Rear end alignment

Jprezguitar · Post by **Jprezguitar** » 01 Aug 2021, 09:50

Hey friends, I have a '97 850, and I had recently gotten an alignment. The guy at the shop told me that the front is right as rain, but that rear needs to slide over to the driver's side a little. I would take some pictures but there honestly isn't anything to show that's actually noticeable because it's only off by a smidge. My question to you all is what would be the process for sliding it over. I image you would leave the bearing in place, and loosen everything by the hub, and just try to pull it outwards a little, but I'm not entirely sure. If anyone is able to give me a little crash course on what I can do so I can bring her back and get it zeroed out, I would appreciate it. Thanks!

Post by **misha** » 01 Aug 2021, 12:42

Rear end never needs adjustment(alignment) unless the car was rear ended or rear end had some kind of damage.
Are trailing arm bushings(delta link bushings) ok?
Does it "eat' any side of the tire at rear?
In other words...do you have any sign of tire wear on rear tires?

Jprezguitar · Post by **Jprezguitar** » 01 Aug 2021, 15:03

The rear end is not damaged, it was high mileage and the previous owner pulled the DS trailing arm to replace it with a junkyard one as the previous one had damage at the bushing mount spot due to the bushing completely breaking off. It was done on a time crunch just to get the vehicle on the road, and I'm just bringing it in to finish what the had started.

Jprezguitar · Post by **Jprezguitar** » 01 Aug 2021, 15:10

The other trailing arm is untouched save for the bushing, so it's most likely a case of the driver side being too far in. My question is just what should be done. Do I loosen the 4 bolts for alignment near the hub and just try to slide it out of bushing, or is there a different process

Post by **misha** » 01 Aug 2021, 15:38

That's why it needs an alignment.
It needs to be done from underneath...with alignment equipment attached on all 4 wheels...alignment shop should know the procedure.

It isn't something that should or could be done without alignment equipment.

Post by **scot850** » 01 Aug 2021, 20:02

I had to have the alignment re-done as it was done by the dealer on a 4 wheel system they found the LHS rear was out of alignment. As to why it was out, I have no idea, but I had to have the adjustment part replaced as it had frozen. Good old aluminum and steel together and salt on the roads in winter.

Neil.

Post by **Sveedy** » 02 Aug 2021, 08:13

I had mine aligned about a month ago and the rear had to be moved a little bit to get it right. As misha said the tech had the car on the rack with laser pickups mounted on all 4 wheels. Then he loosened the bolts on the trailing arms, or what ever they are called, and used a pry tool to shift things over a smudge toward the drivers side. Car tracks perfectly.

Post by **manovlov** » 02 Aug 2021, 09:37

+1 with Sveedy,

Same operation for my 850 on march.

Manov

Post by **misha** » 02 Aug 2021, 10:07

Sveedy wrote: 02 Aug 2021, 08:13 I had mine aligned about a month ago and the rear had to be moved a little bit to get it right. As misha said the tech had the car on the rack with laser pickups mounted on all 4 wheels. Then he loosened the bolts on the trailing arms, or what ever they are called, and used a pry tool to shift things over a smudge toward the drivers side. Car tracks perfectly.
IMG_20210802_070957394.jpg

According to this data...i don't see you had a problem at rear.

Post by **Sveedy** » 02 Aug 2021, 10:59

He said that it could be better than it was, so he adjusted it some. He was very " anal " about the whole thing. Let me watch the whole time, explaining what he was doing. He had numbers that were exact that he was trying to hit, as opposed to just getting things in the green zone.