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#1
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Had my 300M aligned
For those paying attention, after getting the clunk fixed (turned out to be
a inner tie rod bushing), the more competent dealer left the steering wheel crooked. So I took it to Merchant's tire, etc store after checking with them that they would listen to my concerns about doing the alignment correctly (as described by Bill, Steve and others here). So I printed out the advice previously posted here, highlighted the important stuff and took the car over. They said they understood the issue and only a moron would do it wrong and they weren't morons. In any case they did the alignment and took a road test. The front end was indeed off, according to them and after they aligned it, the car drifted slightly so they brought it back in and switched front wheels and that solved the problem. Car is now properly aligned, steering wheel is straight and the car tracks straight. By the way they said that they fix a clunk once per month in their shop in these cars caused by bad bushing in the left inner tie rod. In their opinion it is being cooked by exhaust heat because a pipe is too close to it. I haven't heard that theory before. One of the guys owns an Intrepid. At 50k miles he replaced the steering rack. It now has 100k miles on it and nothing else has gone bad on it except for the weather stripping. I told him Bill's suggestion of cutting the weather stripping and buying one additional piece for splicing. |
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#2
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Had my 300M aligned
Art,
I'm not sure I get it. "the car drifted slightly so they brought it back in and switched front wheels and that solved the problem" Why would they have to switch wheels for the car to steer straight and not drift? Something still doesn't sound right. One idiot lowered the air pressure on one of my friend's front tires to get the car to go straight. I'm afraid to let anyone touch the alignment on any vehicle. "Art" > wrote in message ink.net... > For those paying attention, after getting the clunk fixed (turned out to > be a inner tie rod bushing), the more competent dealer left the steering > wheel crooked. So I took it to Merchant's tire, etc store after checking > with them that they would listen to my concerns about doing the alignment > correctly (as described by Bill, Steve and others here). So I printed out > the advice previously posted here, highlighted the important stuff and > took the car over. > > They said they understood the issue and only a moron would do it wrong and > they weren't morons. In any case they did the alignment and took a road > test. The front end was indeed off, according to them and after they > aligned it, the car drifted slightly so they brought it back in and > switched front wheels and that solved the problem. Car is now properly > aligned, steering wheel is straight and the car tracks straight. > > By the way they said that they fix a clunk once per month in their shop in > these cars caused by bad bushing in the left inner tie rod. In their > opinion it is being cooked by exhaust heat because a pipe is too close to > it. I haven't heard that theory before. One of the guys owns an > Intrepid. At 50k miles he replaced the steering rack. It now has 100k > miles on it and nothing else has gone bad on it except for the weather > stripping. I told him Bill's suggestion of cutting the weather stripping > and buying one additional piece for splicing. > |
#3
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Had my 300M aligned
"NJ Vike" > wrote in message ink.net... > Art, > > I'm not sure I get it. > > "the car drifted slightly so they brought it back in and switched > front wheels and that solved the problem" > > Why would they have to switch wheels for the car to steer straight and not > drift? Something still doesn't sound right. > > One idiot lowered the air pressure on one of my friend's front tires to get > the car to go straight. I'm afraid to let anyone touch the alignment on any > vehicle. > > > > "Art" > wrote in message > ink.net... > > For those paying attention, after getting the clunk fixed (turned out to > > be a inner tie rod bushing), the more competent dealer left the steering > > wheel crooked. So I took it to Merchant's tire, etc store after checking > > with them that they would listen to my concerns about doing the alignment > > correctly (as described by Bill, Steve and others here). So I printed out > > the advice previously posted here, highlighted the important stuff and > > took the car over. > > > > They said they understood the issue and only a moron would do it wrong and > > they weren't morons. In any case they did the alignment and took a road > > test. The front end was indeed off, according to them and after they > > aligned it, the car drifted slightly so they brought it back in and > > switched front wheels and that solved the problem. Car is now properly > > aligned, steering wheel is straight and the car tracks straight. > > > > By the way they said that they fix a clunk once per month in their shop in > > these cars caused by bad bushing in the left inner tie rod. In their > > opinion it is being cooked by exhaust heat because a pipe is too close to > > it. I haven't heard that theory before. One of the guys owns an > > Intrepid. At 50k miles he replaced the steering rack. It now has 100k > > miles on it and nothing else has gone bad on it except for the weather > > stripping. I told him Bill's suggestion of cutting the weather stripping > > and buying one additional piece for splicing. > > > > That is a common problem with tires. Its a radial tire pull. What should have been done next was to have the tires road force balanced to see if the tires were any good. The OP makes no mention of that being done Glenn Beasley Chrysler Tech |
