I was looking at my right front tire while putting in new bearings(feels much better now, no more vibration during turning) and i noticed that the far side of the tred from the body(closest to you if your looking at the car) is really bady worn, no tread whatsoever, the left tire is fine though, i guess my camber or caster is off i had an alignment done about 3-4 months ago, can i blame them? this is probably why my car screechs like crazy turning low speed turning. What is involved to fix this, what suspension parts should i check for damage. and lastly can any old alignment shop fix this, and hopefully not too expensive. Thanks in advance, Matt

 

From your post, it sounds like you identified the treadwear problem at the same time that you were changing out the wheel bearing on that side - there's your likely problem!

When the wheel bearing goes out, it allows the brake rotor, onto which the wheel/tire is mounted, to move in strange oscillations under speed and corner, which very likely caused your tires to wear strangely on the outside edge.

A reputable alignment center will usually warn the owner of this issue when they do the initial inspection to align the car, i.e., if your wheel is bent, they will tell you that they can only get it 'close', and it may not stay in tune - same for if you have worn struts or lower control arm bushings or idler arm bushings that are worn out.

I wouldn't worry too much about the treadwear issue now, but would definitely go and have it realigned now that you've fixed the problem. HTH,

 

Sounds like your idler arm bushings are shot. Check them.

 

Well i'm definately go get them checks and probably realigned, but i remember a post from a while ago saying that the wheels stock have i believe a negative 1 degree camber, and that for better handeling it can be adjusted to positive somehow. how is this done?

 

The only stock adjustment to caster and camber are built into the upper strut tower mount. The big hole in the body is centered on the four bolt holes while the actual upper strut mount is not. It will look like the strut isn't centered between the bolts. By removing the four strut mount bolts, compressing the spring and dropping the front suspension out of the fender, you can turn the upper mount to decide which hole each of the four bolts will go through. By turning the cockeyed upper assembly, you can slightly manipulate your caster and camber together, but not independently. You've got to play with it and get it as close as you can. If that isn't good enough, time for some camber plates that'll let you adjust it.

 

Like Crit said. Look at the strut toppers. Youll see its offset in the center, and theres a little arrow on the top ring. Stock specs are pos camber (yuck). You can get about 0*, maybe a little neg camber. Jack up the car (obey all saftey rules), remove the 4 nuts. push the strut down so the studs are out of the holes and rotate it so the arrow is back and inboard. Most alignment shops wont do this cause its time consuming (or if they do theyll charge extra), and its out of the factory specs. Do this yourself and take it and have them set the toe.

Oh, and check that idler arm! Also check you steering and linkages and balljoints while you at it. Cars dont go out of alignment unless parts wear out, or you hit something.

 

that sounds good, What specifically should i look for when checking the idler arm?

 

sorry, i'm a bit confused, once i jack the car up, and compress the spring a bit, i unscrew the nuts on the strut tower, and pull the strut assembly down, but i'm confused as to what i need to adjust, and turn, (cockeyed upper assembly) I'm looking at the victoria britsh catolog, and i thinking you are referring to what they call the adjust plate, or the mounting block. Which is it, or will it be self explanitory once i drop the strut. Thanks in advance, Matt

 

The whole top section is on a bearing. The four bolts and upper mount will spin. Doing this changes very slightly the position of the upper mount in your car, which adjusts your camber and caster. Just turn it so the arrow is facing the inside rear bolt, then push it all back up through the fender and torque it.

 

On the idler arm. Have someone rock the steering wheel back and forth and look at the ilder arm. Youll see if theres any wobble in it. The bushings tend to get cooked cause theyre so close to the exhaust.