Weird alignment problem?
 

So I bought my 2013 FRS a month ago and when I bought it, the steering wheel was offset to the side when driving straight. Car also had a very dull feeling handling.

I poked around and the driver side front lower control arm is bent. I changed it with a replacement from rockauto and it corrected the steering wheel.

Car still drove very “squirrely” on higher speeds however.

I replaced the shocks with a set of Tein Flex Z Coilovers and set it to stockish ride height.

When working on the rear I noticed the rear lower control arm on the driver side is bent in a bit. I didn’t have a replacement yet but I ordered two adjustable rear lower control arms via rockauto again.

Now I just installed them and holy hell my car is almost undriveable! And the offset steering wheel problem is back! How did this happen?

I set the camber adjustment to full negative and the toe was off. Then I set it to full positive and the same problem.

I am going to bring the car to an alignment shop tomorrow but i am not sure what happened with the car.

I also noticed the driver side rear lower control arm was way more difficult to install as opposed to the passenger side.

Thank You

Unless you have your own laser system that is the right thing to do after playing with the suspension is to get it aligned. When you mess with any of the geometry you mess with ALL of the geometries!

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everything got bent somehow in the first place. i'd investigate a lot more than just throwing parts at it...

I noticed the drivers side rims were curbed and has a crack on one of the spokes. When I got the car there was some anime girl sticker and the handbrake boot was a bit worn, which leads me to believe one of the owners was a kid who slammed into a sidewalk or something trying to drift.

I’ll try to see what the alignment shop will say tomorrow.

sounds like you need a lot more than just an alignment. starting with a set of new wheels.

i wouldn't even trust pulling it out of the garage on a set of wheels with a cracked spoke. these are cast, not machined wheels. 1 crack means there are others you can't see.

Finding that more true by the day haha! But I already have a newer set of oem wheels installed I got from Craigslist.

I also have some tie rods and tie rod ends I should install too but I’ll probably just get a new oem rack as they are only under $300 shipped online.

Do you have a recommendation on what I should look for next? The front and rear subframe are straight as is the actual chassis.

Thanks!

I'd recommend that you go ahead and take it into an alignment shop and let them figure out what is needed - :)


humfrz

You don't need lasers to do an alignment...
And the wheels are cast then DEFINITELY machined.

Your toe is fucked because every part you threw at the car messed it up further and further. Should drive much better after the shop sets the toe properly, hopefully it's a good shop and they'll point you in the right direction on parts and they're not lazy in doing the alignment.

As Strait 61 mention, make sure to bring your car to a decent place, otherwise on cheap places never (or almost never) calibrate properly the TOE equipment (Decent places calibrate at least once per year).


BTW, don't think that all dealers are up to date neither... some dealers are similar than the cheap shops (never calibrate their equipment).


Last, if your tires are already F..k off, considered change it otherwise your drive feeling won't be improved.

Agree! String, tape measure, eyeball and a brain will get you alignment within limits. There are some good DIY alignment tools not too expensive out there that will get your alignment better then the reject running the "laser alignment" machine.

I hate being that guy that asks questions that are no longer relevant, but why did you buy that car? I hope you got a good deal knowing it was wrecked or something. If you bought it from a dealer (which I highly doubt) I would highly recommend you try to take it back per lemon law regulations.

Anyway, my advice is take to a reputable shop for a thorough inspection and alignment. If a car was badly wrecked, the alignment shop will likely have difficulty doing the alignment and should know something is up and will give you an idea of what is damaged. If a car was in a fairly serious accident, every suspension component could be at least somewhat bent or damaged. I would befriend the alignment guy/shop and see if you can take a peek under the car when they do the alignment/put on lift. It is much easier to look at the bottom of a car and see what's what when it is 5 feet off the ground. Good luck.

And for the record, not sure why people are even suggesting using string and a tape measure for checking alignment. I mean, I don't necessarily doubt that it can be accurately done but you would certainly need to know what you are doing for that process.

Lemon Law does not really apply to private party sales in California. Seems pretty annoying if they do in Arizona, I can't imagine all the b.s. you'd have to deal with trying to sell something with those laws in place.


Toe plates are $60 and can keep you from putting together a dangerous vehicle. I've messed with string, switched to laser levels that do a vertical line, spent hours in the garage measuring and checking, shimming the floor, setting up scales, corner balancing cars, it's fucking annoying, pay the $120 for a decent shop to do it once or twice a year, sanity check with quick and easy tools and spend your weekends and evenings doing more fun things.

Brian disagrees with you.