bad tracking. alignment?

[jamesmetairie]

98 base lumina. had this car 5 years and 100,000 miles on it now from 45,000 when bought it. wife,s car. this car ain,t never been easy to drive. it doesn,t seem to track correct. always gotta be watching the road and playing with the steering wheel. tires seem to wear properly. should,nt be conectted =but the brakes are the worst i ever saw on any car. question = would a fresh alignment help a poor tracking car??

[maxwedge]

Not until all the suspension and steering components are checked for wear or looseness, including the rear.

[jeffcoslacker]

My '97's steering has been a bit fishy lately...I've been all over the front, including odd things like the engine cradle and steering rack mounts...it's all good.

Beginning to suspect the rear...camber looks off by eyeball in the left rear when at rest, but ride height measures correct all the way around...tires also wear normally...

An alignment might not help, but if they know what they are doing, they should see the problem...unfortunately most chain tire stores and such where people go for alignments, the least knowledgeable guy there does alignments...they rarely spot a problem unless it's so bad it can't be adjusted to within spec...

Anyway I suspect I may have a rear wheel wandering a bit trying to "rearsteer" me...

[bigbadbronxy2k5]

Originally Posted by jeffcoslacker

My '97's steering has been a bit fishy lately...I've been all over the front, including odd things like the engine cradle and steering rack mounts...it's all good.

Beginning to suspect the rear...camber looks off by eyeball in the left rear when at rest, but ride height measures correct all the way around...tires also wear normally...

An alignment might not help, but if they know what they are doing, they should see the problem...unfortunately most chain tire stores and such where people go for alignments, the least knowledgeable guy there does alignments...they rarely spot a problem unless it's so bad it can't be adjusted to within spec...

Anyway I suspect I may have a rear wheel wandering a bit trying to "rearsteer" me...

Heads up guys, I recently replaced all of my front subframe bushings (upper and lower) and let me tell you, except for the fact i still need new tie rod ends, the car drives and sounds new. My wandering problem drasticly decreased, the only lil bit left is the tie rod ends. Do this change and watch the rusted metal sleeves and jelly that appear to come out of where your bushings used to be