The diagnosis of my Accord says after alighment: Total toe 0.49 and the specified range is (-0.16 +0.16). How bad is it? what may be causing that? I got the car from salvage. My mechanic alo told me that I have a bent rack and pinion, could all this be connected?
Indeed thank you for the input and warm regards
I’m not sure a bent rack and pinion could even work so I’m a little dubious on that one, can’t be bent very much anyway. As far as the total toe goes, its adjustable. It should not be that after alignment, if it is, then the alignment tech didn’t do his job.
You have to do a 4 wheel alignment on these vehicles. If the rear wheels are not aligned first, the car will never track right.
“I got the car from salvage.”
First mistake.
Spending money trying to make it right would be your second mistake.
Dump this thing before it bankrupts you. Don’t spend any more money. Sell the car.
I would be a bit skeptical about a bent rack and pinion.
Before any toe problem can be addressed the caster and camber specs need to be known as the camber being out a bit will cause the toe to be off.
If the camber is off due to a collision then the cause of that needs to be determined first.
That is too much thrust angle (toe in) but it usually goes toward minus numbers. It’s not so far off as to cause alarm; just get it adjusted. I would believe in a bent tie rod more than a bent rack and pinion. What was the problem besides poor gas mileage.
Indeed thank you so much for your input Ok4450,McParadise, Keith and Pleasedogevan.
I took the car in for maintenance check because, I had a horrific gas mileage; I felt as if the car was unstable when turning right of left, the front Right tire was completely eaten up to the thread ( all 4 tires were recently replaced new, < 1year).
The report from the mechanic stipulated this, after service:
Front Left: Camber 0.6 (spec range: -1 to 1); caster 0.7 (spec range: 1.8 to 3.8); toe was 0.42 now 0.32 (spec range: -0.08 to 0.08)
Front Right: Camber 0.6 (spec range: -1 to 1); caster 1.2 (spec range: 1.8 to 3.8); toe was 0.65 now 0.16 (spec range: -0.08 to 0.08.)
Front: total toe was 1.06 and now 0.49 (spec range -0.16 to 0.16).
For the rear: Cross camber is 0.1; total toe was 0.20 and is now 0.18 and the Trust angle is was -0.10 and is now 0.01.
The mechanics recommended to take it to a frame shop to repair a suspected rack and pinion bent. He also said that the RF toe was adjusted to max???
The car’s running has certainly improved with the new alignment and new tire,though it’s a salvage car,I I would like it to last me another year and would like to know what I should be doing about it? check up for a possible bent tie rod? find a way to adjust the Toe? and lastly how much should I expect to pay?
And again, you guys have certainly helped me a whole lot and great to have you guys here.
Thank you
It does sound like it’s time to take it to a body shop.
When a tie rod (RF in this case) is adjusted all of the way this means:
- The opposing side (LF) is misadjusted and is too far off in the other direction.
- Something is bent and is being compensated for by adjusting the toe.
I’m not convinced that you have a bent steering rack or one that has been knocked somewhat out of place but the RF tire being eaten up that quickly sure raises a red flag.
What I would consider first would be bent control arms, bent sub-frame, bent strut tower, or a combination of all of the above.
Here’s a couple of things you could look at before having a body shop examine it.
Take a tape measure and measure from the back of the RF wheel (wheel, not tire) to the front of the RR wheel. Do the same for the other side and compare the measurements. They should be very close (within a 1/4")
Raise the hood and examine the strut tower (body part where the strut mounts) for any cracked paint. Cracked paint often means that it is bent, and it takes a pretty good hit to bend this area.
No idea on any straightening costs involved but a body shop should be able to quote you a price for a simple check. Many larger shops use high tech alignment machines equipped with lasers and they can often pull one back into shape if something is bent. Hope that helps.
Just wanted to add that while I don’t do much body work (I despise sanding) I have done quite a few suspension repairs on cars that have suffered hits.
Much of the time the control arms suffer and since many body shop guys are not terribly mechanically inclined they may be blissfully unaware the control arms are even bent. Kind of a “looks fine to me” thing.