Suspension Woes in a Baja

[ScottD]

I have a 2003 Baja. My driveway is about a mile long and very rocky. The underside takes a beating.

 

I took the car in to a Subaru dealer a month ago to get the steering aligned(4 wheel alignment). They said the right rear links(forward & rear) were bent and would need to be replaced before attempting to align the car. I knew they had been hit by a rock or two and were dinged but they looked fine to me. I relented and $300 later I'm handed an alignment report that says the car is still out of alignment.

 

They are now saying:

 

1.) the left front strut needs replaced because they can't adjust out the -0.5 of camber.

 

2.) both rear trailing arm links need replaced because they can't adjust out -1.8 left and -2.6 degrees of camber on the respective rear wheels.

 

My questions are,

 

can a strut that is not leaking, looks perfectly good, cause the -0.6 degrees of camber? wouldn't that be the spring?

 

If the trailing arm links are bent, wouldn't that require all the attaching hardware to also be bent? Seems like they are just replacing parts until the problem magically goes away?

 

I have a Haynes manual that says I can adjust the camber in the rear wheels, but the dealer mechanic says its fixed and not adjustable? Who's right?

 

Scott

[bulwnkl]

OK, I'm going to go out on a small limb here and say that your Haynes manual is correct about the adjustability of the rear camber. However, even if Fuji didn't built it that way, a good alignment shop (which the dealer normally is not) can adjust the camber.

 

If you have no other symptoms of strut problems of any kind at all, I'd suggest leaving that shop and going elsewhere. You should be able to get 'camber bolts' that'll let you adjust the camber to where you need it on the Baja, as well as any strut-suspension car. They're an eccentric bolt and the front of your Baja at least should already have them for 1 of the 2 bolts that holds the strut to the lateral link (lower control arm). If that adjustment is not enough to fix the issue, you can put an eccentric in the lower hole as well, or just get a 'more eccentric' eccentric bolt. Again, a good alignment shop will be much more help than a dealer IME.

 

An alternative is that the structure of the truck is bent and it needs to be put on a frame machine. That's super-expensive (they used to cost $10,000/month to lease/buy and that was almost 15 years ago) and may or may not be the problem.

 

Another alternative is that your Baja was just built with the holes a little out of spec such that you have the alignment options/adjustment that you have.

 

Either way, get away from the dealer. I am dubious as to their troubleshooting skills based both on experience and your description of events thus far. If you need help finding a good alignment shop, try to find a local autocross or racing club (local SCCA club?) and ask members of it for recommendations. You should get a consensus right away about who knows what about alignment in your area.

[porcupine73]

Hi ScottD and to the board!

 

If the rear suspension is the regular mcpherson type, then eccentric camber bolts such as the ones below (typically by putting one in the top mounting hole, or if that doesn't get enough adjustment, one in the top and one in the bottom for the two bolts holding the strut to the bearing housing.)

 

However if the Baja has the independent link or whatever they call it rear suspension, (such as this pic of my '00 outback), the camber bolts will not work because the strut does not mount to the bearing housing with two bolts like the regular mcpherson style.

 

Eccentric camber bolt is in the top hole (this is front of '00 obw):

[idosubaru]

here are the facts - they are throwing parts at it and not fixing the problem - $300 later nothing is resolved. they are continuing down the same path. i'd look for a more specialized shop.

 

this is bizarre, i've jumped my 20 year old rusted XT6's, lived down a mile of gravel and rock road, towed 18 foot trailers, slammed them through massive snow, off road, creek crossings, buried them in fields, and haven't ever had problems like this. with the exception of a bent control arm when off roading in the snow. but that was easy...swapped control arms and never got an alignment and had the car for years afterwards with perfect tire wear. hard to believe this young of a vehicle is having all these suspension issues.

[ScottD]

bulwnkl,

 

Thanks for your thoughts, I think the dealer is playing me for a looser and will continue to replace perfectly good parts until I run out of money.

 

I will try the method outlined in the manual and see if I can change the camber.

 

Any good shade tree garage method to measure the camber?

 

Scott

[ericem]

bulwnkl,

 

Thanks for your thoughts, I think the dealer is playing me for a looser and will continue to replace perfectly good parts until I run out of money.

 

I will try the method outlined in the manual and see if I can change the camber.

 

Any good shade tree garage method to measure the camber?

 

Scott

 

Find a alignment shop preferably lol.

[nipper]

I agree go to any other front end shop. You really have to bash the car to bend one of these links (sure you arent rock crawling to get out of the driveway? ). If you really want to be sure, find a body shop and ask them to check the car.

 

 

nipper

[ScottD]

porcupine,

 

Thanks for the suggestion. MY rear struts are not mcpherson style like the front ones. However I will try some OEM bolts, I noticed that some seem to provide more adjustment than others.

 

 

thanks again

[ScottD]

Gary,

 

The toughness of the Subaru was what got me to buy one. MY road is somewhat rough, but its not all that bad. I've driven much worse.

 

I was really surprised that they suggested that the trailling links were bent. I would think it would take a real accident to do that.

 

It has been suggested that the struts are worn out and that is what is causing the problem? They are not leaking and the car doesn't bounce around...

 

Scott

[ScottD]

Thanks for the advice, I think its good.

 

I actually went to a local alignment shop a few weeks before deciding to try the dealer. The local shop tried to tell me the alignment on subarus could be adjusted! I left immediately.

 

I'll look for one that caters to off roaders..

 

Scott

[jamal]

there's nothing wrong with -0.6 degrees of negative camber. In fact, you could run quite a bit more to improve handling without a significant increase in tread wear. I'm tempted to buy camber plates so I can get up to -2 degrees and add some caster.

 

Additionally, trailing arm links should have very little effect on the camber, although I'm not as familiar with the 00+ multi-link setup. I don't even know if rear camber is adjustable with it. -2.6 is about a whole degree out of spec, so there seems to be something wrong back there, though. Maybe the subframe is just shifted. I would take it to a good alignment shop, and by good I mean not pep-boys or firestone or whatever. Find a place that does performance alignments and corner weights for coilovers, and see what they can do.

The local shop tried to tell me the alignment on subarus could be adjusted! I left immediately.

 

wait, what? You mean could not?

 

Yeah, I've had to show the guy how to adjust the alignment on my car, and it's very, very simple. Scary.

[cookie]

Frankly it sounds like it was ridden hard and put away wet. Regardless all you have to do is slot the boltholes at worst. This is really not brain surgery but it seems to be to some shops.

[ScottD]

Yes, I meant to say "could not" be adjusted.

 

Scott

 

wait, what? You mean could not?

 

Yeah, I've had to show the guy how to adjust the alignment on my car, and it's very, very simple. Scary.