Ls600 alignment

[wacko]

Hi

Recently the 600 started pulling to the left, not a violent pull but enough to overcome the lane keeping assist.

All four tyres were only a month old so I suspected the alignment had been knocked out from multiple pot hole hit on our wonderful roads.

A full alignment showed that both front wheels castor and toe were out of spec and were adjusted. ~All angles are now in spec but not at the ideal settings and the car still pulls slightly to the left.

When I spoke to the garage they said that that was the best could do and any further adjustment would require changing parts of the front suspension.

Don't know that much about wheel alignment and less about the suspension setup on the LS600 as I cant find a manual online to check their statement.

Does anyone have experience of 600's pulling to the left or it's alignment setup. would the alignment figures below cause the car to still pull to the left or should they be OK as they are all in the green, although the before and after castor angle for the front left has the same before and after value but one is red and one is green!

Failing that can anyone recommend a good alignment centre in the Edinburgh area?

I have attached the alignment printout below.

All help and advice greatly appreciated.

 

  

[steve2006]

I'm also no expert on alignment but obvious as it may be have you checked the tyre pressures and the condition of the tyres for cuts/bulges etc.

You could also swop the wheels from front to back (not side to side though) and see if the situation changes.

Where did you take the car for the alignment? "The best we can do" wouldn't fill me with confidence regarding their ability.

Any advisories on the last MOT regarding suspension component wear?

Another possibility is a sticking front brake caliper, check to see if one is much hotter than the other after a run by feel but take care when doing so.

[wacko]

All tyre pressures are correct and there are no cuts etc. I had already swapped the tyres front to back and side to side but it made no difference.

both brakes are free running.

The car was checked at a local fast fit centre but they did have an all singing and dancing alignment bay. However that doesn't mean that they know how to do proper alignment checks and adjustments.

[Malc]

.......  but seeing all the Green does indicate that the alignments are correct ( I guess ) at the time of resetting and adjusting  AT THAT TIME , whatever the condition of the bushes on the steering gubbins.

Malc

[MLW]

I agree. This is a very 'normal' set of data, i.e. before it is out, and then it is set up correctly.

American Hamilton alignment machines have taken a lot of the guesswork out of setting up a car. The computer says 'what should this car be set to?'. It then finds out what it is set up as, and finally after adjustment, shows you in green that it is spot on. I can't see what more they can do but get it pretty well 'spot on'. It might be a very very slightly binding brake. A tyre swop around might also help.

[Malc]

not quite what I meant really ............  notwithstanding everything is reset to the correct parameters at that moment in time, if the bushes or whatever are not quite right, the resetting won't repair the damaged or worn bushes and that means that the alignment might immediately go awry again once the car is driven and those components are under road driving stress.

Does that make sense ?  I'm just a novice trying to think it thru' logically !

Malc

[MLW]

Good point, but in my experience bushes degrade over 10-15 years, and don't just 'go funny'. I feel something more fundamental is at fault here.