Rear End Alignment?

Hey guys, forgive me but I'm not a front wheel oriented person. I've got a 2001 GT and it has had a little off-balanced noise in the rear, mainly the right rear wheel area. I thought it was just an off-balanced tire because that's what it sounds like, but I took the rears off to get balanced and they said they were good. So for a while I thought it was the wheel bearing. Took the wheel off and inspected the spindle and bearing area the best I could and seems fine to me. Nothing out of the ordinary. However, I noticed my right tire was cupping pretty bad on the inside. ***SOooo, I was wondering if you can get the rear aligned, and if so, how hard is it to do. Do I need to take it to a shop?.. probably. Well, any advice would be greatly appreciated.
-Tony

It can be aligned but you will need to take it to a shop to have it done, unless you have an alignment rack at home. Most places charge less than $70 for a 4 wheel alignment.

Did you check the tires for a busted belt? A broken belt will give you the sensation of a tire out of balance.

Also you could possibly have a defective rear strut or spring. Tire cupping is typically suspension related if the wheel and tire are OK. Have them test the strut and check ride height.

The alignment shop can check the rear alignment relative to tracking with the front, toe-in, and camber (limited). If the camber is off they will elongate one of the strut holes and try to get it in, if off. If you have 16" wheels the camber is supposed to be -1.0 degrees. Rear toe-in/out is fully adjustable and should be .05" (1.5mm).








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Thrasher CAI, DHP v1.0 PCM, SLP Headers,
3.25 SC pulley, CAIT GMAF, 2.5 DP/Hi-Flow CAT,
u-bend delete, 160 TS, ZZP Stage 1 72mm TB,
TB spacer, MSD 8.5mm wires, Autolite 103,
Goodyear Gatorback Serp. & SC Belt,
Nitto NT555R Drag Radials
1/4 ET: 13.210 sec. @ 104.490 mph
0 - 60 ft: 1.945 sec.

You can have a 4 wheel alignment done, but there is a good chance that the cupped rear tires may be normal if the rotation intervals were not followed religiously. Even when properly aligned, if the tires stay on the back of a front wheel drive car too long, they will set up a directional cupping wear pattern.

If you haven't owned the car very long, the previous owner could have rotated the tires and the worn tire could be from the front, indicating a front end problem. If you have had the car a while, I agree with Bnaylor that the problem is more likely a rear strut/track bar issue on that corner, as worn struts will cause cupping of the tire. There is no way to un-cup the tire, so it's going to need to be replaced. When you replace it, have the shop do an inspection, and fix what caused the problem, do the alignment, and you should be good.

My guess is that the person who sold you the car rotated the tire to the back, to try covering up a front end problem....alot of alignment shops will check tie rods ball joints etc before alignment...If there is a front end problem it needs to be fixed before alignment....