Had my Prius aligned. It returned with an alignment report indicating that only 2 out of 8 values had been set correctly. The other 6 are out of specs and the alignment company couldn't get this any better. This is at the front only, the back alignment is ok. - caster is within specs, left & right - camber left : 3.14 degrees (specs : 0,33 .. -0.57) - camber right : -4.33 degrees (specs : -0,57 .. 0,33) - tracking left : -0.34 degrees (specs : 0.00 .. 0.12) - tracking right : 0.31 degrees (specs : 0.12 .. 0.00) - total tracking : -0.03 degrees (specs :0.00 .. 0.24) - steering wheel straight: -0.33 degrees (specs -0.03 .. 0.03) Toyota doesn't know why these values are not within in specs. The car pulls a little bit to the right but that is not that really annoying. Some suggested the car may have been damaged, which is always a possibility, but Toyota as well as another mechanic have seen the car and the didn't find traces of that. So it makes me curious, why it cannot be aligned within specs. One says when a car had an accident, it should be aligned. But what if the car hasn't been in an accident, and alignment is not possible? Any ideas?
Did you buy it new A shop that bends frames will tell you exactly the problem, this is the first google hit for a frame shop, a bent frame is not align able... Bent Frame, Frame Straightening Shop Collision Article | Valley Pacific Frame and Suspension Ah, just saw where you are, but still
Is the company doing the alignment reputable? I took my 2010 Prius (gen III vs your 2009 gen II...not sure if it makes a difference) to Firestone (a big chain here in the states) and they were able to fix my alignment (after I kissed the curb; I got careless). ps-the rear won't have alignment issues as they are in a single axle...
The back is within specs and non-adjustable. The car has been aligned by a company with good reputation I think, I don't have experience with these companies or services
That's an extreme amount of camber and would be easily noticed from a visible inspection alone. Can you post a head-on picture? Given the arrangement of the measurements it looks like the car took a big hit which knocked everything hard to the left.
I will post a photo today. I also expected to be able to see this amount of camber. As I understand, from the point of view sitting in the car, both wheels, according to the report, should stand to the left: \ \ I looked at the front of the car this morning, but I didn't see this. I will check again and make pictures.
Yeah, it sure looks like that's what happened. With 0 degrees of total toe the car will track straight but you will wear out your tires EXTREMELY quickly. I would suggest you not drive the car until you get this sorted out.
I checked it, visually, and made photo's. When I'm at home I will post them, but there's nothing special to see. The wheels appear to be vertically straight.
No use to post the photo's, they show nothing. I did some measurements however, on a flat floot. I don't know the angle of the camber, but I do know that it's not 3 or 4 degrees. For all wheels it's less then 1 degree and front as well as back show / \
On my fun car I run about -2.5 degrees of camber and it is clearly visible. Positive 4 and -3 would be visually pretty obvious. I'd get a second opinion. The camber is especially visible on the front wheel in this picture.
Thanks, yes, I will get a second opion next week. And I'll make photo's from the same angle you did, tomorrow. I'm pretty sure that it will not show. I used a level set to the wheel and it wasn't that much from 0 degrees. How did yours get that camber? And did it get corrected?
Update Had a second opinion. The report from the first company did not appear to be correct: most of the readings were within specs, and the ones that weren't have been corrected within a couple of minutes. The car has been aligned now, all in the green.
Thanks. For the first allignment, I brought my Prius to Toyota, but it appeared they had another company do it. I went to Toyota to let them see the reports. Today they called me to let me know that their alignment company screwed up and Toyota will refund the costs for the alignment.
