are also a few muddy ruts that I "accidentally" drive through to start my day.
I had noticed I was getting bad wear on the outer edge of my tires. I consulted my print out of the last alignment...and noticed they had given me 0.4* of positive camber...this seemed excessive, so I took it back to get it re-aligned yesterday (specifying the zero camber spec for lifted Xterras; Firestone aligned it again for free under warranty for previous alignment...2nd free one they gave me). They came back and said they got it all in the green with 0 camber, but I didn't get a print out (I forgot to specify that I wanted one). What they did say shocked me: The toe angle was the culprit, and was far out of the green.
Now...alignments can be lost by all sorts of things...so let us start with worn components. Mid-Jan I replaced tie rod adjusters, tie rod ends, upper ball joints, and idler arm bushings. Center link is probably worn some, but it doesn't look too bad. I don't suspect I have a parts wear issue this time around, though it was the reason for my first re-alignment.
I began to suspect my gravel road morning commute detour. The common answer is rough roads, pot holes, hitting curbs, etc will throw an alignment off.
My question is...how exactly? The tie rod adjusters are solid links. The rod ends have jamb nuts that really prevent them from threading backwards or anything. The idler arm is braced with Bandit4x4 bushings. The steering knuckle isn't flexing here. If parts aren't damaged or bent, how does the toe in angle physically change when they are solid parts holding the knuckle in?
Any thoughts? My guess is the ball joints on the tie rod ends get damaged, allowing extra flex, which means the toe in gets worse. as the tires get pushed inwards more. I was just curious as I was thinking about this today.
Anyway, I have decided to eliminate my gravel road detour to see if my tires will wear a little better after this alignment. We will see what happens
I had noticed I was getting bad wear on the outer edge of my tires. I consulted my print out of the last alignment...and noticed they had given me 0.4* of positive camber...this seemed excessive, so I took it back to get it re-aligned yesterday (specifying the zero camber spec for lifted Xterras; Firestone aligned it again for free under warranty for previous alignment...2nd free one they gave me). They came back and said they got it all in the green with 0 camber, but I didn't get a print out (I forgot to specify that I wanted one). What they did say shocked me: The toe angle was the culprit, and was far out of the green.
Now...alignments can be lost by all sorts of things...so let us start with worn components. Mid-Jan I replaced tie rod adjusters, tie rod ends, upper ball joints, and idler arm bushings. Center link is probably worn some, but it doesn't look too bad. I don't suspect I have a parts wear issue this time around, though it was the reason for my first re-alignment.
I began to suspect my gravel road morning commute detour. The common answer is rough roads, pot holes, hitting curbs, etc will throw an alignment off.
My question is...how exactly? The tie rod adjusters are solid links. The rod ends have jamb nuts that really prevent them from threading backwards or anything. The idler arm is braced with Bandit4x4 bushings. The steering knuckle isn't flexing here. If parts aren't damaged or bent, how does the toe in angle physically change when they are solid parts holding the knuckle in?
Any thoughts? My guess is the ball joints on the tie rod ends get damaged, allowing extra flex, which means the toe in gets worse. as the tires get pushed inwards more. I was just curious as I was thinking about this today.
Anyway, I have decided to eliminate my gravel road detour to see if my tires will wear a little better after this alignment. We will see what happens