Rear alignment

[Russell]

Looking for the opinion of those knowledgeable of alignment systems.

Had an alignment done on my 95 525i with a Hunter Hawkeye Alignment system. As they did not have the weights to load up the car, I sat in the car during part of the alignment with a full tank of gas.

Bottom line is the front toe was way off specs; plus 0.58 degree on driver's side and negative -0.31 degree on passenger side. When the alignment was completer the steering wheel was centered for the first time and toe-in was set at .012 degrees on both sides. Car drove much better with far less wandering and excellent directional control.

The print-out (before and after) (see the after illustration) also indicated I do not have enough rear camber. Perhaps this is because there was not enough weight in car. FYI, I have original rear struts and springs. Also right front caster is slightly out of spec. Not sure why. It may be the result of a fender bender last year.

Looking for an opinion on rear camber and rear toe-in to see if there are any issues Red color means out of spec. TIA.

[ArnZ!]

in my opinion i wouldn't worry about the difference in caster up front. in fact if your car is RHD then it would be perfect for the road, in LHD countries this might be a problem but the difference between the two is not huge.

the camber and total toe in the back would be weight related. once again it isnt way out of spec so don't be alarmed.]

sleep easy.

[Russell]

Thanks, I suspected as much.

[632 Regal]

have you replaced the rear dogbones?

[Russell]

Sure did. about 1.5 to 2 years ago. Lemforder

[attack eagle]

adding the correct weights would have added another 1/2 degree per side, brought the toe in a little more, and a passenger 150lb weight would have evened out the Right side F and R to better match the left.

[632 Regal]

itas all crap, if you drive alone put weights is the drivers spot, if you normallu cruisa with the family and full trunkload than so bo it. if you drive different then put the weight. the BMW addage of 15 people plus junk does not apply if you drive alone... simplistics must apply here

[attack eagle]

then make up your own alignment numbers then... fine if it is a race car, and a good idea. For a stocker? why bother with an alignment at all then. Set toe with string and go.

better yet, do it right with the weights, check you are ok, then take the weight out and submit the results as the 'unloaded specs' to the rest of the community so everyone can benefit.

otherwise since the alignment specs are written with the weighting in mind, looking at the unweighted specs and trying to determine if it is ok is just WAGs.

[Russell]

Slightly off task here. But, if the rear sub frame bushings are worn would they randomly "shift" the entire subframe? If so, I would expect that shift would cause both front and rear toe to measure different each time you check alignment. Just a thought??