I've had >5 alignments over the past 12 months. My alignment guy has commented that the adjustment screws aren't working as well... and this has been getting worse over the last few alignments. He said something about taking them apart to recut / regroove threads.

Anyone had this problem or done this solution? I'm not sure if it'd be cheaper to buy used replacement parts instead of mucking with it?

Thoughts? The car has seen salt and snow in its previous life as a daily driver.

 

Not sure what you mean by adjustment screws but I've replaced the lower control arms far too many times due to the camber bolt freezing to the bushing. I'm about to start using Mugen bushings so I can just replace parts rather than whole arms.

 

Cutting them out is a PIA too. I used anti-seize in them when I reinstalled them. We will see how that works.

I have replaced all of the adjustable hardware under my race car. Most of the hardware was old and some was worn. From what I understand, it is not uncommon to need to replace. It is more common on a car that is adjusted many times. Your Ford POS rarely gets adjusted, it iwll never need to have them replaced. You S2000 however got adjusted 5 times this year. That makes the differance.

On the S2000 it costs about 300 to do it.

 

When the bolt seizes in the metal inner "liner" of the bushing and you turn the bolt anywas, with a long enough bar on a wrench to turn the cam to adjust alignment, you twist the rubber inside its outer "liner" and that will over time destroy it.
It will also put some unwanted pre-load on the suspension.

Honda does not put any anti-seize on those bolts
They only have a thin anti-corrosion protection.



New bushings and lots of this ^ should make your problem go away.

 

The mechanic is suggesting restoring the threads (tap & die), likely because they're getting corroded and are harder to turn. He's not saying that they're seized inside the bushings. There's no harm in doing what he suggests; just make sure he puts them back in with anti-seize so you won't have the same problem again.

 

CKit Posted on Feb 18 2009, 09:27 AM
jeffjanzen Posted on Feb 19 2009, 12:37 AM
I guess that IS what the mechanic is suggesting.
But.. restoring threads on a suspension bolt is something I would never do.
I would get new ones and new locking nuts and they are not that expensive.
Restoring a locking nut is also a in my book.
But that's me.

 

i think the correct name is eccentric (the bolts you are refering to).

 

Oh my. Sucks SOOOOO Bad.

 

Yeah, I would also avoid chasing the threads. If the bolt needs to be replaced, just replace it. A bolt is a lot cheaper than a whole car, which is what you could lose if the bolt were to fail at a bad time.

 

The glass of water on the floor (on the right) wasn't for drinking: it was to cool down the saw.