Taken my truck to get alligned 3 times and right tire still pokes to the right

[Diego0123005]

I have a 92 Silverado. I had replaced the pitman arm, idler arm, lower ball joint on the right tire. Now my mechanic took it to the local NTB nearby to get it aligned because he gets a discount with them. Everytime i got the truck back, the front right tire was not straight. It was always toe out. He did mention that i was due for the replacement of the steering gearbox because i had a lot of play on my steering wheel. Could that be causing my truck to not be aligned properly? He also mentioned because i had an older truck, that the process for aligning it was a bit more difficult and that NTB had said they needed some special equipment. I just need some advice on what to do now.

 

[phule]

Do you have a pic of the alignment sheet? There should be no special tools for a toe adjust. The knock outs mau need to be removed for caster camber adjust. A loose gearbox will make the steering loose & the wheel not to be straight. But if your tires are parallel to eachother & the frame thats not gonna matter.

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[magimerlin]

Your mechanics accuse... a crock of ****....

No the steering box has no say in your toe out/in angles. Each side is and can be adjusted independently from each other..

And "NO" being a 92 doesn't make it "more difficult" to do the alignment...
"special equipment".....where do they come up with this ****.... since when is a couple wrenches considered special equipment....

The issue seams to be the alignment guy doesn't know his head from his........ well you know the rest of the saying right.....lol....

WOW.......just WOW....... time for a new mechanic too if he can not see through the and is believing "NTB" bullshit...

And yes I am a mechanic by trade... I can probably get a closer alignment with my "specialty tools" aka regular wrenches, a tape measure and and an angle gauge then these idiot new "alignment techs" can get with thier electronic setup.. it's really sad.... most(not all, as I do know some very good ones) big chain shops bring in the fresh outta high-school automotive class and do not train them then call them techs..... not totally the "techs" fault but most don't push to get trained these days either.....

Well this was longer then I thought...sorry....
rant over.. I'm going to bed

sent from what use to be a great country...

 

[Diego0123005]

Do you have a pic of the alignment sheet? There should be no special tools for a toe adjust. The knock outs mau need to be removed for caster camber adjust. A loose gearbox will make the steering loose & the wheel not to be straight. But if your tires are parallel to eachother & the frame thats not gonna matter.

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Unfortunately i don't have the sheet. The process that i did was take it to my mechanic who did the work on it. After he finished the work, he took it to NTB for the alignment, because he does not have an alignment rack. They work together because NTB once took some parts for him to fix at his shop which is why he gets the discount. Might i add on, that the 3rd time i took it to get it aligned i left the truck there for the entire day. Did not get it back till the end of the next day. My tires are worn out due to the toe wear, but i am positive that the wear is not causing it to pull to the right. Its the damn right tire that isn't parallel to the left tire. You can see it with your own eyes.

 

[whiplash473]

Take it to an frame shop and explain the situation. NTB is to auto repair what McDonald's is to food. Frame shops know the in's and out's of alignment and why geometry works the way it does. They'll straighten it out or at least be able to tell you if something is wrong.


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[1999gmc]

Take it to an frame shop and explain the situation. NTB is to auto repair what McDonald's is to food. Frame shops know the in's and out's of alignment and why geometry works the way it does. They'll straighten it out or at least be able to tell you if something is wrong.


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Funny you say that. I've been a mechanic for 20 years,did alignments at Goodyear for 7 of those, and have owned my own shop the last 10 but don't do alignments at my shop. So I put new tires on my truck and cranked my torsion bars up just a little. I get my truck back after new tires and alignment and my right front wheel is leaned in at the top and my left front is leaned out. I go back inside and the guy that did the alignment says he had to do that to compensate for road crown. I said you usually do that with caster, not camber. He says yeah since you cranked up the torsion bars that's the best I could do. I took him back out there and showed him what needed to happen and he says that's the best he can do. Pissed off but not worth arguing, I left. Called a frame and alignment shop up the street and swung my truck in. He takes a look at my truck and says the same thing I said to the tire shop alignment guy. I leave my truck and 30 minutes later my tires sit right and my truck drives straight. I've never been back to a tire shop again for an alignment.

 

[michael hurd]

Your mechanics accuse... a crock of ****....

No the steering box has no say in your toe out/in angles. Each side is and can be adjusted independently from each other..

And "NO" being a 92 doesn't make it "more difficult" to do the alignment...
"special equipment".....where do they come up with this ****.... since when is a couple wrenches considered special equipment....

The issue seams to be the alignment guy doesn't know his head from his........ well you know the rest of the saying right.....lol....

WOW.......just WOW....... time for a new mechanic too if he can not see through the and is believing "NTB" bullshit...

And yes I am a mechanic by trade... I can probably get a closer alignment with my "specialty tools" aka regular wrenches, a tape measure and and an angle gauge then these idiot new "alignment techs" can get with thier electronic setup.. it's really sad.... most(not all, as I do know some very good ones) big chain shops bring in the fresh outta high-school automotive class and do not train them then call them techs..... not totally the "techs" fault but most don't push to get trained these days either.....

Well this was longer then I thought...sorry....
rant over.. I'm going to bed

sent from what use to be a great country...

Scribing a line on the tires to measure to, and setting toe as Magimerlin is easy, can be done with a minimum of tools in a parking lot if so desired. An angle meter is also an inexpensive tool, purchased new. Consider what the investment is vs. having a set of expensive tires ruined from toe wear or other alignment issues.

I would set the toe very slightly in, at speed, it will tend to want to open up to parallel, we are talking like 1/32"- 1/16" toe in, with the wheels on the ground at static ride height. Jounce the suspension a few times to make sure it is settled.

I agree, it's shameful shops hire incompetent people. Wages should be based on competency and production, not some paper shingle to hang on the wall. I have seen people regurgitate knowledge they have memorized, but fail when trying to apply it - book smart, life stupid.

The Egyptians built pyramids with such precision that defies modern construction techniques many thousands of years ago, the Greeks built great things and so did the Romans.

Today, we have carpenters that can't use a square and a level, cooks that couldn't tell you what cut of meat came from a particular place on an animal, ( illiterate cooks to boot ! ) and salespeople that know less about a product they are selling than someone coming in off the street that wants to purchase said product.

Ugh. What's wrong with this world?