Integra could not be aligned?!

sw33tviolnturge

sweet violent urge
On 11/17/12 I woke up to my passenger front tire being flat as hell. Upon closer inspection (as I took the tire off to pop on the rim and brand new Hankook from my '94 Civic), I noticed the inside of the tire was worn enough for the steel to be exposed and actually cut me (of course lol). So OBVIOUSLY I need an alignment. Should be simple enough, right? WRONG. Go to my appointment on the 26th(soonest the shop could get me in what with Thanksgiving). They dismount, mount and balance the Hankooks onto my stock Acura rims for me and say "we couldn't align the car. As soon as it was on the machine it said 'reboot' because your cradle may be bent." Not really understanding what that all meant I asked for clarification. Guy said "maybe you hit something, like even a pothole and bent it." I haven't hit anything, but I explained to him the car was recently purchased. He says "well they knew it when they sold it to you then. The driver front tire is further back than the passenger." Frustrated I pay for the D/M/B of the tires, thank them and head home. I call my family mechanic and explain the ordeal to him. He checks it out today and says the cradle looks fine, that if anything the lower control arm on the driver front could be bent. When he measured the wheel base, it was off by like 1/2" AYE AYE AYE. So now I am awaiting the LCA and hopefully replacing that will allow the car to be aligned!! I did a little browsing/searching on here, on google, and on team integra. Found a few people saying bent LCA was more likely than a bent cradle... Any insight?

Thanks guys.
 

emd513

New Member
Yeah its way more likely. Bending the cradle is a lot harder to do and doubt it was from a pot hole either.

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NemesisCBR

Boredest Member
Sounds like youre moving in the right direction. Those bends can sometimes be too subtle to see. I suspect a slight bend somewhere on my passenger side too.
 


Theasian

New Member
With a alignment machine you can measure set back cross distances. With those angles plus caster most mechanics would conclude a bent arm not cradle. I would grab some measuring tape find a center reference lon the core support and measure the distance to the ball joint of both lower control arms. But as stated most likely you have a bent lower arm not a cradle
 

tucents

New Member
was the camber and toe out a lot? they should have showed you the screen and went through what those numbers meant
 

sw33tviolnturge

sweet violent urge
Dude didn't show me any of the numbers on the screen or a print out. Maybe because they didn't wind up charging me for the alignment? I don't know. Regardless I'm never trying to get an alignment there again. My family mechanic replaced the lower control arm for my yesterday and we could immediately see a difference. The wheel base on both sides matches now, and you can visually see that the driver side tire is no longer as close to the wheel well. Also, the car doesn't pull to the left anymore at all. Needless to say I was ecstatic. Until today when I took it for a longer drive (25 miles round trip) and noticed I can hear a rubbing or slight squealing noise. Eep. It's very quiet unless I'm braking while the wheel is cut to the left or right. My first (uneducated) guess was the tire rubbing on something since it happens at the rate of rotation. I'll call my mechanic shortly but was curious if anyone here had a guess? Perhaps I still need the alignment. Lol. Whatever it is I hope it's not major.
 


NemesisCBR

Boredest Member
Most alignment techs assume people dont know anything and/or dont care to see the numbers. You can always just ask what they were and for a printout if you want it. Its always recommended to get an alignment anytime you alter suspension.

Alignment shouldnt cause the sound of brake squeal. You should inspect your brakes and see if theyre worn down, worn unevenly, look at the rotors for indication of wear in places that shouldnt be. Could possibly be parts that are loose. Of course this is if it sounds like metal. You might need to describe the sound and occurance more. If its the tire rubbing on the body you can usually see indications either on the tire, inside the wheel well somewhere or both. If youre not sure if something is new or old marking you can use masking tape over the area and after you drive the next time see if its been rubbed.
 

99TegLs

Senior Member
I had a slight squeaking in my suspension when I tightened everything up shortly after purchasing my car. I would recommend checking the brakes first, as that is a safety issue, then see if it still makes a noise. You mentioned turning in your post, so it may be a suspension problem. Especially since the new control arm was installed and I'm willing to bet the family mechanic tightened everything down. Just my 2 cents. And it still needs an alignment, no matter if it doesn't pull to the left anymore.
 
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