#4
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Had my 300M aligned
The 300M is very sensitive to any imperfection in tires. The original
Goodyears that came with the car were replaced by Chrysler for vibrations and the new ones were replaced by me with Michelins when the second set of Goodyears went bad after 10k miles. Lots of people had drifting problems with the 300M. Personally, I think the guy doing the alignment today was going for perfection after hearing all the problems I had had with the front end of the car. I doubt I would have perceived any drift. "NJ Vike" > wrote in message ink.net... > Art, > > I'm not sure I get it. > > "the car drifted slightly so they brought it back in and switched > front wheels and that solved the problem" > > Why would they have to switch wheels for the car to steer straight and not > drift? Something still doesn't sound right. > > One idiot lowered the air pressure on one of my friend's front tires to > get the car to go straight. I'm afraid to let anyone touch the alignment > on any vehicle. > > > > "Art" > wrote in message > ink.net... >> For those paying attention, after getting the clunk fixed (turned out to >> be a inner tie rod bushing), the more competent dealer left the steering >> wheel crooked. So I took it to Merchant's tire, etc store after >> checking with them that they would listen to my concerns about doing the >> alignment correctly (as described by Bill, Steve and others here). So I >> printed out the advice previously posted here, highlighted the important >> stuff and took the car over. >> >> They said they understood the issue and only a moron would do it wrong >> and they weren't morons. In any case they did the alignment and took a >> road test. The front end was indeed off, according to them and after >> they aligned it, the car drifted slightly so they brought it back in and >> switched front wheels and that solved the problem. Car is now properly >> aligned, steering wheel is straight and the car tracks straight. >> >> By the way they said that they fix a clunk once per month in their shop >> in these cars caused by bad bushing in the left inner tie rod. In their >> opinion it is being cooked by exhaust heat because a pipe is too close >> to it. I haven't heard that theory before. One of the guys owns an >> Intrepid. At 50k miles he replaced the steering rack. It now has 100k >> miles on it and nothing else has gone bad on it except for the weather >> stripping. I told him Bill's suggestion of cutting the weather stripping >> and buying one additional piece for splicing. >> > > |
#5
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Had my 300M aligned
Art wrote:
> The original Goodyears that came with the car were replaced > by Chrysler for vibrations Why did they go back to the Eagles for new 300 and Charger? |
#6
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Had my 300M aligned
Bill Putney wrote:
> Art wrote: > >> ...One of the guys >> owns an Intrepid...I told him Bill's suggestion of cutting the >> weather stripping and buying one additional piece for splicing. Oops - hit 'send' too soon. I don't recall that I would have offered that suggestion. However I am aware of that technique from the 300M Enthusiasts Club - perhaps I linked you to a thread there that conatined that tip. Either that, or it was someone else and not me. Bill Putney (To reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my address with the letter 'x') |
#7
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Had my 300M aligned
Nickels and dimes?
"MoPar Man" > wrote in message ... > Art wrote: > >> The original Goodyears that came with the car were replaced >> by Chrysler for vibrations > > Why did they go back to the Eagles for new 300 and Charger? |
#8
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Had my 300M aligned
Google's memory is better than yours.
In your own words: "Besides DI.net that Greg mentions, you might check out the 'Black Trim and Wetherstripping' forum on the 300M Enthusiasts Club forums (http://300mclub.100megs42.com/forums/index.php). Pretty much that whole forum has been on the subject, though not many recent threads because the subject's been pretty much beat to death. Because the weatherstripping is so expensive (if, say, you need to do all four doors) the solution that seems popular is to buy one door's worth of weatherstripping, remove the threshold, slide the ends of the weatherstrip apart, fill in the gap with a piece cut from the new piece, and re-install the threshold. Bill Putney " or visit: http://groups.google.com/group/rec.a...a86f79fe90467f "Bill Putney" > wrote in message ... > Bill Putney wrote: > >> Art wrote: >> >>> ...One of the guys >>> owns an Intrepid...I told him Bill's suggestion of cutting the >>> weather stripping and buying one additional piece for splicing. > > Oops - hit 'send' too soon. I don't recall that I would have offered that > suggestion. However I am aware of that technique from the 300M > Enthusiasts Club - perhaps I linked you to a thread there that conatined > that tip. Either that, or it was someone else and not me. > > Bill Putney > (To reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my address > with the letter 'x') |
#9
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Had my 300M aligned
Both tires only have a few thousand miles on them and look brand new.
