[SAF4RI]

Hello all,

New to this forum- thanks for having me.

I just bought this van and It has been discovered that my rear axle housing (yes entire axle housing) is slightly bent. Here are the rear alignment results:

Rear Axle:
Camber: LR -1.2* / RR -1.2*
Toe: LR -.16* / RR -.90*
Total Toe: -1.06*
Thrust Angle: .37*

Previous owner put new tires on about 6 months ago and I am noticing some feathering wear on both inside wheels. Additionally, when driving on snow, or with any little bump the rear seems to want to 'walk' on me. Dog tracking too.
I am experienced with working on vehicles but i would consider myself a novice with alignment issues. I'm not experienced with maintaining vehicles that are not aligned to spec.

How fast do you think these tires will wear? Are these results really that bad and worth doing something about? I use the van for mainly highway driving.

 

[WinnieVan]

Did the tech tell you that your axle is bent? Or is it simply that your thrust angle is off?

There is a slight amount of adjustment in the leaf spring clamshells that you can use to "straighten out the axle" (well more technically -- straighten the thrust angle)

Might have rust between your rotors and hubs -- that can mess up toe in the rear... or even just need to reseat the wheels.

I'm not sure what a respectable thrust angle is -- but I remember mine being non-zero and it wasn't a problem on my van.

 

[SAF4RI]

Yes the techs told me the axle housing was slightly bent. Likely from constant overloading with worn suspension and/or a tow truck dragging it. After chatting with them about it, it seems they used deductive reasoning to determine the only remaining variable (in this case, a bent axle housing). I can follow their logic and it seems to make sense, but I may have another place look at it for confirmation.

I just replaced the leaf springs and shocks. I'll consider what you said regarding the leaf springs having tolerance(s). In the end, I want to do something about this issue so every bit helps.

 

[Rod's Trucks]

Since you mentioned having just replaced the leaf springs, I would be looking specifically at what Winniebvan mentioned:
"There is a slight amount of adjustment in the leaf spring clamshells..."
It would not take much movement to give you the small T/A they indicated.
Rod J.
Issaquah, WA

 

[Mmusicman]

Camber and toe-in has NO adjustment on rear. You have a bent axle. Not terribly uncommon.. but yours appears to be worse. Thrust angle has some play that can be tweaked, but it won't fix the bend.