Alignment & Camber Question

[MSSLGECKO]

I am thinking it may be a good idea here. But I have a couple questions.

 

1. You have to have the necessary equipment to do an alignment, right? (As in - I would need to take it to a shop to have it done?)

2. Would having my alignment off have anything to do w/ the fact that my front wheels seem to have camber issues?

 

Thanks guys, always a help

[idosubaru]

i know guys that have done a home style alignment with string and other assorted highly technical equipment, but i don't know the process myself.

 

have you hit anything, do offroading or is the car very old, rusted or in less than perfect shape? on a newer vehicle i'd say don't waste your money on an alignment as the alignment is rarely a problem. i NEVER get alignments and my tires always wear perfectly. a guy i know that works at a tire place and seems reasonably knowledgable said unless something happens it's really a waste of money to always pay for an alignment even if you get new tires. if they old ones wore evenly, the new ones will wear evenly. i even slammed into a curb and trashed my lower control arm on my XT6. replaced it and still never got an alignment...at 200,000 miles it runs straight as an arrow with perfectly even wear patterns. one of my daily drivers XT6's i got at 105,000 miles and it now has 207,000 and i've never gotten an alignment. again - the set of tires on it are past the wear indicators, need a new set, but they are all perfectly even.

 

you car is older and different than mine so maybe others have different experiences. what problem are you having exactly? if the tire wears weird, i'd rotate them and see if the next tire in the same location does the same thing. if you drive aggressively put around 3-6 more psi than recommended from the factory in the tires to mitigate rolling and wearing on the outer edges.

 

if the tires are old that could also be a problem. i think bad ball joints can also cause alignment and tire wear issues.

[MSSLGECKO]

New tires and the car is mechanically sound as far as I know. The wheels are definately not looking quite right. I could take a photo from the front of the car and you could tell (infact I will if I can find a DigiCam.)

 

Anyother suggestions as to why my Camber would be off?

[idosubaru]

suspension bushings, balls joints, struts. if you go to have it aligned they may not be able to align it and they might tell you why.

[MSSLGECKO]

f you go to have it aligned they may not be able to align it and they might tell you why.

 

Yeah, that's kinda what I'm thinking here.

[idosubaru]

the car isn't in the air is it? (like on jackstands). when an XT6 is off the ground, it looks as if the bottom of the wheels are pointed somewhat *in* more than the top of the wheels. but once the car is on the ground and the suspension is loaded it sets fine. i figure you're driving it, but just wanted to make sure.

 

someone on www.xt6.net just had a similar problem with their rear wheels on a subaru XT (4 cylider) being pigeon toed, turned out to be a rusted out rear cross member causing the problem.

[Ross]

If your struts are adjusted up, its normal for it to have funny camber....A shop that does chassis bending will be able to adjust it to some extent though.

[chazmataz]

if you are looking at the front of your car there should be a slight hind of the top of your tires leaning out, this is called possitive camber subaru's have this. similar to what the old vw bugs have when they had big tires put on for bajaing only not as savere.