I recently had my inner and outer tie rods done on both sides, stabilizer bars, axles, control arms, and the front passenger wheel assembly replaced. My car is a 2005 Toyota Camry 3.3L with 112k miles. It drives straight, but the steering wheel is still a little crooked, and it pulls to the left when I try to straighten it completely. Should I be concerned about the red areas or is there something I need to fix? I want the steering to be totally straight.
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The right front strut might be bent. You should replace the front struts and add adjustable camber bolts to both sides.
Donna said:
The right front strut might be bent. You should replace the front struts and add adjustable camber bolts to both sides.
Thanks for the advice!
Donna said:
The right front strut might be bent. You should replace the front struts and add adjustable camber bolts to both sides.
Should I buy struts that already have adjustable camber bolts or is that something I should buy separately? Also, should I replace the spring as well, or just the strut?
@Mickey
Get complete struts, but check if they are original. I can’t say for sure it’s bent, but when you loosen the bolts that attach the struts to the knuckle, there’s a little movement you can get, which might be enough to adjust the camber. But that’s a guessing game. You can buy camber bolts separately though.
@Chen
You’ll need to get the alignment redone once you fix the camber. The camber change will affect the toe adjustment.
@Chen
Maybe I can take it back to get realigned. I did have a mechanic check the struts about 1k miles ago, and he said they looked fine, but maybe they do need replacing after all. Do you think the technician might not have had the steering wheel all the way straight when they did the alignment?
It’s likely the right strut is bent. To be sure, the shop needs to do the SAI/IA measurement in the Caster submenu. The cradle might be shifted forward slightly on the left side. A lot of technicians are incorrectly taught that caster isn’t adjustable, and sometimes camber isn’t either if the vehicle manufacturer doesn’t specify how to adjust it.
The issue here is that a trained technician can often do these measurements and adjustments quickly, but they often don’t get paid enough for the time spent doing it. Ask me how I know that.
There are other measurements, like vehicle symmetry, that can tell us more about what exactly needs to be adjusted or replaced, including diagonals, wheelbase, side set, and set back.
@Skylar
Alright, I’ll go ahead and change the struts. I think they’re the stock ones, so it might be time for an upgrade. Thanks for the help!
You’ll get the best results with new tires.
Hollis said:
You’ll get the best results with new tires.
I actually got new tires about 500 miles ago.