My car's steering wheel had been offset for a while, and when I replaced the rear tires it exacerbated the effect, as well as making handling seem squirrelly

Took it to the dealership for an alignment, and they knocked everything nicely within specs... except Right Front caster. RF Caster sits at 6.6* (spec range 5.8 --> 6.3)

They said that it caster cannot be adjusted, unless I replace the control arm or have the frame checked out.


Is this a degenerative to be concerned about? Will it be a bane to stability? IF the only effect is a tendency to track straight ... thats cool, because I actually prefer a heftier steering feel. I'm curious whether it will upset other aspects of handling though

 

Caster affects your vehicle's low-speed steering, high-speed stability as well as how well your vehicle drives in a straight line (on-center feel). Too little caster will cause your car to "wander" and make it feel unstable at high speeds. Too much caster causes hard steering and can also result in excessive road shock and shimmy. Caster does not affect tire wear.

from
http://www.michelinman.com/care/tip3.html

 

thanks. lessened wander and harder steering is a good thing. was afraid about tire wear, and unsettling during cornering

 

The "unsettling during cornering" would concern me too.

What size and brand of tires did you have installed?

 

went from OEM AP2 245/40/17 RE050s .... to Eagle F1 GS-D3 255/40/17

the printout showed massive toe-out, which I suspect caused the squirrelly characteristic.

however, in its current state, only the RF caster is off. the car feels fine in limited driving, but i dont want some undesirable trait to surface later on

 

Toe out will do that.

Was the dealer not able to determine whether or not the control arm was bent?
Whether it's a bent arm or a frame problem I'd have them fix it. I really do drive to fast to have something out of spec like that (but that's just me). You might be OK, but why not go ahead and find out what's wrong, and how much it will cost to fix?

 

the tech said that caster cant be adjusted, and it could either be the subframe is bent or the control arm is off... so i suspect there was not too much diagnosis on their part.

he did say that there would be no abnormal tire wear, but the car may drift a bit. i figured if it was something critical, he would try to "sell" me on the fix, but such wasnt a case

 

well its hard to say without replace all the parts.. the tech doesnt want to say oh its this and it doesnt fix the problem .. as a customer do u want to keep buy parts till it fixes it.. suspension and frame damage are hard to diag.