old-tank Posted August 27, 2015 Share Posted August 27, 2015 I took my 55 Century to an alignment shop because of pulling to the right (turned out it was due to the 5 year old radials falling apart). The front alignment had not changed since the last time. They have a new machine that checks all 4 wheels and although they said they probably would not routinely check the rears, they did it anyway for 'practice'. Anyhow the rear wheels showed 5 degrees negative camber (leaning with the top cocked in). Since that is not adjustable, I will not do anything about it. Causes offered were bearing wear or bent axle housing. Maybe that is normal for a Buick of this era? Anyone with experience on alignments or results on their car?Willie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bhigdog Posted August 27, 2015 Share Posted August 27, 2015 (edited) Seems to me that 5 deg is way quite a bit. A quick trig check says that if the tire stands 30" high a 5 deg angle would mean the lean in would measure 2 5/8" and both wheels would be 5 1/4" closer at the top than the bottom. That's enough to easily see by eye. Bearings worn enough to give 5 neg seems impossible. I could believe one side of the housing being bent but both sides bent upwards the same amount, pretty unlikely. Methinks they need more "practice" or double check where the decimal point is...........Bob Edited August 27, 2015 by Bhigdog (see edit history) 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buick5563 Posted August 27, 2015 Share Posted August 27, 2015 The two smartest dudes I know... 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
60FlatTop Posted August 28, 2015 Share Posted August 28, 2015 (edited) Did they check it with the top down? I have a Triplet analog electrical multimeter that a friend gave me around 1982. We were moving into a lot of field testing and the traditional Simpson 260's were bulky. I was looking at a digital. He gave me the meter and said "Never use a tool that is smarter than you. It will only get you in trouble." It's pretty likely that a couple of strings with nuts for weights will amaze them..... maybe not.Bernie Edited August 28, 2015 by 60FlatTop (see edit history) 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KAD36 Posted August 28, 2015 Share Posted August 28, 2015 You sure you took all the beer out of the trunk? 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aaron65 Posted August 28, 2015 Share Posted August 28, 2015 (edited) I could imagine their being a half degree of camber. Five degrees? That would be like an overloaded Triumph Spitfire going down the road. Heck, put a gravity angle finder on the wheel and that will be close enough to tell you that you don't have anywhere near five degrees! Edited August 28, 2015 by Aaron65 (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avgwarhawk Posted August 28, 2015 Share Posted August 28, 2015 (edited) I agree with Bob. The alignment tech needs more practice. The only way to get that kind of camber is dropping your Buick from a 2 story building. Bearing wear? Highly unlikely and if the bearing was proved to be the issue said bearing would being making a grinding noise like no other. Rear wheel drive cars should get a thrust angle alignment. The procedure utilizes the position of all 4 tires. Also, to knock a car out of alignment take an awful lot of force. If you have not driven over a curb like the cops was after you then the alignment should be unaffected with general driving. So, Willie, with camber like that when are you going to start drifting the 55? Edited August 28, 2015 by avgwarhawk (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old-tank Posted August 28, 2015 Author Share Posted August 28, 2015 Ok, I asked again and he said 5 degrees. Then he checked the computer and it said 0.6 degrees on the right and 0.5 degrees on the left with zero toe-in on both. So no bent axle and maybe normal for that axle with the roller bearings and the inner race on the axle shaft. Sorry for the confusion.Willie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bhigdog Posted August 28, 2015 Share Posted August 28, 2015 (edited) "double check where the decimal point is"...........Bob Ok, I asked again and he said 5 degrees. Then he checked the computer and it said 0.6 degrees on the right and 0.5 degrees on the left with zero toe-in on both. So no bent axle and maybe normal for that axle with the roller bearings and the inner race on the axle shaft. Sorry for the confusion. Willie [/quote Edited August 28, 2015 by Bhigdog (see edit history) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avgwarhawk Posted August 28, 2015 Share Posted August 28, 2015 Now those look like normal numbers on a solid axle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old-tank Posted August 28, 2015 Author Share Posted August 28, 2015 ... when are you going to start drifting the 55? Already tried it. Lots of fun on a snowy parking lot. No snow since I escaped.Thanks all for the geometry lessons.The car is on jack stands now and there is no perceptible looseness in the axles. But one front wheel bearing is suspect. And since I am out of front ball bearings, it is time to install the roller bearings I found... and carry any good ball bearings as spares.Willie 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avgwarhawk Posted August 28, 2015 Share Posted August 28, 2015 What is the part number on the roller bearings? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old-tank Posted August 28, 2015 Author Share Posted August 28, 2015 909065R outer 909062R innerthe numbers are Buick, the outer is 58 which is backward compatible; the R suffix denotes roller bearing. They were probably only made in the 1950's and 1960's...the ones I have were made by now defunct companies.They show up, but may take a daily search for months.Willie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NTX5467 Posted August 30, 2015 Share Posted August 30, 2015 My "gut's" tellin' me that there needs to be a second opinion from another alignment shop. A solid rear axle, as I understand it, should have 0 degrees caster, but a very slight amount of toe-in (for vehicle stability). 1/2 degree of camber should be visible, just as it is on many late model IRS vehicles (that's "independent rear suspension") with negative rear wheel camber (some more visible than others). AND . . . you should be able to measure it with one of the fancy "building construction" protractor levels, or a lug nut-on-a-string and a plastic protractor, relative to the slope of the surface the vehicle is sitting upon. I would also suspect that 1/2 degree of camber would show a slight wear pattern, over time, especially on bias-ply tires. NTX5467 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old-tank Posted August 31, 2015 Author Share Posted August 31, 2015 My "gut's" tellin' me that there needs to be a second opinion from another alignment shop. A solid rear axle, as I understand it, should have 0 degrees caster, but a very slight amount of toe-in (for vehicle stability). 1/2 degree of camber should be visible, just as it is on many late model IRS vehicles (that's "independent rear suspension") with negative rear wheel camber (some more visible than others). AND . . . you should be able to measure it with one of the fancy "building construction" protractor levels, or a lug nut-on-a-string and a plastic protractor, relative to the slope of the surface the vehicle is sitting upon. I would also suspect that 1/2 degree of camber would show a slight wear pattern, over time, especially on bias-ply tires. NTX5467Due to my 'frugal nature', I don't want to spend another $25 checking this one again or comparing the readings on one of my other ones. And even though the car is on jack stands waiting for new tires, my 'lazy a$$ nature' will not check the axle bearing looseness with a dial indicator even though my iphone compass/level app showed some positive camber. I never noticed any wear pattern when using bias-ply tires (worn out at 15k miles) and the last set of radials fell apart at 5 years and 30K miles before any wear was noticed. Willie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bhigdog Posted August 31, 2015 Share Posted August 31, 2015 As always if it ain't broke don't fix it......................Bob 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnD1956 Posted August 31, 2015 Share Posted August 31, 2015 For nothing more than my observation Bob, that theory is how we wound up on a flat bed in Battle Mtn. Nevada last summer. Some one replaced only one rear wheel bearing in a prior season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bhigdog Posted August 31, 2015 Share Posted August 31, 2015 (edited) I would counter that the failed bearing was already "broken" just not enough that one knew it. BTW John did you notice my correction of the info I gave you regards 55/56 steering wheels?.......Bob Edited August 31, 2015 by Bhigdog (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnD1956 Posted August 31, 2015 Share Posted August 31, 2015 Yes, I did see that correction. Basically it looks like it can go either way with the steering wheel. I wonder if the spline area is the difference, as the 55 has the integral steering column and the 56 was the intro for the rag-joint column. Be that as it may, to stay on this thread, I agree. In the case I cited one bearing began to make noise, but the other one did not, so only the noisy one was changed ( if it ain't broke, don't fix it thought process). In my limited experience I would always change both rear wheel bearings if I had symptoms on only one side. I am not, however, encouraging Willie to do anything here. He know more from experience with these things than me. As far as I'm concerned I would never attempt to teach the teacher! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avgwarhawk Posted August 31, 2015 Share Posted August 31, 2015 In my limited experience I would always change both rear wheel bearings if I had symptoms on only one side. And this is not such a crazy idea. My friend would change both headlights if one had blown. Think about it. They had the same amount of hours burn time. Seems logical the working headlamp will die in short order. Same logic could be applied with the wheel bearings. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bhigdog Posted August 31, 2015 Share Posted August 31, 2015 As always with old iron there's no one size fits all approach. You pays your money and takes your chances............Bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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