Rear Toe Adjustment Cost

[doradox]

This was causing both rear tires to be off. (left rear slighty aimed out - right aimed right <in>) this is causing the car's rear to drive at an angle.

That's called the thrust angle. If the overall toe angle is still OK it won't really effect tire wear unless it's off by a lot. You were able to see it from the angle of the rear wheels so it probably is off by quite a bit. Your front wheels "automatically" steer a little one way or another to compensate. The wheels go down the road straight (with the front and rear a little offset from each other) but the body goes a little sideways. The term "dog tracking" is often used to describe that condition. We've all seen the dog that runs along with his rear end not quite following his front.

Steve

[mikewags]

Does Nissan sell these mounting plates new? He told me Nissan was having a hard time finding them.

Also, how common is it for these plates to get bent? He seems to think my car was bumped at some point (maybe while parked) - If they hit the metal bumper, i wouldn't have seen any damage. This caused the plates to slightly bend left, which is in cause changing the direction of the tires. The right back seems to have more of an angle inwards the the left rear (angled left).

Basically both tires are angled to the left.

JM: Thanks for the pic. It will help a lot.

[Jeff G 78]

They should be easy to find at a JY. You might try Danny's Datsuns in Oregon also. I'm not sure what he has left since he downsized his Z parts business, but it's worth a try. He is a sponser at zcars.com, so you can find his banner there. You could also buy fancy billet ones from arizonazcar.com. His are PURDY!

http://www.arizonazcar.com/diffmount.html

Edited March 6, 2009 by Jeff G 78
Added link

[Jeff G 78]

That is one clean Z! I would be afraid to get the underbody dirty.

[mikewags]

I talked to him this Morning. It turns out that it is the Transverse Link Mounting plates that he believes are the problem. He says they will have to come out to see if they are in fact bent, although he is confident this is it. He's had to deal with this problem 10 other times in the past 30 years he says.

I told him i might have to order them from Arizona, and he mentioned Arizonazcar.com - I'm confident he knows his stuff.

[John Coffey]

The transverse link mounting plates get bent if there's a side hit on one of the rear wheels or one of the rear wheels runs over a really big something. These plates and the transverse link itself tend to move/bend as a unit before the front diff cross member moves. Sometimes what appears to a bent transverse link mounting plate is actually the plate twisted slightly, taking up whatever bolt hole clearance there is. Any loose fastener in this assembly will cause an alignment problem.

Its pretty easy to straighten these plates once they are off the car.

[Seppi72]

I've never had this problem, but those parts are simple, stamped steel. There "should" be right angles between each plane. I would think that any suspension guy with an oxyactylene torch would be able to straighten out such deviations. After all, there's a likelihood (albeit small) of finding simlar out-of-square parts at a junk yard.

If you're going to get replacement parts, call Eric Neyerlin (Zparts.com) at his new Winston, Oregon location (541-679-0791). If he has them, he'll have good ones and at a reasonable price.

[mikewags]

I talked with John (gnosez) on the phone and he provided me with some really good advice on how to go about determining what is wrong here. The likelihood of the plates being bent out of alignment seems unlikely, albeit possible.

I am going to get an estimate from my mechanic as to how much it will cost in labor to check the plates for me and replace (if they are bad) - along with the replacement of all the necessary bushings that have gone bad. From what the estimate reflect, I will then come to a conclusion on whether or not I will be checking the toe/plates myself.

If the plates are indeed bad, John will be hooking me up with some replacements.

Once again, I will keep everyone updated. I appreciate the responses to this unique situation - hopefully I can get this ironed out and see what is truly causing these alignment issues.

[rtaylor]

If you are mechanically inclined, it only takes a short time to remove the plates yourself. As has been said, the plates have a right angle. Each side should be flat and the angle at 90 degrees where it meets the chassis. 4 bolts and they are out.

[gnosez]

I did indeed have an opportunity to discuss this issue MikeWags today and it seems that the left rear wheel is toeing out and the right is toeing in.

That would mean the entire rear suspension is canted off to the left a few degrees.

I suggested he get an alignment (by laser) done before proceeding with any further work so he can determine how much of an issue it is. The delron bushings could help with a small alignment tweak.

We also discussed removing the plates (as Randy said it's 8 bolts and nothing else needs to be removed) and that he could use a small machine square to determine if the plates were bent before he took them out as well.

Mike says the car has not been hit in the time he has owned it and the issue has just come up.

All the bushings are 31 yrs old, so one or more or the RCA/spindle pin bushings could be bad.

I must have a dozen sets of plates from S30s I've stripped and not one of them is bend or damaged. Strange problem....

[Jeff G 78]

Interesting. Please keep us updated as to what the final answer turns out to be. Hopefully replacing the plates will straighten it up. New bushings are in order either way if they are original.

[=Enigma=]

Mike, I just picked up a full rear suspension from a 77' 280Z for an R200 swap, and don't need the transverse link member mounting brackets. If you still need them PM me and I'll send them to you for my cost plus shipping.

.

Edited March 10, 2009 by =Enigma=