Unfortunately they have had to drive around in a clunky incompetently repaired car their short lives. In any case, the drift was very small and probably not perceptible to most people. The shop was just trying to sweat the details after hearing my story. By the way the car is gorgeous. I had it detailed and I had Colors on Parade (a car paint franchise) re-do some body work because the clear coating at one edge of a previous repair was had chipped off. They did a great job. Car exterior looks like new. Hopefully it ships to my in-laws next week. "Bill Putney" > wrote in message ... > Art wrote: > >> For those paying attention, after getting the clunk fixed (turned out to >> be a inner tie rod bushing), the more competent dealer left the steering >> wheel crooked. So I took it to Merchant's tire, etc store after >> checking with them that they would listen to my concerns about doing the >> alignment correctly (as described by Bill, Steve and others here). So I >> printed out the advice previously posted here, highlighted the important >> stuff and took the car over. >> >> They said they understood the issue and only a moron would do it wrong >> and they weren't morons. In any case they did the alignment and took a >> road test. The front end was indeed off, according to them and after >> they aligned it, the car drifted slightly so they brought it back in and >> switched front wheels and that solved the problem. Car is now properly >> aligned, steering wheel is straight and the car tracks straight. >> >> By the way they said that they fix a clunk once per month in their shop >> in these cars caused by bad bushing in the left inner tie rod. In their >> opinion it is being cooked by exhaust heat because a pipe is too close >> to it. I haven't heard that theory before. One of the guys owns an >> Intrepid. At 50k miles he replaced the steering rack. It now has 100k >> miles on it and nothing else has gone bad on it except for the weather >> stripping. I told him Bill's suggestion of cutting the weather stripping >> and buying one additional piece for splicing. > > Glad you got some results. Others have responded about the implications > of swapping the tires to get it to go straight, so I won't say anything > about that (other than to point out that sometimes the *only* way to > *really* get things right is to get new tires *and* a proper alignment and > all the kinks worked out at that point in time - by the time a bad > alignment is straightened out, the tires may develop bad wear patterns so > that no matter how good the subsequent alignment is, things are still not > ideal until new tires are put on and a good alignment repeated - I guess I > said my piece after all). > > Bill Putney > (To reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my address > with the letter 'x') |
#10
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Had my 300M aligned
Never heard of a radial pull but it seems that they should have informed Art
that there's another issue than to switch tires. -- "Now Phoebe Snow direct can go from thirty-third to Buffalo. From Broadway bright the tubes run right Into the Road of Anthracite" Erie - Lackawanna "maxpower" > wrote in message ... > > "NJ Vike" > wrote in message > ink.net... >> Art, >> >> I'm not sure I get it. >> >> "the car drifted slightly so they brought it back in and switched >> front wheels and that solved the problem" >> >> Why would they have to switch wheels for the car to steer straight and >> not >> drift? Something still doesn't sound right. >> >> One idiot lowered the air pressure on one of my friend's front tires to > get >> the car to go straight. I'm afraid to let anyone touch the alignment on > any >> vehicle. >> >> >> >> "Art" > wrote in message >> ink.net... >> > For those paying attention, after getting the clunk fixed (turned out >> > to >> > be a inner tie rod bushing), the more competent dealer left the >> > steering >> > wheel crooked. So I took it to Merchant's tire, etc store after > checking >> > with them that they would listen to my concerns about doing the > alignment >> > correctly (as described by Bill, Steve and others here). So I printed > out >> > the advice previously posted here, highlighted the important stuff and >> > took the car over. >> > >> > They said they understood the issue and only a moron would do it wrong > and >> > they weren't morons. In any case they did the alignment and took a >> > road >> > test. The front end was indeed off, according to them and after they >> > aligned it, the car drifted slightly so they brought it back in and >> > switched front wheels and that solved the problem. Car is now properly >> > aligned, steering wheel is straight and the car tracks straight. >> > >> > By the way they said that they fix a clunk once per month in their shop > in >> > these cars caused by bad bushing in the left inner tie rod. In their >> > opinion it is being cooked by exhaust heat because a pipe is too close > to >> > it. I haven't heard that theory before. One of the guys owns an >> > Intrepid. At 50k miles he replaced the steering rack. It now has 100k >> > miles on it and nothing else has gone bad on it except for the weather >> > stripping. I told him Bill's suggestion of cutting the weather > stripping >> > and buying one additional piece for splicing. >> > >> >> > That is a common problem with tires. Its a radial tire pull. What should > have been done next was to have the tires road force balanced to see if > the > tires were any good. The OP makes no mention of that being done > > Glenn Beasley > Chrysler Tech > > |
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