Frustrated with my Dealer

[PWAMatt2012]

So i have owned my 2012 Power Wagon for roughly two weeks, 9 of those days its been back at the Dealership. Brakes were hung up on the rear, it leaned horribly to the right, and the alignment was awful. They have brought it back to me 3 times and it has went back 3 times. The lean which was 1 1/4 inches on the drivers side was corrected via alignment, I am still rather confused on how they did that. Rear rotors and calipers fixed the brake drag, the alignment they just cannot get right. It is a 2012 with 35k for miles on it. Any similar issues like this out there? I would really like to drive it for more than a day.
Thanks

[DamageWagon]

Whoa. Stop spending money on dealer time and start buying aftermarket parts lol.


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[PWAMatt2012]

They are flipping the bill or I would be for sure.

[olyelr]

Whats the issues with the alignment?

[DamageWagon]

What is the exact problem now? Height is fixed but alignment is still out?

If that is the case, whoever decided it needed a 30-degree caster angle probably jacked something up for good. I would visibly check if control arms, cam bolts, bushings are good looking. Check that your knuckles look to be in the same plane. With that much rotation it is a serious possibility that one of your axle tubes rotated in the housing.


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[PWAMatt2012]

As Far as alignment it has a quite dramatic pull to the right. Only after driving roughly 10 miles as you first start out it is slight but not terrible. Here is the alignment spec sheet they sent with the truck. See what you all think.

[PWAMatt2012]

Here is the sheet.

[DamageWagon]

Other than the rear axle being crooked that looks right. And other than your toe on the old measurements the old ones weren't bad. I would suspect something else. Park your truck and turn the engine on, have someone turn the wheel while you closely watch each joint in the front end. Ball joints, tie rid, drag link, pitman arm. Watch them like a nazi. Any movement in any joint, assume the joint is toast, but check every one. Really for pull to the right though, I'm feeling something is physically moved or your tie rod ends or ball joints are super destroyed.


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[PWAMatt2012]

Those were my same thoughts, I have a ton of mechanical experience. And I am really close to telling them to give it to me and I will fix it. Since buying it I have put 125 miles on it. My hopes were that someone has fought this same condition.

[Bill2014]

Here is the sheet.

Is it just me, or does it bother anyone else that the current state has vales in RED? They are in RED because they are outside of the spec. (with rounding they may appear to be in spec) I realize it is really close to spec - but why don't they bring it completely in spec unless requested otherwise by the customer! My last alignment (on a car) had two values in RED.

[PWAMatt2012]

I know exactly what you are saying, the one tool I don't have in the shop is an alignment rack. I have however aligned many Civilian Power Wagons with a chalk line and achieved greater results than most modern alignment techs can do. It has been really hard for me to let these guys at my truck, it is something that i never do. Mainly because other than this my newest truck is my 1967 W200.

[DamageWagon]

The only values in red are Thrust Angle (I don't know what that is, maybe the roll of the rear axle?) and front camber, which is set by factory.


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[PWAMatt2012]

I really like my new PW, but this one holds my heart.

[nts007]

The numbers in red are camber (not adjustable) and thrust angle (not adjustable) thrust angle is set on the rear axle by the location pins on the leaf springs. That is also a dynamic number based on load distribution. Say you have 500lbs only on the rh side of your bed then the axle would "thrust" in a half to one degree angle to the right. The springs lengthen under compression and the axle is pushed backwards. Simply put there could have been a couple 5gal water jugs on one side of the truck in the cab and set that value. Not a concern. The excessive toe originally 0.4°could contribute to that random pulling but again it's so small it shouldn't have been a huge issue. Are the roads your on crowned strangely?? If not the solution is simple. Check your tire pressure!!!! That will make a stupid pull easily. And if they are even? Then drop the opposite tire of the pull by 2-5 psi and the pull will magically go away

[PWAMatt2012]

I tried the tire pressure 2 different times with the same results. And the truck is completely empty as far as weight throwing it off. Do you know what the thrust angle should be? My concern is that something could have shifted or something could be twisted on the truck. Only thinking that way due to the drivers side lean along with the alignment issues. Have also rotated the tires in every position.

[DamageWagon]

Fuel in the tank is probably enough to make that thrust angle. My truck had a definite 1" lean to the drivers side because that's where the driver sat and fuel tank is, it just sagged the springs.

Dude check your steering components and control arms.


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[Bill2014]

If the thrust angle "doesn't master" for the unloaded truck, then they should open up the spec.
Same for the camber/cross-camber, why would it come from the factory out of spec? If it doesn't matter, then open the spec up. It's not like this alignment was done at some fly-by-night shop, it was done by the dealer using the manufacturer specs.

[PWAMatt2012]

Just got off the phone with them....they are saying as the tires heat up and break 62psi it is at that point starts pulling. They said it does the same thing after tire rotation also. They told me it is a tire issue....I said nah I don't buy that... they also said the rear axle thrust spec is .30. Frame machine says all is good also.

[TwinStick]

Did you buy this vehicle brand new ? I'm guessing not if it's a 2012 & you have owned it for 2 weeks. I would look for/suspect accident damage or off road damage. Maybe just spring fatigue is the cause of the height difference side to side ? Worst case is the front axle/tubes/c's are tweaked/bent ? Keep us posted please.

[DamageWagon]

Those alignment specs make me think the axle is ok. Knowing what Colibri did to his truck though it is possible lol. If you have a magnetic angle gauge (normal works too) you could stick it on the axle and on the C's and see what the angles look like.


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[nts007]

Looking at the camber angle the front axle could be bent. Such a small amount though. The numbers are more than close enough. Thrust angle is 0.01° out of spec. To put it in perspective though 0.30° is a 18" error at 100yards so for every football field of distance you drift 18" but that is really not an issue as a tiny steering angle corrects that. So I wouldn't be concerned with the thrust angle. Something else is the problem. Tires joints bearings. Got to find out. One of your outer tie rods could be toast. Or even a wheel bearing dragging or one of the caliper pins on the brakes could be ceased.

[olyelr]

How does the toe on the rear axle get changed

[Reloaderguy]

Just got off the phone with them....they are saying as the tires heat up and break 62psi it is at that point starts pulling. They said it does the same thing after tire rotation also. They told me it is a tire issue....I said nah I don't buy that... they also said the rear axle thrust spec is .30. Frame machine says all is good also.

What kind of tires? I'm inclined to agree with them.

[DamageWagon]

How does the toe on the rear axle get changed

Hitting something hard. In his case the axle is rotated. There is a small amount of wiggle room with the centering pin in its hole.


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[DamageWagon]

A seized caliper pin or wheel bearing sounds reasonable. Easy-ish to check too. One of my caliper pins was seized. It was the only one with a cover boot that had a small nick in it. That's all it took.


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