Rear Wheel Misaligned? (UPDATE: some rear axles out of spec; warranty replacement)

[deleted user]

I'm going to watch my tire wear like a hawk and complain the instant I see anything abnormal. Meanwhile I might get an alignment check at the first oil change, probably about August, when my inspection runs out. I think there is some "yaw" under certain conditions, initiated by the left rear wheel, which seems to have more camber than the right. If you can get another driver to see "crabbing" like Metro observed you should be able to start a warranty process just with that evidence.

regards
mech

[M-88]

Clamp the axle in a jig? Build a tweaker, bolts to the axle stub and the backing plate mounting holes (4) for the brake. Screw a 8 foot pipe onto the flange and 1 person could bend it back where it needs to be. If replacements are showing alignment issue same as those on the lot., you NEED to focus on the mounting points. Enlarge the body mounting point and use thick washers rendering the mounting point slightly moveable, enough to get the toe, especially cross toe close to perfect. Then fix the camber while maintaining the toe. If they won't fix it I will.

regards
mech

I haven't been under one in a while but ... I wonder how hard it would be to go and grab a tie rod from a 1 ton truck that has knuckle to knuckle steering or a Jeep or something with a long, heavy tie rod and run that to each side. Then it would be a pretty simple adjustment to the toe. I don't think the twist beam would be too solid to allow this to happen.

[El Kapitan]

So was that the Langley dealership? They told me the same thing.

yes it was.

I noticed that they stopped charging "doc fees" on their cars there now as well. an other mitsu dealership opened up in new west who did not charge them, so I guess the competing dealerships are dropping them as well. I was debating with a salesman on this very site who was claiming that dealerships couldn't afford to pay their employees if they didn't charge doc fees. whoops!

[Justamirage]

I noticed that they stopped charging "doc fees" on their cars there now as well. an other mitsu dealership opened up in new west who did not charge them, so I guess the competing dealerships are dropping them as well. I was debating with a salesman on this very site who was claiming that dealerships couldn't afford to pay their employees if they didn't charge doc fees. whoops!

It's not that the dealership can't afford to pay the mechanic, it's that they won't pay him for daig time; which is usually .5 an hour of flat rate, some times .3 of an hour. What this means, is the mechanic is probably not getting the diag time. In other words he's getting to work for free, whoopee! Of course when he finds out what's wrong, he'll get paid the measly flat rate for fixing it and if he hurries he may beat the flat rate.

Dealerships are thieves, when it comes to the shop. They rip off the mechanics daily.

[Don]

I posted this in another thread already but I took our Mirage in last week for our free oil change and had front and back checked for Alignment and Camber. Wife and i were there for about 4 hours. what i was told was that the car was good, the alignment was also good. the camber were all in the Green area. I asked what that meant and they said that the back right was off by less than 1 100th or something like that. but it was in the green so there was no need to do anything and it should cause no issues.

I told them about the web site and this thread and that i wanted to document it so if there are future issues it is known. Then he said they Do have a Kit for correcting Camber issues but they are only covered by the warranty if they are out of the green area. I asked the cost. he said the kit was 30 dollars and the labor would be about 60 dollars.

I have had no issues with the car yet and honestly love it but like like everyone here i want to get any possible problems taken cared of while it is under warranty.

thanks for reading, Don

[Daox]

Did you get the print out saying what the actual alignments are on each wheel Don?

[Teasmade]

Then he said they Do have a Kit for correcting Camber issues but they are only covered by the warranty if they are out of the green area. I asked the cost. he said the kit was 30 dollars and the labor would be about 60 dollars.

That's interesting. Would they give you the part number for the kit if you asked them?

[Don]

Did you get the print out saying what the actual alignments are on each wheel Don?

I did get a print out that is 4 pages. and although i see where they checked breaks suspension and tires and a bunch of other things i don't see anything listed about the alignment.

[Don]

Teasmade, they are about 50 miles from my house and they are a long distance call so it will be a while before i head back to Longview.

Here is a link to their website http://www.heritagemitsubishi.com/ it gives the service department number, they should be able to give you the part number.

hope this helps

[R01k]

i don't see anything listed about the alignment.

Maybe they didn't actually checked it.