Vehicle 2000 Accord 4dr. V6 Automatic 81,000 miles, bought new. New Tires and alignment just done. However, the car's rear wheels do not track the front wheels; slightly offset to the right looking at the car from the rear. Slight oversteer in a curve to the right. Tire shop says the axle offset is 0 according to their alignment equipment. So, they say nothing is wrong. The car's original tires lasted 60,000 mi. (Michlens). I replaced them with Traction T/A's and they were horrible; poor wear, noisy (I missed rotating untill about 12,000miles and by then they were ruined). I believe part of the problem was this axle offset issue. How it came about is a mystery. Prior to replacing these tires, I tried to get the alignment issues fixed at a Honda dealer, but they seemed more intersted in selling new tires and cabin filters. So, they were little help. How do I get this axle offset checked and corrected if it is indeed a problem?

 

Hello Tom,, welcome to the forum..........do you by any chance have the alignment results ?? if so post them here ..
it is hard to argue with the alignment rack ( assuming rack is properly calibrated ) results stating that alignmnt is all within specs

go to our DIY section and read up on Alignment 101 . it might explain things a bet better

and see if you can get those alignment results ..

 

HI Deserthonda,
Thanks for the help.

The results from the front are:
Cross Camber: -0.4
Cross Caster: -0.5
Cross SAI: 0.2
Total Toe: -0.10 Specified Range: -0.16 0.16
Set Back: -0.04
Wheelbase Diff: 0.17
Track Width Diff: -0.51
Track Width (O.R): 68.9"

The results from the rear are:
Cross Camber: -0.2
Total Toe: 0.18 Specified Range: 0.00 0.32
Trust Angle: 0.00
Set Back: 0.13
Axle Offset: 0.00
Track Width (O.R.): 67.9"

I'm not even going to pretend that I know what any of that means.
The only thing that I do know is how it handles and, as I stated, it slightly oversteers to the right in a curve and the rear is slightly offset to the right when looking at it from behind as it goes down the road. Frankly, I can live with that but, I don't want to go thru another set of tires in 20K.
I'll have to take your advice and read up on alignment issues. Thanks for any input!

 

I hate to say this but it sounds to me like the vehicle was inloved in a rear end collision or side impact.It sounds to me like your vehicle is experiencingwhat is called "dog tracking." Dog tracking is when the rear axle rides offset from the front axle causing the rear axle topull to one side while the front axle stays true. Rear tire wear will be horrific, looking as though the tread has been peeled off sidewall to sidewall. I would take it to a body shop and have them check the body alignment reference points. This is different from awheel alignment, and can show if the vheicle has been in any type of a collision. Any vehicle can be aligned according to the machine. For example, onealigment I recently performed was on a 02 Ford Focus that the customer said it was pulling to the right. I performed a 4-wheel alignment and only had to adjust the LF toe. The machine said it was perfect. The vehicle was returned to the customer only to be back the next day, stating that the car pulled even worse. I checked aligmnet it was perfect, but upon later inspectionI found a bent tie rod causing the vehicleto pull to one side.Any vehicle can be aligned according to the machine, but that doesnt mean that thereare notstill issues.Also, another measurement that alignment shops almost always forget is S.A.I.

 

I bought the car new. It's never been in a rear/side collision (that I'm aware of). Apparently, somethings not right with the car. The original tires wore well and were replaced at about 60K. The replacements lasted 20K and I just replaced them because traction was getting bad and the noise was terrible. It did wear the tires off on the inside edge but only the right side of the car. Because they were directional tires, I couldn't rotate them around all 4 wheels. I'm trying to get this dogtracking issue fixed so the new tires don't get ruined.

 

Can you actually see with your own eyes that the wheels look slightly offset? If you can, something is wrong.

You might consider taking the vehicle to a high-class body shop - a place that does major repairs to uni-body cars that have been in fairly serious collisions. Theyhave computerizedbody-alignment equipment that should be able to precisely determinewhether your car has chassis mis-alignment. (If they're not too busy, they shouldn't charge you an arm and a leg to do it, either.)

Good luck, and please let us know howyour problemis finallyresolved.

Edit: Just noticed that wietgr previously recommended the same thing. Sorry for the repeat.

 

Is it possible that a subframe has shifted to one side or another (maybe from a serious pothole during cornering)? That might cause some of this without actually having a true 'collision'.

How about sliding around in winter & grinding a lower control arm on the ground while the wheels were down in a ditch? I'm just making up possibilities here...

Has the car EVER been towed? Maybe the tow driver hooked up to the WRONG component underneath the car?

 

We had a vehicle that needed the subframe dropped to remove the alternator. When we gave the vehicle back to the customer they complained of a pull to the right. Checked the alignment and the Thrust Angle was off because the subframe was bolted up just slightly off its original postion. If youve had any extensive work done where the subframe may have been removed this may be the problem.

 

No accidents, no memorable pothole/curb impacts. The tranny was replaced at about 35,000mi. under warranty, but the offset/oversteer problem wasn't noticed untill after the last alignment at the dealer when I was trying to fix the poor tire wear problem. I should have persued it at the time, but was really put off by the service guys attitude. Now, I think it's justing a matter of finding a knowlegable alignment person that 's willing to take the time to set the car up right. Thanks for all the input!