Rear wheel camber adjustment on prime keeps getting off

is this at an authorized toyota repair facility?

 

Two degrees would be noticeable. Are they pulling your leg, or can you actually tell from looking at both rear wheels? -2º should be some pretty obvious inward tilt if the other wheel is closer to 0º.

There's no reason it wouldn't hold unless they aren't tightening the camber bolt properly, or you're hitting some nasty bumps with the same wheel.

Also, I don't think alignment check is part of the ToyotaCare checks, are they doing this as a courtesy? (Or a money grab?)

 

what do they say when you ask them?

 

No adjustment for the rears, shims

Rear End Alignment Kit - Toyota Corolla - moog-k6660-4

 

The book calls for using a

1. 1. http://www.amazon.com/Magnetic-Camber-Caster-Automobile-Alignment/dp/B00PB7V3SU
      
      Camber-caster-kingpin Gauge

1. 
   Camber is not adjustable. If the measurement is not within the specified range, inspect the suspension parts for damage and/or wear, and replace them if necessary..

​

 

i'm no expert, but i think you're being played. you can either adjust the suspension or you can't.

if nothing is broken, it shouldn't go out of adjustment in 5,000 miles, unless you're off roading.

 

Rear Alignment with Shim | PriusChat

 

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Memphis, Tennessee in the USA? What's "BE"? Not Belgium? It helps to know location man.

Do you know the camber spec. You say it's out by 2 degrees, but from what baseline. The spec probably is a bit of camber, ie: the wheels should splay out slightly at the bottom, for more stability when cornering.

Also, per @bisco: if it was off, and they adjusted it, why would it go off again??

Maybe get a short Toyota Tech Info subscription and search it up (as my grandson says ).

Is that third gen, what book? Fourth gen may be adjustable, having independent rear suspension.

 

Yeah a carpenter's square would do the trick. Do you know the camber spec?

I believe this is rear camber spec for third gen. The Repair Manual is poorly written, doesn't specifically say rear, but a few pages back talks about the (adjustable) front camber adjustment, so just connecting the dots:

 

You can do a little trigonometry if you have the spec'd camber angle: set one leg of the angle on the slab, push it in till it touches the rubber at six o'clock, measure the corresponding gap to the rubber at 12 o'clock, measure the distance between those two contact points, and those two measurements are legs of right angle triangle, the shorter leg divided by the longer leg is the "tan" of the angle.

Following that, I'm getting 0.5"/19.5" (right side) and 0.25"/19.5" (left side), which equate roughly to (degree) angles of 1.3 and (right) and 0.7 left. Left side is not pulling it's load, but meh: the tires are wearing fine, so I leave it be. Third gen is not easily adjustable, requires heroics with shims, too much hassle.


(Rim protector edge on our 17" make for crisp measure.)

 

If Toyota can't please you I would take it to a frame and axle shop and see what they say. They are used to seeing all kind of oddball alignment problems and are probably have better equipment than a Toyota dealer. You would have to pay for it out of your own pocket.

 

As someone else pointed out, the Gen 4 uses a different rear suspension design. Through Gen 3, when the Prius used a torsion beam, adjustments were made with shims. The Prime, like the current Prius, uses upper and lower control arms, with a trailing arm and locating link, all bolted to a knuckle, for an independent rear suspension setup. I haven't looked at one in person, only the diagram, but if one of the bolts on the lower link is eccentric it could be used for toe adjustment; my last car, a 2005 Civic, used a design like this.

However, I don't know of any cars outside of some exotics that have adjustable camber, especially in the rear. It's fixed by the lengths of the arms by design, although adjustable length control arms are available for popular models (like my aforementioned Civic). If the OP's camber is off by that much in just 5,000 miles, there's something wrong.

 

This is not something you'd do on a whim though. Aren't those shims installed behind everything, even the bearing, which is a royal bear to remove, once it's rusted in there for a few years. If the tires look fine and you're not noticing anything, say when cornering, I would just leave it be.