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Belveder

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Discussion starter · #1 ·
Hello, I always thought that to do basic adjustment of the front alignment wouldn't be such a problem. Last Saturday I had my car serviced for the front alignment. The car was pulling very slightly to the left and the steering wheel was crooked very slightly to the right, really only 2 - 3 degrees. When I picked up the car and did the road test I wasn't too happy. Yes, it seemed to me the car wasn't pulling to the left anymore or just very, very slightly but the steering wheel wasn't adjusted at all. Today I took it back. The mechanic and Green and Ross worked on it for an hour then test drove it and then still worked on it for another half hour. Finally he said it is as straight as it can be but after driving back home from the garage I wasn't happy again. The steering wheel is still positioned to the right when driving straight. I'm just exhausted from the whole affair.The car seems to be driving straight and that's what's most important I guess. We are going for a long road trip on Friday and so I hoped they could fix it to my 100% satisfaction but that's not the case unfortunately.
I wonder if anybody of you had a problem with alignment adjustment on the Patriot.Maybe it's just the way of the mechanical design on the Patriot and it is more difficult to do the alignment. I don't know. Thank you.
 
#3 ·
Was the wheel maybe off from the beginning? In my youth I worked at a dealer and one thing I did was to adjust the steering wheels to be straight when the wheels were straight. Most did not come that way from the factory.
 
#4 ·
I've fought this from the beginning on mine. I've had three alignments in 24K miles.

I honestly think it's the tires, but they aren't showing any uneven wear.

I have a good shop do the work.

I've had enough "mid-level annoyance" warranty issues to convince me that I will not be keeping my Pat more than another couple years.
 
#5 ·
Orion6 said:
I've fought this from the beginning on mine. I've had three alignments in 24K miles.

I honestly think it's the tires, but they aren't showing any uneven wear.

I have a good shop do the work.

I've had enough "mid-level annoyance" warranty issues to convince me that I will not be keeping my Pat more than another couple years.
Click to expand...
Interesting how we got our Jeeps around the same time, and we both have alignment issues. I too have had minor warranty annoyances for things that never should have been an issue. The Jeep dealer keeps insisting my alignment is withing spec, but I can visually see a difference between the front and rear tires, and it has always pulled right. I'm going to a shop this week that I trust who says it is out of alignment and they can fix it with parts. We'll see what happens...

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#7 ·
mrJeepr44 said:
Interesting how we got our Jeeps around the same time, and we both have alignment issues. I too have had minor warranty annoyances for things that never should have been an issue. The Jeep dealer keeps insisting my alignment is withing spec, but I can visually see a difference between the front and rear tires, and it has always pulled right. I'm going to a shop this week that I trust who says it is out of alignment and they can fix it with parts. We'll see what happens...

Sent from my Nexus 7 using AutoGuide App
Click to expand...
I have the exact same problem.
Pulls enough to the right to annoyance. I dropped it off at the dealer I bought it from and said fix it, it pulls right.
They called back and said it was all within manufacturers specs.
I said maybe so but you can correct the pull.
They took it for a test drive and called back again and said its normal.
I've been general mechanic as a side job for 25yrs, so I told them....
"Seriously? My first experience with your service center and I'm getting the run around to avoid warranty work?" Fine! Park it and leave it. When I come get it I'll take it to a competent service center on my own dime and file a complaint against your award winning service department."
All they could say was sorry sir.
Total BS

It's only got 1000miles on it.
Not a good way to start off new vehicle ownership.


Sent from my iPhone using Autoguide
 
#8 · (Edited)
softroader said:
Camber bolts solved my alignment problem. Dealer installed them under warranty. Of course this was after trying tires on different corners and replacing a tire.
Click to expand...
I got the camber bolts from Rock Auto and had them installed. No difference. :confused:

Don't get me wrong, I truly like what the Pat offers. It just doesn't seem like it's going to hold up in the long run, at least mine doesn't.

When my 70K factory warranty is up she's getting traded.
 
#9 ·
Belveder said:
Hello, I always thought that to do basic adjustment of the front alignment wouldn't be such a problem. Last Saturday I had my car serviced for the front alignment. The car was pulling very slightly to the left and the steering wheel was crooked very slightly to the right, really only 2 - 3 degrees. When I picked up the car and did the road test I wasn't too happy. Yes, it seemed to me the car wasn't pulling to the left anymore or just very, very slightly but the steering wheel wasn't adjusted at all. Today I took it back. The mechanic and Green and Ross worked on it for an hour then test drove it and then still worked on it for another half hour. Finally he said it is as straight as it can be but after driving back home from the garage I wasn't happy again. The steering wheel is still positioned to the right when driving straight. I'm just exhausted from the whole affair.The car seems to be driving straight and that's what's most important I guess. We are going for a long road trip on Friday and so I hoped they could fix it to my 100% satisfaction but that's not the case unfortunately.
I wonder if anybody of you had a problem with alignment adjustment on the Patriot.Maybe it's just the way of the mechanical design on the Patriot and it is more difficult to do the alignment. I don't know. Thank you.
Click to expand...
Seriously....go somewhere else.
Provided it drives straight as u mentioned, A straight steering wheel is the easiest problem to fix on an alignment. If they can't that right, I'd question tire wear now.
They either keep forgetting to do it, or literally don't know how. Again, it's very simple. Go somewhere else.
45min job!


Sent from my iPhone using Autoguide
 
#10 ·
The first step when doing an alignment is to turn the steering wheel straight, then lock it into position. It's a device similar to this:

Image


Once the steering wheel is locked straight, THEN they do the alignment which may involve loosening both tie-rod end adjustments and rotating the tie-rods an equal amount to match the steering wheel orientation.

If you still have a pull, it could be:
1. A bad tire or an air pressure difference. Swap the tire front to back and/or side to side to see if the pull changes. Make sure both tires on an axle are inflated to the same PSI. If one side of your car has been sitting in the sun for hours, those tires will have a higher initial pressure then the shade tires and you '"could" experience a slight pull until temps/pressures equalize.
2. Not enough or too much alignment compensation for road crown.
3. Stuck or dragging brake or wheel bearing.
4. You normally carry heavy weights (or you yourself are very heavy) and the alignment needs to be redone with those weights in place. This means it will pull the opposite way when unloaded. No insult intended, but when I worked at sears we had to align an old Caprice wagon with the owner sitting in it. He weighed about 450 lbs and he changed the angles when he sat in the car. We've also had construction workers come back complaining of pulls, but they didn't have the trunk loaded with their normal 400+ lbs of tools.
5. I'm sure there are some other factors...but i'm not thinking of them at the moment, hopefully you get the idea though. :)
 
#12 ·
#16 ·
Same problem here; pulled right when new.
Had it realigned @ dealer. Much better.

Now, @17k miles, it is back. Rotated tires; no difference.

Caster is the adjustment that affects pulling the most. Not sure how adjustable that is on these vehicles.
 
#17 ·
I don't know either.....YET, but I'm sure from the factory it's not much and you'd have to buy a shim kit or adjustable bolt kit like the camber has. I'm going to check with a different dealer before I pay out of my own pocket.


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