Alignment Issues: Front LCA Bushings Shot?
02-12-2009, 05:55 PM
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My car did the same thing. Had to fight with it during braking and it liked to wonder a bit down the freeway. Upon inspection during replacing a noisy front hub (did both as a pair), I saw that my lower rear front a-arm bushing on both sides were cracked and torn a bit. Also, the rest of the bushings were showing signs of minor cracking from age. Long story short... I replaced all of them and the car no longer pulls during braking or driving. Though i must also note that I installed Strano springs, Koni 4/4 and PHB/LCA's while I was at it.
02-12-2009, 06:12 PM
#3
Yes, check the hubs on your front end. Easy way of checking them is to jack the car up on that side and try to wiggle the wheel from side to side. Grab the wheel and 9 o'clock and 3 o'clock. If it wiggles or you have any play, just replace them. I had an alignment shop tell me they couldnt align it because of having bad hubs.
02-13-2009, 08:32 AM
#5
Get a pickle fork and a ball joint tool from your local auto parts store. Do you have an impact gun? If so this should be an easy DIY deal.
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Glenn ***
Sales Tech
www.bmrsuspension.com
813.986.9302
Find a Quality alignment shop near you!
02-13-2009, 06:05 PM
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The bushings should be fairly easy, though the lower ball joint can be a little bit of a pain to reinstall cause of the canter the lower a-arms have. Best thing is take your time and don't rush it. If you want to have a shop do it, check around for pricing and make sure it is a good shop. A shop with the proper equipment and compitant people should only take 4-6 hours, including alignment.
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02-18-2009, 07:45 AM
#8
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Well, I took it to an alignment shop and it turns out that it was the tires, and the other shop had the alignment slightly out of spec. The shop was great, $85 dollars (pricey but worth it) and they had it on the rack for over an hour and a half. They were extremely precise, I believe the mechanic made 5 sets of adjustments before they settled on the correct specs. I don't have the spec sheet on me, but they set it up for low tire wear (as that was what I told them). When they were done with the alignment they took the time to take me for a ride in my car and make sure that it drove straight. It didn't drive straight so the master mechanic said we needed to switch the tires temporarily to see if it pulled the other way. It did pull the other way when the tires were switched, so we figured out that the problem was in the tires. They said that the front end of my car was "tight as a drum", and they must have thought I was crazy with all of the questions I asked them. So thats my rant, I am just VERY happy that I don't have to tear the front end off of this thing.
