4 Wheel Alignment On 2006 Ls430

[alexsteininger]

OK, so my wife had a "little" accident with the car and after the repairs It needed a 4 wheel alignment. I get it back from the shop and the steering pulls to the right, more than just a little bit. The guy from the Lexus collision center says that is normal to be set to drift to the right "in case you fall asleep at the wheel" you won't veer into oncoming traffic. Am I crazy or does that sound like a bunch of B/S ??

[SRK]

Yep, that's a bunch of crap. In the bad old days caster was sometimes "split", made greater on one side to cause the car to climb the camber (rise in the center) of the road, but that's rarely done anymore. On a flat surface the car should drive absolutely straight. On a cambered road it should drift slightly to the curb. Split caster causes the car to drive straight on camber, pull left on a flat surface.

Lexus specs do not call for split caster. The "collision center" has screwed up, or failed to notice a bent suspension member before the alignment. Give them one more chance, and then find a shop that knows what they are doing if they can't adjust it properly.

A "safety" feature for falling asleep at the wheel - that's a laugh.

[landar]

Yeah that's a good one! That guy would make a 'good' politician.

Another thing that will make it pull is a dragging brake on that side.

[dc893]

That sounds insane. Never heard of such a thing.

[alexsteininger]

OK, so I kept the pressure on the dealer body shop and finally they "discovered" a bad bearing on the RF wheel. You think they would have checked that since they had to replace the wheel and brake rotor in that area anyway!!

Needless to say, I will never be going back there again. The only reason I went there in the first place was it was near to where my wife had her accident and it was an insurance claim. I figured they would use OEM parts on all repairs, since my insurance company OKed OEM parts.

After much screaming and shouting at the body shop management, my Lexus is running smooth again. I will not mention the dealer's name, but I live in Indianapolis and there are not really many choices!! Nuff said, I learned my lesson