so i put on my new wheels, 5zigen fn01r-c 17x7 with falken ziex 512 tyres from edgeracing.com ... i hit a curb on my 2nd day which scratched my right front wheel. so far no problems. i got the trd springs/struts installed at toyota a few weeks later. after the install i cant hold the steering wheel straight or my car veers to the left. i brought it in today to see if they could do an alignment b/c i fealt it was after the spring/strut install that my car started to veer.
i just got a call from the service department saying that the belt in the tire was "off" and that may be causing my car to veer off to the left, or that since my tires are low-profile and when i hit a bump in the road it could also cause problems with the tyres. he also said there coulda been a defect in the wheels when i got 'em from edgeracing, i doubt all this.
anyway, anybody have any experience dealing with this that can help me out? i'm gonna put on the stock tyres and see if he was right.

 

No belt in the tire is off. These things just don't go out of alignment.

Most of the alignment shops that I've delt with in the past don't know squat about alignment.

Ask for what the toe measurements are.

Also, ask him to verify for any play in the wheels when unloaded. Any play will be stiff when the car is on the ground sitting idle, but once you start moving, the wheel will **** to some direction and cause problems when driving.

Examples of causes to play, bushings gone bad or damaged, ball joints that have been dented causing additional play.

You may end up having to replace some suspension components. I hit a something hard once with my Z and ended up having to replace my steering arm for that corner and another suspension arm. In that case, he told me that he couldn't do the alignment because it was too loose and showed me in person. If you have a similar problem, that's what they should of responsed with.

IF loose suspension components are really the problem, just be aware that they may try to cover up their initial incompitence by saying something else. I've bumped into my share of uneducated alignment shops.

You wheels might cause vibration, but unless they are really soft metal, they shouldn't cause an alignment problem. Bushings and joints should cause the problem before wheels.

 

thank you so much, i really appreciate that.
yea i tried switching to the stock wheels. my problem persisted. what morons, so now i have no clue what to do, i would go back to them to chat about this but i honestly dont know squat myself about suspensions... its annoying, i want to be able to hold my steering wheel straight again and have my car go straight!
thanks again for your reply though.

 

check to see if the wheel became unbalanced and if so, rebalanced them. it is often recommended to have your alignment done when you lower your vehicle. also... the alignment shop should be able to produce a report of a prealignment check... see if anything (toe, caster, or camber) is severely off from either side of your car... usually lowering a vehicle produces -camber but see if your toe has been changed when you hit that right wheel...

 

I wouldn't go back. Don't waist your time.

Listen, the front suspension of these cars is not that complex. There isn't a whole lot to adjust in these things. The only thing you can adjust in the front is toe. It's very simple, if adjusting the toe doesn't fix your problem, and I'm fairly sure it won't(from your story), then you HAVE to replace parts. Plain and simple. This won't be cheap and you need to be ready for that. If the car wasn't so new, you'd be able to go to the junk yard and pull the suspension parts you need and install them, but odds are very good the junk yards won't have your car.

If I lived close to you, I wouldn't mind taking a look at the car myself. When I was racing my Z, I did my own alignments. A few times I'd screw up the suspension, and I'd change out all the arms myself. Actually now, I have a complete spare front left/right suspension arm assembly with hubs for my Z that I got from the junk yard, that I keep just in case.


xAlex,
It's all going to come down to this.

Is the annoyance of having to hold the wheel straight worth the cost to fix it.

My personal guess is that the joint in your steering arm to the arm hub is loose, or/and a joint between the suspension and the hub is loose. Your going to have to replace either the hub, or the steering arm, or both, but my odds are more that the problem is the steering arm, as I've had to do it on my Z on 2 occations. The ONLY way your going to fix this is replace the arm. A NEW arm can cost $100-$200, then about 1hr labor, then an alignment after, so your looking at a ~$300-$400 bill.

Or, if your lucky, and willing to save some money, pull one off a car in the junk yard, ~$30-$70, put it on yourself, and give the car to an alignment shop. ~$200.

You'll learn very fast that taking the time to learn and work on your car yourself, you save lots and lots of money..

Good luck!

 

definitely not, im actually more worried about unecessary excessive tire wear and possible future problems due to a busted suspension part. i'll see what i can find wrong but i honestly wont even know what i'm lookin at (hence why i'm desperately searchin around the internet for pictures of suspensions on an xA).
once again, thanks for your help :D

 

A few weeks ago when I had the front wheels off to change my front brake pads, I took pictures, for reference, of the suspension arms and bolt locations. There currently at my home computer and I won't be able to access them untill I return home from visiting family overseas. I can put arrows in the pictures to show you what I'm talking about..

 

i dont know who you are, but i love you.

 

Here's a basic overview. These are the key components to the xA's front suspension.



What you will probably need to change, (what I've had to change in my other car a few times after hitting things) is the steering arm below. The joints can be dented or damaged under hard impact. Especially the joint I've pointed to in the upper right side of the picture.

The ONLY other piece that may have gotten damaged is the A-arm, but I think it's very unlikely because it's rubber bushings allow for some flexability and give. The steering arm doesn't have this kinda of flexabilty. It's all metal to metal joints.


Good luck.

btw, I hope your not a guy when you tell me you love me. j/k

 

So that last post happened back in Nov. '04 its now Feb. 2005, i have driven on stock wheels since then with no improvement and the same problem persists.
Did i mention i got charged $99 for that last visit where they honestly did nothing, except mis-diagnose my problem.
So i took it back today (i know, i never learn), and complained that i did as they said - put stock wheels back on "it should fix the problem", it obviously didnt. So they said, "okay we'll check the alignment"... AGAIN!
Lo-and-Behold: The alignment was off!, now my gripe is this:

I got charged the last time for an alignment/steering/suspension check and they found nothing, how is it this time that not only did they find the alignment was off BUT now they say the "Left Front spindle & Lower control arm Bent due to impact".
Why couldnt they see this and correct my alignment the first time? Because, they said "you had aftermarket rims/tires, and our machines couldnt pick that up - u need to realign the car after you get those installed"
they failed to mention this the first time....

 

I have a similar problem. My car pulls to the right. I went and got it looked at and they gave me the same reason. The tire is causing the problem. After the correction was made, the steering wheel doesn't look straight but the is going straight.

LOL

 

LeeD is amazing, he was right straight off the bat...
but my only real concern now is that i think i was unfairly charged $99 for nothing, then $107 the second time when something was actually done.
Anyone know of any numbers i can call and complain and how do i go about getting my money back from the first visit - man thats just really ____in me off right now.