Alignment tips

10678 Views 38 Replies 19 Participants Last post by Cobra79, May 10, 2018

2074

Discussion Starter · Nov 23, 2013

Since there has been a lot of discussion about alignments I'll pass along my alignment basics wisdom:

1- The specs we have call for a full tank of gas. Follow it!

2- Set the cold pressure yourself when the tires are cold. Tip: If you park outside in the sun the sunny side will be higher than the shade side. Go out before the sun comes up and set it then. DO NOT LET THE TECH CHANGE THE PRESSURE IF YOU DID IT YOURSELF ... the tires will be hot and the pressure will be wrong. Correct tire pressure is very important.

3- If you are a trunk rat filling the trunk with 'stuff' have it all in when you get the alignment.

4- Be sitting in the driver's seat when the tech is doing the alignment. The heavier you are the more important it is! Your weight on the suspension changes the measurements.

5- After driving on the rack the tech should jounce the suspension front and back letting it settle in it's normal 'at rest' location just before taking the initial readings and again after making any adjustments to verify proper settings.

The basics I learned way to many decades ago.

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firehawk238

· #2 · Jan 1, 2014

So upon taking posession of my SS everything seemed just fine. I took it down the highway at 70mph and realized that in order to track a straight line down the road the steering wheel was canted to the left about 1" from center at the top of the wheel. Since I had to take my SS in for the initial detailing today I called my dealership yesterday and told them of the alignment issue. They had me bring the car in early to look at it, agreed that it was out of alignment, inspected the suspension to ensure nothing was bent or damaged from shipping and re-aligned the car. I got a print out of the specs to keep in the file I have started on the car. Everything looked good until I got home and saw that the Spec sheet says "Chevrolet: Impala: 2013: FE3 Suspension (LTZ)" on it. Now being that cars are nothing new to me I know that it is possible that there is a service bulletin from GM that states to use these specs but I am hoping that someone here on the forums has access to that information and can shed some light on the subject for me. Any assistance, especially from you AU guys will help me tremendously.

-Karl

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2074

Discussion Starter · #3 · Jan 1, 2014

correct alignment specs:

http://www.ssforums.com/forum/110026-post6.html

Reactions: 2

SS4ALL

· #4 · Mar 18, 2014

On my SS the steering wheel was off center by about 5 degrees. Waited to about 1K miles on mine as tires were not being wore off unevenly. Took it in for alignment today. Seems to be fine now.

It looks to be a somewhat systematic issue on these cars.

jwiley9

· #5 · Mar 18, 2014

Same issue here, about 3° left. Getting the alignment done at 1000.

Z06vett

· #6 · Mar 18, 2014

Steering wheel alignment

Looking at the spec sheet it seems to indicate that 3.5 degrees plus or minus is within limits. A quick calculation would indicate approximately .5 inch variation off center at the top of the steering wheel is within specification.

Mine is off center also but I have not measured by what amount.

willy92

· #7 · Apr 12, 2014 (Edited)

I finally came across an SS with the STEERING WHEEL OFF CENTER, not OUT OF ALIGNMENT. And we, with all of our "fancy schmancy", "State of the Art" alignment machines that were given the latest update on March 1st, stll did not have specs for the SS sedan...so, we used a generic rear wheel drive setting. All of the angles were inspecification of the SS pecs out of the manual...only the steering wheel was off center alittle bit to the left. When you centered it, the car was veering to the right. We set it and I test drove it again afterwards(yes, I did volunteer to do before and after road tests for the technician) and it was fine.

Once again...not necessarily alignment. If you walked in and asked for an alignment, this may or may not br fixed. While it is true that the last adjustment that the last adjust is suppose to be that of centering the steering wheel, a flat-rater may just set the toe to specs and the steering wheel could still be off center.

Always willing to help...

yours truly

Willy92 "official SS road tester"

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slivoman

· #8 · Apr 13, 2014

willy92 said:
I finally came across an SS with the STEERING WHEEL OFF CENTER, not OUT OF ALIGNMENT. And we, with all of our "fancy schmancy", "State of the Art" alignment machines that were given the latest update on March 1st, stll did not have specs for the SS sedan...so, we used a generic rear wheel drive setting. All of the angles were inspecification of the SS pecs out of the manual...only the steering wheel was off center alittle bit to the left. When you centered it, the car was veering to the right. We set it and I test drove it again afterwards(yes, I did volunteer to do before and after road tests for the technician) and it was fine.

Once again...not necessarily alignment. If you walked in and asked for an alignment, this may or may not br fixed. While it is true that the last adjustment that the last adjust is suppose to be that of centering the steering wheel, a flat-rater may just set the toe to specs and the steering wheel could still be off center.

Always willing to help...

yours truly

Willy92 "official SS road tester"

I just tried to get my alignment done today at the dealership for the same reason, wheel off center. I was told their computer didn't have the specs for our cars. I also gave them the specs from customer support and they refused to do it until they get the right profile. They are supposed to call me Monday after they call GM.

Reactions: 1

willy92

· #9 · Apr 13, 2014

Maybe I'm old...schooled, but, my attitude is there ain't nothin' that can't be done to a car. But, I understand them. If they screw it up they have nothing to fall back on, which puts them at risk...Especially if it is a warranty repair.

Reactions: 2

slivoman

· #10 · Apr 13, 2014

Well that's the reason i brought the spec sheet, I figured the guy knew how to do alignments without the computer doing it for him.

GXPaycheck

· #11 · Apr 13, 2014

I brought the specs I got here to my dealer and it's what they use to do all the SS's.

Reactions: 2

fincherific

· #12 · Apr 14, 2014

slivoman said:
Well that's the reason i brought the spec sheet, I figured the guy knew how to do alignments without the computer doing it for him.

