Lesabre rear suspension problem

[tz2772]

Hi,

The rear springs on my car were replaced (ACDelco) and now the left rear wheel has quite a bit of negative camber and the right rear has a slight positive camber. Any ideas on what might have gone wrong or what to do about it?

Thanks
matt

[Jrs3800]

It needs to be aligned.... When the springs were replaced was the alignment reset?

[tz2772]

I took it to a Goodyear dealer the day before I left IL for alignment and they aligned the front and they did the front and told me that the Rear was not adjustable at all, except with shims!! That can't be right. I hope I did not hurt anything bringing it to FL like this but I had no choice.

Left Camber -2.1
Right +0.5

matt

[myfirstbonnie]

The camber is adjusted with simply loosening the bolts attaching the strut to the wheel hub assembly. The bolts are a cam shape and as they turn they rotate the assembly and then retightened to hold the position. This, however needs to be done on the rack so the acurate measurements can be made. They obviously only did a 2 wheel alignment. Maybe they don't have the equipment for this. I took my 89 and had it aligned 3 months ago and it cost $75. The other important thing about the 4 wheel alignment is to keep the rear of the car pointed in the same direction as the front.

I say to either go back and talk to them or go to a different shop.

[Ol' Timer]

go to a different shop.

x2

When I replaced my rear shocks, many moons ago, my rear wheels were looking way out of sync. I just hobbled down to my local PEP Boys and they did a nice job pointing me into the right direction. I'm surprised a national chain like Goodyear could not do this right. They should have never attempted the job.

[Alibi]

I have never been impressed with Goodyear. Overpriced for sub par service... at least thats how it is in Joplin.

[Jrs3800]

I have never been impressed with Goodyear. Overpriced for sub par service... at least thats how it is in Joplin.

Same here brother... They sucked and still suck... There were so bad here the One locally folded...

They tole me once I needed new struts when I had just put on my Brand new Monroes... I gave them a piece of my mind and never went back... They had also told me I needed a brake job... They were trying to pull one over on me... The only reason I went there is that the Older guy that worked there was an ASE Master Mechanic and did alignments like no other.. He quit when things got bad..

And the rear not being adjustable.... Total garbage... There is no room for Caster, but lots of room for Camber....



And, just to be able to hang onto the alignment as it was set before the springs, I would have dropped the top mount of the strut from the body... This would have retained the the Camber setting... I have done this before simply to stay as close to the true camber setting as possible on an H Body..

[tz2772]

Of course the Service manual backs you guys up completely. Since its warranted for 12k miles I have no choice but to return to a Goodyear shop here in Melbourne to have it fixed right.

The original shop doesn't deserve to be in business. When I called them out on the "we need to use shims" BS, they claimed I was accusing their "Tech" that he didn't know how to do an alignment. I guess I must have been....... morons.

thanks again.

matt

[Jrs3800]

I would have told them that your Tech evidently does not know how to do alignments if he thinks any 85-99 Buick H and 85-96 Buick C body needs shims to align the rear.. Just amazing to me..

This just tells me how sad they really are...

[dirtracr95]

I bet the tech just looked it up on the computer and said that it was only adjustable with shims. I worked for goodyear and i know that the Hunter alignment rack says that the Hbody cars can only be adjusted with shims. Now i wasnt an alignment tech i had never done one before but i had the alignment tech help me which actually slowed me down because he is a real idiot when it comes to car. He looked it up and the computer said it needed shims i told him no look at it you adjust it the same as the front. he was like well what do u know the computer was wrong. it also said the same thing for the Toe in-out and i was like no it has rear tierods. he still had that stupid look on his face.

[Jrs3800]

The Very reason I take my cars to my local trusty shop... They are gearhead people that act like humans.. And the best part... They really know their stuff

[Chris D.]

I took it to a Goodyear dealer the day before I left IL for alignment and they aligned the front and they did the front and told me that the Rear was not adjustable at all, except with shims!! That can't be right. I hope I did not hurt anything bringing it to FL like this but I had no choice.

Left Camber -2.1
Right +0.5

matt

They figured at a glance that it was just a solid axle trailing setup..

Tell them its an Independent Rear Suspension..

[myfirstbonnie]

Please quit digging up 2 year old threads.

[Ol' Timer]

Please quit digging up 2 year old threads.

Yeah! It makes me want to "dig up" my Oldsmobile!
1991 Dark Garnet Red Oldsmobile 88 - Donated to Science

[Chris D.]

Please quit digging up 2 year old threads.

The information mite help others having the same scenarios when they search the forum..
I'm not used to this forum layout and didn't see where the date for the last post was..

you'll live..

[harofreak00]

We are all about helping other members, but bringing up old threads is not helping the greater cause. Please don't dig up old threads, this is an official warning.