2001 Buick LeSabre rear alignment
raydavis12
Member Posts: 4
Hello everyone. My name is Ray and I'm new here. I have a 2001 Buick LeSabre that has been an excellent car. I recently had new tires installed and got an alignment, but the technician at the Firestone dealer told me he was only able to complete the alignment on the front wheels. He said the assembly where they perform the alignment on the rear wheels was rusted and needed to be replaced. He also said that the fuel tank would need to be dropped in order to do the replacement.
I called my local Buick dealer and was told they did not know what the technician was talking about and would need to charge me $118 for an inspection before they could proceed. I don't mind paying a diagnosis fee if it is something complex (like searching for an AC leak) or a computer needs to be hooked up, but I just wanted an estimate for parts and labor to replace the assembly, bracket, whatever is needed to perform rear wheel alignment. I also know that bad shocks/struts etc., can affect alignment, but mine are in good shape. Do any of you know what these parts are that are needed for rear alignment? Thanks.
Comments
Must be something unusual that happened to the pivot points in the middle of the rear. I frankly don't believe the Firestone guy.
I'd take the car to a dealer that you trust, and I would have them align the vehicle. I'll bet they do it without a major problem.
Then I'd ask for a refund from Firestone.
You might pay more for a service like that at a dealer, but often it is nice to bypass the other shops.
Parts #16,17,18 are at a fixed point part that is in the middle of the car. That's the only thing close enough to require gas tank to be removed. But it's not in that area IIRC. This part is a holder for the wobble bolts that allow the length of part #26 to be adjusted to change the toe-in adjustment.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
Thank you for the info. I have contacted a technician who told me he will inspect the area where the toe-in adjustment is on the rear and advise if any parts are rusted. If they are not, I am going to speak with management at the Firestone dealer and ask why I was mislead. I can't understand why someone would not be truthful about this. The manager at Firestone even told me they would realign the car at no charge after repairs were made.
My car has never been in a wreck and is in excellent condition. When I first posted, I did not realize I could post a picture here. Here is a shot of the alignment results. Please let me know if you notice anything else that I should have mentioned. Thank you very much for volunteering to help people here.
Oops, I forgot to ask - since the left rear camber is in the red zone (and there is no way to adjust it), is there anything at all that can be done so my tires do not wear out too quickly? My last set of tires were Bridgestone that were rated for 50,000 miles and I got 54,000 out of them.
Ray,
Yes, there is something that can be done - and it involves adjusting the thing is claimed can not adjusted.
First, there is NOTHING about an alignment that can't be adjusted. The factory may not have provided built in adjustment, but there are shims, and plates, and eccentric bolts that can be fitted to allow for adjustment - and any knowledgeable alignment tech will know what to do. Perhaps that is what the Firestone tech was trying to say, but he did it badly. What he should have done is tell you that in order to fix your alignment, he needs to do whatever then give you a price (maybe he did that?) I am not fond of his explanation, and I wonder what he was really trying to say.
I'm thinking your best move is to walk away from the Firestone store and chalk the experience to learning.
Thank you for the info. I will get to the bottom of this and report my findings and resolution here.