Steering Alignment Question

[03cobraFL]

Hey Guys,

So a few months ago I was driving my Daily (2007 Nissan Altima 3.5 105,000 miles) and hit a curb going about 50 MPH. I immediately noticed the alignment was off so I decided to take it to the Nissan dealer after work. I spent a few hours there before the service manager came out to tell me that my front passenger strut was bent. It's going to be about $300.00 to have it replaced and get it realigned afterwards. They also said the rear subframe may be shifted and that the rear springs are collapsed. Ive always been kind of cautious of dealers, because I know they are in the business to sell parts, but it was the always place near work that I could find. As of right now I have to hold the wheel a bit to the left to keep it straight, when I let go the car always drifts right, which it obviously wasn't like that before. I found a really good suspension shop in Fort Worth where I live and was thinking of taking there for a second opinion to see if it really is a bent strut, or if the guy doing it just wasn't capable of correcting it. I just wanted to gather some opinions from you guys to get a feeling of what I should do. I really don't want to spend that money, if somebody else can correct it without replacing the strut. Heres a pic of my alignment sheet.... Thanks!

 

[SHOdown220]

Although I understand your concern about the dealership they are far from the shady shops you should really worry about. A legit dealership won't sacrifice their name or reputation to sell you a $300 part. I will only sell you a part that has been verified needing replacement. Are you mechanically inclined at all? If so the Easiest thing to do is request them to put it on a lift and show you what's wrong. I don't have a problem in the least bit taking a customer back in my shop to show them first hand what's going on.

 

[mcaligiuri]

Is the rear adjustable in any way? Cause the rear changes drastically from before and after. Toe and go baby!

 

[MFE]

Ask yourself how a strut, which is a vertical load-bearing member, gets bent to the side without significant deformation of the lateral load-bearing members, e.g. the control arm and cradle. In other words, if the strut is bent, something else is bent too.

 

[STAMPEDE3]

Readings I see there in no way shows a bent strut.

I am confused as to how the rear toe is now worse after the alignment.

I see no reason other than no factory camber adjustment as to why everything else should not be green.

 

[STAMPEDE3]

Ask yourself how a strut, which is a vertical load-bearing member, gets bent to the side without significant deformation of the lateral load-bearing members, e.g. the control arm and cradle. In other words, if the strut is bent, something else is bent too.

It is possible as the strut is not designed to take a side load like that and hitting straight sideways (Like sliding into the curb) would be a straight on hit for the LCA. If the ball joint doesn't break it is very possible the strut can bend. Possible but not probable.
And I do not believe that is the case here.

 

[hb712]

Possible bent strut, but there's no way to tell without looking at the car. Ask them to show you the bad part.

That alignment looks like shit. Did they give you an explanation for why the rear toe is so much worse? That's going to give you driveability issues and will wear your tires out.

 

[CSCOBRA03]

Doesn't look correct after they aligned it. The rear toe setting is worse after they worked on it. I would take it to a place you trust, some dealers are bad and others are very good. I am a ford senior master tech and I would not go back to that place they appear dishonest or at least incompetent.

 

[earl lee]

I'll add this, at 105k its time to change your struts anyway.

 

[thomas91169]

Sell it to someone who needs a car and doesnt mind pulling to the right, pick up another one that drives straight if you like it still.

Not worth your time or effort. Trust me, I spent 3 years trying to resolve alignment issues on my last DSM, bought it with slight pull. Chased my tail for the entire time, replacing part here, aligning, part there, aligning, new tires, aligning, etc. Only fix was a total suspension overhaul with new wheels/tires, new wheel bearings, brand new OEM components (did prothane bushings at the same time), brand new springs and koni shocks, all 4 corners and drove it straight to alignment shop. THEN it was good.

 

[Bronze123]

I would think this vehicle is four way adjustable. I dunno why they didn't do the rear. When an alignment is done, the rear adjustments are first, then the front adjustments. the front adjustments are measured from the rear. So if the rear is jacked, then the front end alignment isn't any good...

i would say look at another opinion for steering and suspension parts. The front Camber is barely out of spec, which can cause tire wear. otherwise pretty normal