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Alignment problem

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Care, Maintenance & Troubleshooting' started by sutur, Nov 11, 2013.

  1. sutur

    sutur Junior Member

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    Had my Prius aligned. It returned with an alignment report indicating that only 2 out of 8 values had been set correctly. The other 6 are out of specs and the alignment company couldn't get this any better. This is at the front only, the back alignment is ok.

    - caster is within specs, left & right
    - camber left : 3.14 degrees (specs : 0,33 .. -0.57)
    - camber right : -4.33 degrees (specs : -0,57 .. 0,33)
    - tracking left : -0.34 degrees (specs : 0.00 .. 0.12)
    - tracking right : 0.31 degrees (specs : 0.12 .. 0.00)
    - total tracking : -0.03 degrees (specs :0.00 .. 0.24)
    - steering wheel straight: -0.33 degrees (specs -0.03 .. 0.03)

    Toyota doesn't know why these values are not within in specs. The car pulls a little bit to the right but that is not that really annoying.
    Some suggested the car may have been damaged, which is always a possibility, but Toyota as well as another mechanic have seen the car and the didn't find traces of that.

    So it makes me curious, why it cannot be aligned within specs. One says when a car had an accident, it should be aligned. But what if the car hasn't been in an accident, and alignment is not possible?

    Any ideas?
     
  2. tankyuong

    tankyuong Senior Member

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    All it takes is one hit on the curb to change specs
     
  3. sutur

    sutur Junior Member

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    But what if in cannot be aligned within specs?
     
  4. ursle

    ursle Gas miser

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  5. TsKarma

    TsKarma Junior Member

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    Is the company doing the alignment reputable? I took my 2010 Prius (gen III vs your 2009 gen II...not sure if it makes a difference) to Firestone (a big chain here in the states) and they were able to fix my alignment (after I kissed the curb; I got careless).
    ps-the rear won't have alignment issues as they are in a single axle...
     
  6. mediahound

    mediahound Active Member

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    Regarding the rears, I don't think it's even adjustable since it's a trailing arm.
     
  7. sutur

    sutur Junior Member

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    The back is within specs and non-adjustable.

    The car has been aligned by a company with good reputation I think, I don't have experience with these companies or services
     
  8. zhenya

    zhenya Active Member

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    That's an extreme amount of camber and would be easily noticed from a visible inspection alone. Can you post a head-on picture?

    Given the arrangement of the measurements it looks like the car took a big hit which knocked everything hard to the left.
     
  9. sutur

    sutur Junior Member

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    I will post a photo today. I also expected to be able to see this amount of camber. As I understand, from the point of view sitting in the car, both wheels, according to the report, should stand to the left: \ \
    I looked at the front of the car this morning, but I didn't see this. I will check again and make pictures.
     
  10. zhenya

    zhenya Active Member

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    Yeah, it sure looks like that's what happened. With 0 degrees of total toe the car will track straight but you will wear out your tires EXTREMELY quickly. I would suggest you not drive the car until you get this sorted out.
     
  11. sutur

    sutur Junior Member

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    I checked it, visually, and made photo's. When I'm at home I will post them, but there's nothing special to see. The wheels appear to be vertically straight.
     
  12. sutur

    sutur Junior Member

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    No use to post the photo's, they show nothing.
    I did some measurements however, on a flat floot. I don't know the angle of the camber, but I do know that it's not 3 or 4 degrees. For all wheels it's less then 1 degree and front as well as back show / \
     
  13. zhenya

    zhenya Active Member

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    On my fun car I run about -2.5 degrees of camber and it is clearly visible. Positive 4 and -3 would be visually pretty obvious. I'd get a second opinion.

    The camber is especially visible on the front wheel in this picture.

    [​IMG]
     
  14. sutur

    sutur Junior Member

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    Thanks, yes, I will get a second opion next week. And I'll make photo's from the same angle you did, tomorrow. I'm pretty sure that it will not show. I used a level set to the wheel and it wasn't that much from 0 degrees.

    How did yours get that camber? And did it get corrected?
     
  15. zhenya

    zhenya Active Member

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    That car has suspension with adjustable camber.
     
  16. sutur

    sutur Junior Member

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    Update

    Had a second opinion. The report from the first company did not appear to be correct: most of the readings were within specs, and the ones that weren't have been corrected within a couple of minutes. The car has been aligned now, all in the green.
     
  17. TsKarma

    TsKarma Junior Member

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    Glad to hear. I thought the first company seems fishy that's why I asked if they were reputable...
     
  18. sutur

    sutur Junior Member

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    Thanks. For the first allignment, I brought my Prius to Toyota, but it appeared they had another company do it.
    I went to Toyota to let them see the reports. Today they called me to let me know that their alignment company screwed up and Toyota will refund the costs for the alignment.