Hi,
Driving a 93 Mercury Sable. I have a passengers side back wheel which is showing uneven and excessive wear on the inner side. I was not involved in an accident, and am told that my make of car can not be aligned in the back.
My mechanic is in favor of a ‘dirty’ fix- drilling a hole in one of the pieces to adjust camber. Please link for pictures in the end of this post.
I wonder if there is more accurate way to do it, or maybe a simpler way to fix this problem that won’t require replacing a lot of parts.
link for photos:
http://tiny.cc/0t3u7
There is a “kit” available for doing rear alignment on this vehicle.
If your mechanic is not aware of this, you may need a new mechanic.
Take this car to a professional alignment shop. They will know what to do.
“Dirty” fixes are never a good idea. A mechanic who suggests such things is questionable.
You need a new mechanic before anything else. Drilling a hole may cause premature failure of the part. They don’t call it dirty for nothing.
I took the car to two mechanics and both said the back can’t be aligned. I guess not many shops have the ‘kit’ talked about in this thread. A third shop didn’t catch this when their job was to align all 4 wheels, I only noticed this problem a couple weeks ago.
Do you know of a shop in the Boston area that might have this kind of kit?
There are lots of shops to check with in Boston. The other possible cause would be a worn out wheel bearing but the other shop should have checked for that. Changing that upper control arm could be the “Legal Seafood” way to fix the problem. I would be tempted to bend it as an adjustment, but that’s just my wish repair. If I could wish it to happen, I could afford to do it.
The shops may not have the kit in stock, but it can be ordered very easily from their parts supplier.
Moog, manufacturer of good-quality suspension and steering components, has this item available and any garage can order it.
There are actually 3 different “kits” available from Moog for the rear suspension of this car, and exactly which adjustments are needed will dictate whether 1, 2, or all 3 of the kits are necessary. Even if all 3 are needed, the parts will cost only about $120. (Note: The garage will have to add a “mark-up” to the parts price in order to make a profit) Then, of course, there is the labor to install the parts.