rear end alignment issues

so i bought new rear tires today and they did an alignment check. they're saying my thrust angle is off 0.18 degrees (0.2 degrees 6 months ago) and its basically pointing towards the passenger side a little. my car isnt lowered and i have umi non adjustable rear lower control arms and a non adjustable pan hard bar. driving on the highway the car seems to "dog track" and "float" from what i can tell...would i need adjustable rear lower control arms to fix this issue? any help is appreciated thanks!

I would think you would need an adjustable panhard bar.. but suspension is DEFINATELY not my strong suit.. lol

from what i know, the adj. pan hard bar is more for side to side movement and the adj. rear lower control arms are more fore to aft movement...thats why i need to know if i need just the adj. pan hard bar, or just the adj. control arms, cause i can't afford both right now and i want to get the suspension properly aligned

If you get an adj PH its best to do the adj LCA's. I'm running them on my 02 Z28 and it made a world of difference. You can get a good deal on adj. components from Founders, but i havent tried anything of theres. I run UMI on my cars.

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Originally Posted by matt evans

If you get an adj PH its best to do the adj LCA's. I'm running them on my 02 Z28 and it made a world of difference. You can get a good deal on adj. components from Founders, but i havent tried anything of theres. I run UMI on my cars.

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sounds like that makes sense...ill probably get the adj. lower control arms 1st, then get a adj. pan hard bar a little later

if you buy them together you can usually get a package deal.

i noticed that, but i want to get the adj. pieces with poly bushings and they sell those separately of course...don't think i want to get the spherical rod ended and or roto joint stuff cause it affects the ride quality i hear. Its a DD and i don't race (legally, haha) i know theres no binding, but bushings seem to absorb more vibrations. they do sell them with the combination of the 2, just not so sure about them...i measured to see how offset the rear is, its like 1/8 of an inch, its very little. i might not even bother getting adj, stuff right now just to adjust the rear an 1/8 of an inch...part of my problem might be i didn't get new tires in the front and an alignment. freegin money pit! i know I've gotta pay to play though :burnout:

:werd: cars are a better high then drugs and cheaper then women.

lol...cheaper then kids too! :beer:

Thrust angle means that your front tires are not square with your rear tires...meaning your rear end is shifted laterally.

This would mean you need an adjustable PHB to align it back to center.

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Originally Posted by 35th-ANV-SS

Thrust angle means that your front tires are not square with your rear tires...meaning your rear end is shifted laterally.

This would mean you need an adjustable PHB to align it back to center.

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ahhh, thanks for the help my friend :cheers: ...my initial rear left toe 0.20 degrees (specification say min. -0.15 max. 0.15) final on left 0.15.
then my initial right rear toe -0.15 degrees ( same specs as right) final on right -0.15. initial total toe 0.05 (specs say min. -0.30 max. 0.30) final toe says 0.00 degrees... thrust angle -0.2 degrees (specifications say 0.3 degrees). my rear left and right camber is -0.2 degrees (no specs)...so you think just an adj. phb will do the trick?

I think it will definitely help with the thrust angle being out of specification. LCA's move the tire front to rear, but they will not adjust camber or toe (I don't think). Usually camber being out of spec is a result of being lowered or worn parts. You mentioned you are not lowered.

Did you get an alignment or just readings? Kind of unclear on this.

Thrust angle.

Attachment 23317

Toe.

Attachment 23318

Caster.

Attachment 23319

Camber.

Attachment 23320

i had an alignment done in june, and just an alignment check yesterday after getting new rear tires...the readings i gave you were from the actual alignment in june. I'm pretty sure i remember the mechanic saying that there was nothing i could do about the camber in the rear...well maybe looks like i could adjust the toe on the rear if i had adj. control arms, maybe?

Well the "dog walk" feel you are describing is definitely from the thrust angle issue I believe. An adjustable PHB should fix that. As far as the other issues, you're just getting pre-mature wear on your tires. I'd take it back to the alignment shop that aligned it and see what they could do for you, if anything. Or at least call them again.

Did you get the same size tires that you had before?

yeah, 275/40/17...my last set of tires didn't even last 2 years, haha... got them in april 2010. the front ones have some tread left, so i just got rear tires for now, and it handles like crap on the freeway. they said there was nothing they could do as far as adjusting the rear end as its a solid rear axle, you obviously know that, but he said he did as best he could do. seemed fine after the alignment, but now after the new tires in the rear its not...

Have you jacked the rear up and checked to see if there was any play in the wheels? Any noises? Maybe you have a bad wheel bearing or excessive clearance :dunno:

no, haven't done that...no unusual noises either. excessive clearance???

Meaning if the wheel moves at all. If you can "tilt" it any.

not sure, i would have to check that out :hmm: ...i don't think so, cause wouldn't the mechanic have caught that? ill still check it out myself sometime soon...

one more question...whats the point of having double adj. components as opposed to just single adjustable?