Front camber and caster are not adjustable. front camber can be adjusted by adding a kit but that would have been a significant upcharge. Rear camber and toe are both adjustable
Last post by CTEric was 9 months ago and he never returned so I doubt he will see your post .
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I ended up going to another local shop who is often recommended and the tech there thought the guys at Goodyear just made up the numbers haha. I think he did mention that Front camber and caster are not adjustable so he wasnāt sure how they got those numbersā¦When I go out to my car today Iāll take a photo of the ārealā adjustment from the second shop.
Even if not adjustable they can be measured.
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100%
Even on a 1995 Mustang type vehicle, trucks included, any straight axle, you can measure the rear camber and toe even though it is not adjustable and is hard to view, but I have found bent axles that wayā¦ An alignment machine that puts 4 heads on the vehicle can measure front camber, caster and toe and rear camber and toeā¦ If your new shop says they can not be measured then either he is still using a light board or does not know how to do alignments, either way, if you understood him correctly, then you need to run and never go backā¦
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Exactly. Years ago when I had my own shop I hired a young man who had worked at a national tire-based chain store. When he did alignments often the caster readings were blank, meaning he never even did a caster sweep to measure it. I asked him about that and he replied that it wasnāt adjustable anyway so why bother measuring it.
He didnāt last very long with me.
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They were measured, the point is: why did the camber and caster values change?
It is a common ploy when performing alignments on late model vehicles to ādoctor upā the before measurements, this gives validation to the customer or warranty administrator that alignment adjustments were necessary.
The toe values before the alignment were within range, the OP could have skipped the alignment and saved $150. However, the fine tune of the toe adjustment will extend the service life of the tires by 500 miles.
I see what you mean. Whatās the Ā± on caster and camber measurements? How much might they vary if a car is checked, moved, then checked again without any adjustments?
The vehicle shouldnāt be moved fore/aft, the brakes must remain applied after the wheel mount ārolling compensationā is performed.
The steer ahead is off, having the steering wheel off-center causes this. That is not important before adjustments begin, there will be a command later to center the wheel before the toe adjustment.
Applying a little jack pressure to the chassis to raise the left front will alter the camber values in order to give out-of-spec before measurements.
I also see a lot of techs raise the vehicle just high enough to mount the heads while only setting the rack on one lock, do the rolling compensation etc and printā¦ Then if sold or warranty, raise the vehicle to be able to get under the vehicle and then lower the rack down on both locks which levels the rackā¦ That will change the readings alsoā¦