Hi, i'm new here, and have a question about the way someone assembeled the struts to the towers. I have a factory manual for my '84 Maxima wagon, and it says there is "white paint" in one of the three studs that mount the strut to the tower, and that the white ones should be in the inside position, facing the engine, on either side. The white studs are in the rear positions on both sides! The manual states there is no adjustment available to the caster/camber, so what effect is this having on my car? Any help out there? Earl
Your suspension/tire alignment consists of 3 things; caster, camber, and toe. (I sometimes get the positive/negative part of this wrong, but the descriptions are accurate. Newsgroupies, feel free to correct me).
Caster is the angle from the top of the tower down to the ground through the center of the wheel. It's generally in the +3 to +6 range (i.e. the tire is slightly ahead of the top of the tower). The bigger the angle, the more stable the ride. But, the bigger the angle, the less cornering ability, and (I think) more understeer (the car plows through turns, a famous FWD problem).
Camber (with a soft 'a' as in tamborine) is the angle from the top center of the tire tread to the bottom center of the tire tread. Most cars have a slightly negative, but near 0 degree camber. Some, like the old Volkswagen Beetles, have a pronounced negative camber (the top of the tire leans in to the car). The advantage of negative camber is that when cornering, the outside tires will "straighten out", and provide more contact area for better handling, but at the cost of tires wearing more quickly. Cars that have been "chopped", generally have camber issues. The suspension just isn't designed for a 2"+ drop in the springs.
Mercedes has a design car that changes camber when cornering. The special tires for this car are about 2/3rds regular tire pattern, with the inner
1/3rd being a more grippy compound. The regular part works while going straight, the grippy part works when cornering. Very cool stuff.
Toe is the angle from the front center of the tire tread to the rear center of that same tire. Most cars have a slightly negative toe in the front, i.e. the tires point inward a little (rears are usually straight). This helps keep the car going straight. Positive toe is a fairly common alignment problem, and a very quick way to wear out your tires. The 3rd Gen Max (my car) is prone to toe problems.
Most newer cars have camber and toe adjustments, but very few have caster adjustments. But, many older cars (like your '84 Max) don't have camber adjustment either. And both toe and camber adjustments are limited. After a few thousand potholes, you can bend suspension pieces enough that an alignment can no longer be made within specs. Sometimes a dealer can fix this, but most alignment shops cannot. Also, a bent frame can obviously cause alignment issues too.
As far as your "stud" problem, I haven't got a clue. I'd be inclined to put them back the way they came out. It's possible that a previous owner re-installed them incorrectly.
Thanks bill, I think I'll take it in for a "free allignment check", and see if it's way out! If its within specs I'll leave it alone. Funny thing is, the manual says to assemble it that way, but dosn't give a reason?? Earl
Thanks bill, I think I'll take it in for a "free allignment check", and see if it's way out! If its within specs I'll leave it alone. Funny thing is, the manual says to assemble it that way, but dosn't give a reason?? Earl
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