New 2020 with OEM suspension...camber WAY off!?

[BA9092]

After a busy few weeks, I finally decided to take mine to get an alignment at my local trusty shop.

I usually take my cars in for an alignment, whether new or after suspension weeks as quite a few are not exactly dialed in to spec from the factory. On the plus side, my current local shop happens to specialize in BMWs and a variety of German makes and models even though I've brought them Japanese cars in the past and they've nailed them in to a T.

I figured this would be an easy 'toe-and-go' since my steering wheel had been off about 2 degrees counterclockwise from day one.

The manager called me into the shop. I knew this was going to be some kind of bad news. The left front camber was -.8 while the right front camber was -3.1. WTF!?

He said he could rule out any potential damage as I told him everything was original - tire, wheel, brakes, suspension parts, etc - as the car only had 500 miles and I never hit anything unusual, despite TX roads and construction. He also noted there was no sign of unusual impacts or damage. He advised me to contact Toyota directly to see what is happening.

I've had cars with OEM and aftermarket suspension setups and bent wheels over potholes at highway speeds, but I've never seen this much difference in camber, especially from a new car from the factory.

I mentioned this thread below regarding the 3 steering tie rod recalls, but he doesn't recall seeing this. He's had a handful of Supras in his shops but not enough to know about this specific recall. Plus, I didn't think a tie rod would cause such a drastic difference in camber.

https://www.supramkv.com/threads/steering-tie-rod-recall.5671/

Before I go to Toyota, does anyone have any suggestions or insight?

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[CC²]

If you can get info like SAI and included angle(the alignment machine gives these), there are charts that you could look and compare values and it would tell you if & what is bent or damaged. Seems a little odd that camber could be so far out and caster is pretty good looking. Usually they move together to some extent... Something I did see fairly often in my time at Toyota was damage to suspension/steering parts by the delivery truck when they strap it down for transport, so that would be a possibility. The only other thing I would be curious to double check was that the alignment shop had their reflector heads setup properly, and that the rack was locked and level etc... A bad setup could easily give some funky readings...

 

[BA9092]

If you can get info like SAI and included angle(the alignment machine gives these), there are charts that you could look and compare values and it would tell you if & what is bent or damaged. Seems a little odd that camber could be so far out and caster is pretty good looking. Usually they move together to some extent... Something I did see fairly often in my time at Toyota was damage to suspension/steering parts by the delivery truck when they strap it down for transport, so that would be a possibility. The only other thing I would be curious to double check was that the alignment shop had their reflector heads setup properly, and that the rack was locked and level etc... A bad setup could easily give some funky readings...

Thank you for the info.

I might just take it to another shop and have them look at it without a backstory and see what they say. If they arrive at the same settings, I'll take it to my Toyota dealership.

The only thing I've done are spacers, but I can take them off before heading to the dealer in case they want to pin it on that for some odd reason.

 

[CC²]

Spacers should not be an issue here. If they were not true and causing that kind of camber spread, you'd have bigger issues. But yes, I would certainly go have it checked elsewhere out of curiosity. If it comes back the same, have them give a full printout with all of the angles like SAI and included angle. I have a copy of the chart to determine what or if something is bent if you posted that info...

 

[BA9092]

@CC² , well, I was finally able to make an appointment with another well-trusted performance alignment shop.

Everything looks great now. Nothing weird before or after, but they did make some tweaks to their suggestions based on my driving.

Also, I don't know how to read SAI or included angle, but the numbers are all there now in their printout. They also said nothing was off.

 

[CC²]

The fact that in that printout camber looks to be good right from the start and didnt require any adjustment further supports my original suspicion that the first shop had something funky going on in their setup. Glad you went elsewhere to have it looked at. Wouldnt go back to the first place...

 

[BA9092]

Yup. And sadly, they're a really good shop. I see plenty of R8's in there along with AMG cars, RS models and M's. They were spot-on when I brought my BRZ for alignment and took their time getting it just right.

I think it was an off day, or they were too busy with other appointments to lower the car again and readjust it on the ramp. Who knows...

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