95 Plymouth Grand Voyager Excessive Positive Camber

[Tractor Dan]

Doing rotors,pads,and calipers on my dads 95 grand voyager it's a 2wd. I'm noticing the positive camber on the drivers side is getting worse. It still steers fine and is drivable but it's enough to wear the inside edge of the tire more then the outside edge. So my question is on a set up like that when it comes to alignment what do they adjust? Appears to be there is only tie rods to adjust. Either way it's going to a shop to have the alignment done i was just more curious then anything. He does need new struts but that's the next project on the list. I was more concerned about his brakes. Apparently he feels it's not important to tell me they are reallly griding. Pull the inside pad off the drivers side and all there is left is metal backing plate. No pad material. I think for now though on the tires to try and encourage even wear i'm gonna swap the one from the drivers side over to the passenger side front and the passenger side front over to the drivers side. He is looking at needing tires in the next 6 to 12 months so figure wear these out and get the alignment done all at one time.

 

[martin]

I'm just guessing here but it sounds like he has a whole bunch of worn out parts on the front end. I would be inclined to carefully check everything but sooner rather than later, It's no fun if front end parts fail while you're driving.

 

[Tractor Dan]

I would say your guess is correct. I know his struts for sure. He doesn't wanna put more money into it being a 95 with 180,000 miles but everything is fairly solid on it. Before we bought it the frame had been undercoated again by someone and there is minimal rust. Sure his one rear body panel is rusting but that's typical wheel well rust for the van. So yeah he probably needs a front end overhaul which if he won't pay for it i'll gladly take the van off his hands. I could use a back up vehicle since my Ranger has been down since July. lol.

 

[brokemechanic3000]

If he is going to replace the struts at all do it before the alignment because the numbers will change when the struts are replaced.

 

[adsm08]

If he is going to replace the struts at all do it before the alignment because the numbers will change when the struts are replaced.

X2. I am not familiar with the specifics of the Dodge setup but there are a few less-than-obvious ways to adjust camber/caster on a strut system.

The Escapes have two bolts where the knuckle meets the strut with oblong holes. Loosening the bolts and adjusting the relationship of the strut and knuckle at that point is the camber adjustment.

The Taurus and Windstar have plates on top of the strut that can be turned to adjust camber and caster.

Many vehicles with a unibody and strut front end can adjust both by shifting the subframe around.

However I would not at all be surprised if you find that simply replacing the worn spring and strut assemblies is enough to bring the camber back into spec. Worn springs can have an amazingly large effect on camber.

Back in the spring I replaced the front struts on a customer's Focus, threw it on the alignment rack to check everything since I was replacing them for broken springs. 150,000 miles on the clock, 11 years old, with the new springs on the front all I had to adjust at all was the rear toe. The RR was a degree out, every other adjustment on that car was spot on spec.

 

[UrbanRedneckKid]

IIRC, it has an eccentric bolt/ washer set-up on the upper of the 2 spindle pinch bolts, but I think the oem set of washers are non adjustable blocks that need to be replaced with a camber kit, available at most local parts stores.

Replace everything you doing now, and the struts. Then take it to a reputable alignment shop.

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[Tractor Dan]

I really got into it and looked at it more today when i was finishing it up. Appears as though there are two bolts as mention where the strut meets the steering knuckle that look like in some way they could be adjusted then there is ofcourse the tie rod end that can be adjusted. I'm planning on getting a total cost together for him on parts and labor. He likes to see what the mechanic will charge before having me do it. Sometimes it's easier and more cost effective to send it over, still i enjoy a good challenge. I honestly think the struts along with new coil springs will bring it back in spec. So all that's going on the list of stuff my folks gotta budget for and address. I'm just glad it's back up and running and the pedal doesn't have to be pushed almost to the floor to get stopped.