# New guy.. Rear alignment questions..



## wesley40336 (Oct 25, 2009)

Hey folks. I figured it would probably be best to post my questions here, instead of the Member Greetings area so I'm going to get with it. 

2008 Sentra, Opted for extended 100K warranty at the time of purchase. I think we are experiencing the rear alignment issues that I've been reading about everywhere. I'm not sure where to go with this or where to even start. I guess I need to describe what's going on first. 

The rear looks like it's sagging a little bit, like there's some weight in the trunk. The top of the rear right tire is sortof leaned in, toward the fenderwell. Also experiencing abnormal tire wear on the rear right. At highway speeds, there's also a pronounced roar, sounds like the car has knobby mud tires on it. I'm sure all of these symtoms are a product of the rear end camber problems. Or, it could just be time for tires. I'll add, the factory tires are still on the car, Bridgestone Turanza's. I'm not sure how good of a tire they are, as I've read many negative reviews. Maybe they're just a loud tire? Maybe it's time for new tires? I mean, they are getting about 35K on them and there's still probably 5K of usable tread left even on the worst worn tire, which is the right rear. 

*What the car does do*, is tracks like it's on rails and the steering wheel sits straight on the column. You can be going down the road at any speed and let go, and it'l track straight. There is also NO vibration of any kind at any speed as well. By driving it, you couldn't tell that it is/may be out of alignment. Maybe I have no issues, maybe it's just time for tires? I've also read that when there is a rear end alignment problem, the car will be squirrelly on snowy or icy roads. This is also not the case, as the wife and I both drove it around everywhere last winter and it done exceptionally well IMO on snowy roads. 

So now, this Friday, I'm going for some new tires and an alignment at an independant shop. Got a real good deal on some GoodYear Eagle's, and they're throwing in a 4 wheel complete alignment for free. 

Now, my questions,

Will the alignment/tire shop align the rear when the alignment is performed? It is my understanding that the only cure for these alignment issues is some sort of shim kit which is easily obtained. I searched on RockAuto, and found some shims for like $8.00 each but there were several listed and I don't know which ones were needed. Would the alignment shop have these shims to correct my camber problem?

I know this is Nissan's f-up, and by rights they should honor it under warranty, but from what I've read, you've got to go through thr wringer to get it taken care of, and half the time they still won't do repairs, even if you are under warranty. It seems thier favorite excuse is failing to rotate tires regularly. So, I really don't want to deal with them if I don't have to. 

So, I need some opinions and answers. I've read lots of stuff here, and from what I've gathered, there's some pretty sharp folks here on these little cars. Do I need to drop by the Nissan garage Monday after work and speak to the service manager about this? Or should I just wait and see what my tire shop can pull out of thier hat? I've had our car serviced at the Nissan garage ever since we bought it. Oil changes, and various other warranty service such as seat covers and the brake warning light thing. 

I don't even know what I should tell the service manager if I did go. I just know I don't want to dump $500 on a nice set of tires, and the rear ones be worn down to almost slicks in a year and a half. 

Here's a link to some previous posts of mine for any reference you may need. 

http://www.nissanforums.com/new-member-forum/156660-well-i-guess-im-new-here.html#post1289120

Many thanks in advance!


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## michaelahess (Apr 22, 2008)

They won't be able to align it unless they shim it. And if you'd follow the advice I provided in my post (you did search right?) you'd know how to deal with Nissan Corporate to get this paid for  Even though you sound like you're out of warranty they will still do it if you ride them enough.

I'd have a Nissan dealership do it though so Corporate can get "reliable" info, they didn't reimburse my alignment costs (pre-admittance of issue) since it wasn't done at a dealer (bs in my opinion,) though they had to get the same store to do the shim kit since they couldn't do that either :lame:


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## wesley40336 (Oct 25, 2009)

Yes I read your post. 

I am still under warranty. We purchased an extended warranty through Nissan at the time of purchase.


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## michaelahess (Apr 22, 2008)

Sorry, not sure why I said that I remember reading your comment on the warranty. Seriously though, just call corporate and go to town on them, if the service manager can't make it happen.


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