We got these specs from customer care months ago- why wouldn't the dealer have them also? Another mark against the dealers.

Reactions: 2

2074

Discussion Starter · #13 · Apr 14, 2014

fincherific said:
We got these specs from customer care months ago- why wouldn't the dealer have them also? Another mark against the dealers.

If they take the time to try or send an email or make a phonecall they can get them in a flash ... that is IF they want to .... but since warranty pays so poorly for labor and there are no parts marked up 40% the incentive to not try is really a negative.

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willy92

· #14 · Apr 14, 2014

We did, but I did have to stand there and watch him do it.

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SSlow

· #15 · Apr 15, 2014

I just test drove one yesterday and I also noticed the wheel being cocked to the driver side roughly 3/4"

Headrat

· #16 · Apr 15, 2014

My car has this cocked steering wheel syndrome also--to the left very slightly. I was talking to the finance manager of my dealer yesterday to find out when I would receive my extended warranty papers. He bought a PBM SS from them months ago. And his wheel was cocked also. Their techs centered the wheel right away but now the syndrome has somewhat returned!! He said he did not wait long enough to let things settle in. So they will redo it again. He also has a 'hot coolant' smell about the car when he shuts it off. His techs have been chasing this for sometime and cannot find it. Camaro type heater core syndrome??? Hope not!!! This was talked about way back, here on this board.

Reactions: 1

fincherific

· #17 · Apr 15, 2014

Headrat said:
My car has this cocked steering wheel syndrome also--to the left very slightly. I was talking to the finance manager of my dealer yesterday to find out when I would receive my extended warranty papers. He bought a PBM SS from them months ago. And his wheel was cocked also. Their techs centered the wheel right away but now the syndrome has somewhat returned!! He said he did not wait long enough to let things settle in. So they will redo it again. He also has a 'hot coolant' smell about the car when he shuts it off. His techs have been chasing this for sometime and cannot find it. Camaro type heater core syndrome??? Hope not!!! This was talked about way back, here on this board.

I had that hot coolant smell at the very beginning too, dealer couldn't find anything. It went away after the first couple fill ups so I chalked it up to smelly Aussie gas, which someone mentioned on here awhile back. My wheel is also cocked to the left slightly, they fixed that at 1k miles but it's still not perfect.

Reactions: 1

2074

Discussion Starter · #18 · Apr 15, 2014

With just 400 miles I still have the burning sticker glue stank which sometimes gives the hint of burning oil but its getting better. It was NASTY the first 200 miles; but I did bring her home with <10 miles and only a few minutes of PDI idling then maybe 2-3 one hour mostly idling stints setting all the personalization stuff and have only done one 40 mile each way ride so far. I do warm it up fully each time I use a vehicle. My 2007 Yukon was so bad I let it idle in the driveway for a few hours to fry the stickers off 'cause the smell was toxic like and made me nauseous.

No coolant smell ... I don't want that adventure. I'll get it bought back and order another one if it needs a heater core and the procedure is the same as the Camaro's ....

Hasn't been warm enough to get A/C cranking to see if drain leaks. There have been a lot on commodores that have had the issue with flooded left front and rear footwells! Gonna watch for that carefully the first good condensate making day!

Reactions: 1

willy92

· #19 · Apr 16, 2014

Headrat said:
My car has this cocked steering wheel syndrome also--to the left very slightly. I was talking to the finance manager of my dealer yesterday to find out when I would receive my extended warranty papers. He bought a PBM SS from them months ago. And his wheel was cocked also. Their techs centered the wheel right away but now the syndrome has somewhat returned!! He said he did not wait long enough to let things settle in. So they will redo it again. He also has a 'hot coolant' smell about the car when he shuts it off. His techs have been chasing this for sometime and cannot find it. Camaro type heater core syndrome??? Hope not!!! This was talked about way back, here on this board.

Has anyone considered that maybe we really SHOULD wait for 500-1000 miles before the any adjustment is made...just like GM has recommended?

Make sure that "hot coolant" smell is not the smell of cosmoline coating burning of. That sometimes takes weeks, if you don't drive much, and cars shipped across the water have more of it than mainland shipped cars...for obvious reasons.

We did have a stingray here with a coolant smell coming though on cold startups. We found that it need one head replaced due to porosity...an actual exterior coolant leak.

...and...by the way..., you'd have a harrrrd time getting a car bought back for 1 problem. ...Oh...our vehicle exchange dept would be glad to help, but, it would not be a straight "buy back", you would be trading it in. But, they'll make you feel good about it.:whatdoyouthink:

Reactions: 1

Clutchfoot

· #20 · May 16, 2017

willy92 said:
I finally came across an SS with the STEERING WHEEL OFF CENTER, not OUT OF ALIGNMENT. And we, with all of our "fancy schmancy", "State of the Art" alignment machines that were given the latest update on March 1st, stll did not have specs for the SS sedan...so, we used a generic rear wheel drive setting. All of the angles were inspecification of the SS pecs out of the manual...only the steering wheel was off center alittle bit to the left. When you centered it, the car was veering to the right. We set it and I test drove it again afterwards(yes, I did volunteer to do before and after road tests for the technician) and it was fine.

Once again...not necessarily alignment. If you walked in and asked for an alignment, this may or may not br fixed. While it is true that the last adjustment that the last adjust is suppose to be that of centering the steering wheel, a flat-rater may just set the toe to specs and the steering wheel could still be off center.

Always willing to help...

yours truly

Willy92 "official SS road tester"

I don't like dredging up ancient threads but I'm on my 4th alignment at 11K miles and the dealer can't figure it out and is calling GM to get an answer for the exact problem you described here. Is there a service bulletin that I can draw their attention too?

Reactions: 1

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