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Positive rear camber on left side of my car, possibly the rear. Am I screwed?

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by Bob64, Dec 28, 2008.

  1. Bob64

    Bob64 Sapphire of the Blue Sky

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    Alignment - Positive camber on left side of my car, possibly on the rear. Am I screwed?

    I've noticed - while repairing another tire puncture (thanks to whoever keeps dropping screws/nails along my route to work!) - uneven tire wear on both tires on the left side of the car. The part of the tire facing out (away from the center of the car) is really worn down. The middle and the inner part of the tire looks OK. According to a quick google, it looks like positive camber. The fact that this wear pattern is on both sets of tires means that:
    1) the positive camber is on one axle on the left side of my car, and I have rotated my tires since the misalignment, thus spreading out the wear pattern onto both tires.
    2) the positive camber is on both axles on the left side of my car.
    3) I've been making way too many right turns at extreme speeds (unlikely, as I make both left and right turns at "high" speeds)

    Judging from a quick eyeball of the two sets of tires, the back tire appears to be more worn down then the front, in terms of abnormal wear. But I may be wrong.

    So, my guess is that my rear left axle has positive camber.

    I'm out of my 1 year "free" alignment warranty period by several months. I have no idea if a pothole has screwed with my alignment (likely) or if the car came with one side misaligned.

    Am I screwed? Judging from the posts here, it appears that the rear axle is un-align-able without some sort of magical shim kit (which has only been used for toe-in or some other type of mis-alignment in the posts I've read thus far).

    What are my options? I haven't had the chance to take it to the dealer yet. I am really starting to worry about having to replace something expensive (*cough* rear axle *cough*).
     
    #1 Bob64, Dec 28, 2008
  2. dogfriend

    dogfriend Human - Animal Hybrid

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    I don't think you're screwed - camber can be corrected with a shim the same way that toe-in can be corrected. The SPC shims are supposed to be able to correct up to 1.5°, IIRC.

    Front camber is easy to correct - there is some adjustment available by just loosening the front strut bolts - if it can't be brought in spec that way, then there are camber bolts available to allow more adjustment range.
     
    #2 dogfriend, Dec 29, 2008
  3. galaxee

    galaxee mostly benevolent

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    first things first, get thee to an alignment rack to confirm.
     
    #3 galaxee, Dec 29, 2008
  4. Bob64

    Bob64 Sapphire of the Blue Sky

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    Dropped it off at the dealer today. (also had to fix some other items - smartkey unlock button stuck and the audio tsb for the aux jack).

    Will cross my fingers and hope they can re-align it (and shim it if necessary). Will report back here with any details. I've asked for an alignment printout, so hopefully that'll be useful if the dealer can't fix it.
     
    #4 Bob64, Dec 30, 2008
  5. Patrick Wong

    Patrick Wong DIY Enthusiast

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    It would be highly unusual for a Toyota dealer to use shims to align the rear suspension since that is not a "correct" service method (the approved philosophy is to replace rear suspension parts.) But hopefully they will at least adjust the front suspension so the toe-in and camber is correct, and you will receive a good baseline printout showing the status of the rear suspension.

    If your suspicion about the rear is confirmed, maybe you can find a good independent alignment shop to install shims as needed.
     
    #5 Patrick Wong, Dec 30, 2008
  6. patsparks

    patsparks An Aussie perspective

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    If I have this right you need to have the dealer do the front to know it's right because they have the right equipment to get the steering centred right.
     
    #6 patsparks, Dec 31, 2008
  7. dogfriend

    dogfriend Human - Animal Hybrid

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    I think the zero point calibration only comes into play if the front toe setting is changed. I adjusted front camber and rear toe (by shimming) and did not have the zero point calibration procedure done. But I didn't mess with the front toe because it was pretty close to zero on my car.
     
    #7 dogfriend, Dec 31, 2008
  8. Bob64

    Bob64 Sapphire of the Blue Sky

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    Ok, I've just picked up the car and heres the alignment report.
    [​IMG]


    I guess my front left tire had a pretty bad toe?

    However the thing that sorta worries me is the my rear right tire has a pretty bad toe too and they left it out of spec? But since I haven't noticed any bad tire wear on the right side of the car, it should be fine... Unless alignment reports reverses left and right... (I have no idea how to correctly read an alignment report)
     
    #8 Bob64, Dec 31, 2008
  9. galaxee

    galaxee mostly benevolent

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    yep, your lf toe was way out. good thing that got corrected!
    your rr toe is barely out of spec, i wouldn't give that too much concern. if it was way out of range, it would be worth pursuing. for now just keep up the alignment checks every 30k or so.
     
    #9 galaxee, Dec 31, 2008
  10. Bob64

    Bob64 Sapphire of the Blue Sky

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    Thanks Galaxee,

    Your re-assurances are always comforting to a non-mechanical guy like me

    Thanks again :)
     
    #10 Bob64, Dec 31, 2008
  11. dogfriend

    dogfriend Human - Animal Hybrid

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    Actually, that is amazing that you were getting 60+ mpg with the front tires toed in that much. I bet you will be able to glide further now.
     
    #11 dogfriend, Dec 31, 2008
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