Calling Carfixer...Things are getting worse!

[MinnesotaMuscle]

After four trips to the alignment rack my tires are shot.....not only can we not get the Camber over far enough, (yes the flags are removed) but since this last trip to the shop it seems the tires are wearing even worse!!! The one side is now showing cords, and have lots of tread on the center and outside...DANG IT! These tires aren't cheap! We've screwed with it and to no prevail. IF Carfixer or anyone else who has actually done this successfully them selves PLEASE pm me....I have to be missing something.... :mad2::mad2::mad2:

[magindat]

After four trips to the alignment rack my tires are shot.....not only can we not get the Camber over far enough, (yes the flags are removed) but since this last trip to the shop it seems the tires are wearing even worse!!! The one side is now showing cords, and have lots of tread on the center and outside...DANG IT! These tires aren't cheap! We've screwed with it and to no prevail. IF Carfixer or anyone else who has actually done this successfully them selves PLEASE pm me....I have to be missing something.... :mad2::mad2::mad2:

same rack? the rack's screwed or your frame's screwed. I'm dropped 1.5" and tires are way far from stock and I'm still tracking straight and wearing even on Claude's specs!!!

[RF Overlord]

I'm using the "David Morton" specs, which are mighty close to carfixer's, and my alignment shop has no trouble setting to them. I agree with Rich, either your alignment shop is defective or your frame is not square.

[MinnesotaMuscle]

HMMMMM I'm on the hunt for another shop that will do this that I trust....

[imorb1994]

I too have the same problem. I had the MM at a frame shop and its srtaight as an arrow. Also mine is not lowered. in my opinion there has to be something different about some of the MM's front end , you know built on friday a 4:50 and the bolt bin was to far away kinda thing

[Ken]

My regular alignment shop F'ed up in April. I knew tires were wearing. Was planning on replacing them before St. Louis. While detailing my rims before Carlisle, I saw the right tire was badly worn, (cords showing, should have changed then), So I swapped with the left. Fast forward to this weekend, The right tire is worn to the cords again. Got it to a new shop that FastMerc recommended. Alignment was way off. The new shop finally broke off the tabs.

Ken

[Dr Caleb]

HMMMMM I'm on the hunt for another shop that will do this that I trust....

Just a question - did they torque things to Grand Marquis, or Marauder specifications.

Torque values are different, and if they use GM specs on a Marauder it will back off in short order.

[magindat]

Just a question - did they torque things to Grand Marquis, or Marauder specifications.

Torque values are different, and if they use GM specs on a Marauder it will back off in short order.

A few marauders got GM front ends, too.

I was thinking along those lines, but didn't know how to say it.

[Dr Caleb]

A few marauders got GM front ends, too.

I was thinking along those lines, but didn't know how to say it.

Hmmm. I know some late 03's and 04's got the steel upper and lower A arms, but don't they all have the Aluminum cross member? IIRC, if it's not torqued to 100 f/lb then again to 110, the bolts can slack off.

Mine is all Aluminum, so I pay attention to that stuff to prevent problems in the future. ;) Haven't had to get an alignment yet though.

[hidperf]

I just had mine done a few months ago and the shop couldn't get the caster even close on one side. The car only had 11k on it when I bought, 16k now and it's never been wrecked. Last weekend I'm driving it and notice the steering wheel is off center now. I'm assuming they didn't tighten things properly.

[Stranger in the Black Sedan]

hidperf, did they actually perform the factory caster adjustment with the centering cones removed? You can not adjust caster until you remove them. Sounds like you guys have found some bad alignment shops.

[ctrlraven]

I'll be getting mine done again but this time I'll be doing the specs. Need to get new struts installed before alignment.

[MinnesotaMuscle]

Yep went to Ford today and explained everything, she was going to talk to the Manager and get back to me.... One of the techs suggested getting an after market Cam kit....DO THEY MAKE SUCH A THING???

As far as the tightening goes, would it hurt for me to crawl under there with my torque wrench and go at it? what was its suppose to be 110 lbs?

[Stranger in the Black Sedan]

One of the techs suggested getting an after market Cam kit....DO THEY MAKE SUCH A THING???

If someone tells you this, they have no idea how to align one of these cars. There is no cam kit required, THE CAR HAS A CAM KIT STOCK. If your car has a stock suspension and is not massively lowered, you do not need any aftermarket alignment parts just to align the car to stock specs.

The camber cams are over 140 ft lbs. It's an oddball #, like 147 or something like that. But if they are way loose, it's too late and the alignment has probably moved.

[MinnesotaMuscle]

But if they are way loose, it's too late and the alignment has probably moved. Good point I didn't think of that...

It will go to "stock" specs but not to the Carfixer's specs.....We'll se what the manager says abotu it...otherwise I'll get them to try it on there rack....

[HotRodMercury]

HMMMMM I'm on the hunt for another shop that will do this that I trust....

Mabey its a lil late for this posting,
but no one will do it like lincon mercury...

[Stranger in the Black Sedan]

Mabey its a lil late for this posting,
but no one will do it like lincon mercury...

Are you kidding, my local Ford dealers (plural) could not even align the Marauder because they didn't have lipless adapters. LOL.

[BigCars4Ever]

Cones...lips can someone post pictures of these things? I'm trying to find an alignment shop that can get my car to carfixers' specs. I'd like to be prepared. Didn't even think of asking about a lipless adapter.

[Stranger in the Black Sedan]

The caster is adjusted by loosening the bolt through the rearmost front LCA bushing. From the factory, there is a metal cone under the nut that forces the LCA to be in a certain position, giving a factory baseline caster setting. You can remove the cone, and then jockey the LCA around w/ the rear nut loose to set caster.

"lips", we don't have them. MM wheels are lipless, and you can not safely mount a hunter alignment head w/ the universal hooks, without chunking the edges of the wheels. There are different products available to hang the alignment heads off something else -- the tire, and a disc that stands off of the lugs, are 2 I've seen.

Most imports and high end cars have had lipless wheels for some time now. An import dealer will definitely have lipless wheel adapters. That would solve that problem. But they probably won't know how to remove the camber flags or the caster cones. 5 years later and we still can't align these cars. LOL.

[hidperf]

hidperf, did they actually perform the factory caster adjustment with the centering cones removed? You can not adjust caster until you remove them. Sounds like you guys have found some bad alignment shops.
Actually, I attempted the alignment myself on our brand new Hunter rack here at the dealership I work for. I removed the tabs and cones before doing the alignment myself. I work in the parts department but have many years of mechanical background and I've done alignments before on my other cars. After I kept getting oddball readings and wasn't able to get the caster anywhere close on the one side, I gave up and took it to a Firestone that we deal with almost daily. I just wasn't confident in my alignment settings but Firestone had the same problem I did with the caster. My next step is either a Ford dealer or bribing one or techs to do it. Seems nobody here wants to touch it though. :alone: