Car alignment issues!?
I purchased my vehicle for six hundred dollars a few years ago and although it has been most reliable, there are quite a few things that are wrong with it that have never been fixed.
One problem to tackle at a time! So my car alignment has been re-aligned multiple times but to no avail. Three times to be exact. I've had the car re-aligned with a new set of tires, w/o a new set of tires, after the tires had been used down to the steel... Each time I bring the car back it will prematurely wear the tires down sometimes within 15000 miles.
From previous documents the previous owner gave to me, the car had been re-aligned by the dealership before, and hasn't been well since.
The car has been in a wreck before, but not major.
I went to Firestone to see if they could re-align the wheels and they wanted 400 dollars. I said no thanks, considering that was 2/3 the cost of my vehicle.
There are pictures below, if there's anything you guys can suggest (besides getting a new car because I'm a college student barely getting by) I would be grateful.
I guess I'm looking for the most reliable or trustworthy places that people would know from personal experience that would be capable of fixing my alignment problem.
Toyota Camry 1991 I4 2.0L
257k miles and running strong
If there is more information required just let me know.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v508/cycosurfer2...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v508/cycosurfer2...
Thanks for looking!
Update:http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v508/cycosurfer2...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v508/cycosurfer2...
Comments
You quite possibly need ball joints, that is I suspect why the Firestone guy gave you a 400 estimate to "realign the wheels" No alignment on it's own will cost 400, only in conjunction with often needed repair. The guys who are probably screwing you are the ones that are "aligning" the car with toasted ball joints, if they are worth their salt they would know that your problem will return they are basically just tweaking it so it goes straight. But they also know you are a broke college student so if they say 400 dollars to fix you will leave, if they say 65 dollars to fix you will pay.
Honestly though I had to chuckle when you said 600 dollars a few years ago, my friend, you have gotten the deal of a lifetime with this car. If you gotta throw ball joints in or maybe tie rod ends who cares, that is called maintenance and sometimes it's needed, even if the car was only 600 dollars. What you have to ask yourself is can you replace your whole car with another problem free one for the price of the needed repair. If the repairs come to 400 the answer is probably not, so go ahead and fix it.
Shop around and ask a totally different shop the same questions you asked here, get an estimate from them and make your decision. Also don't rule out the wreck even if it was minor, if the wrong part was tweaked the car will may not drive 100% even if it feels good to you. Again a good mechanic can find these things out for you, a picture just really doesn't tell the whole story.
Your alignment people should give you some advice. I would find another shop. I suspect from what I can see the tire wear is from UNDER inflation. You need to get a tire air gauge and use the same one at least every two weeks. I keep my tires at 35 psi. If your tires are losing air when you check them they may need to be remounted so they don't leak. ALWAYS check your tires at the coolest part of the day. Early morning is good. Tires should be cool at normal air temp.
Get a second opinion on the Alignment for a quality Independent repair garage, collision repair garage or tire dealer
It looks like a camber problem. Drive the vehicle forward in a straight line. Stand about 50' from the front of the vehicle & look at the tires. They should be straight, if they are leaning outward, there may be a spring or suspension problem.
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i will assume one thing, you drive at a high rate of speed on the free way. if this is true, then this is very normal. if not , then i am at a loss.