Re: Rocco in a rut.....

[Ilias Glavinas <eg1@ee.wustl.edu>]

On Sun, 27 Oct 1996, James McElvaney wrote:

> violently between 60 and 80 mph.  When I got the car back, they informed me
> that I need rear shims or something, but that the front was ok.  Meanwhile
> the car was completely unsafe to drive at any speed, due to the sudden and
> random pulling to either side, as if I were driving on slippery icy
> roads(mostly between 30 and 45 mph).  At least the shaking has stopped,
> right?  I brought it back to them on a different day, to have the shims
> installed and they told me that the shims were not necessary, but that it
> was impossible to align the front due to only one adjustable tie rod.  They
> told me that the left side was not adjustable because that is how the
> factory made it.  This seems like bunk to me.  I can't possibly imagine that

Well, they are right about one thing: the front can be adjusted through the 
passenger side tie rod only. Then, unless you got bent struts, everything 
else should be made to factory specs by 'playing' with the alignment 
bolts on each side. It certainly is possible to align the car, if your 
struts are ok.

Also: why did they tell you you didn't need shims for the rear, the 
second time you went to them? What I would do, is get a printout of your 
caster/camber/toe after they were done with your car, then go and compare 
those readings with the factory specs found in a Bentley. If your rear is 
messed up, the first thing you do is go and buy corrective shims (they 
come in increments of degrees, up to 2degrees). Again: there is no reason 
for your front not to be correctible, unless you have bent struts or 
crooked shock-towers (do you know if the car has been in an accident?). 


Ilias
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