Alignment question (2006 EXL)

[jdmbo1]

Lately, I noticed that my Pilot pulls to the right, and decided to take it in for an alignment, as well as for new tires. I was wondering if anyone has a copy of the specs for alignment for the 2006 EX-L 4wd? I had the alignment done about 2 years ago, and want to check if the numbers are close to the factory's.

[jestmaty]

Just had my '04 done, if the specs are the same, I'll be glad to post the OEM specs here.

Any good alignment shop will give you a before/after printout to show where you were and where you are now.

If anyone confirms that the '04 alignment is the same as the '06, I'll post up the original specs.

[jestmaty]

BTW- I've heard that all cars have a 'built-in' tendancy to drift to the right.

Probably has something to do with saftey and falling asleep at the wheel.

There is a difference between pulling to the right and wandering to the right. I've had cars as a youngster that pulled hard to one side or the other, due to my teenage abuse of wheels and curbs.

[jdmbo1]

Thanks for the reply. I never heard of the built in tendency to drift to the right, but it makes sense.

I actually had this problem after the first couple of months after purchase. I had 2 alignments done, and everything seemed fine, but for some reason, its been getting worst lately. I searched the forum, and found the OEM specs for the 2004 model that was posted by another member, but I'm not sure if its the same for the 2006 model.

Did you get the alignment done at the dealership?

[jdmbo1]

So I found my old alignment spec sheet that was given to me at NTB.

Here is a link to the first alignment that was done.

Alignment 1

I came back about a month later, because the car felt like it was still pulling.

Alignment 2

I noticed that top of alignment 1 says 2003-2007, so I figure that they use the same specs.

[A6Pilot]

To distinguish between 'pulling' and 'drifting' try this:
On a multilane highway drive in the extreme left lane. If the car climbs the road crown to the right, it's probably pulling too much. In order to drain water from the road surface, most roads are constructed with a high point, or crown, in the center to the road. If you are in the extreme right lane the crown has a normal tendency to push the vehicle further to the right, slightly.

[jdmbo1]

Thanks for that piece of information. I guess the pulling might just be in my head. I'll pay more attention on the commute to work tomorrow.

[MinMet]

Try the middle lane on a three lane highway. The car should going straight. Any other road, the car will drift either to the right (most of the time) or left (at the left lane of a multi-lanes highway). That's the way I always check my Pilot's alignment every time after rotate the tires.

[rocky]

Is it pulling or is the steering wheel out of alignment?

Any accidents or curbing events?

[jdmbo1]

Originally posted by rocky
Is it pulling or is the steering wheel out of alignment?

Any accidents or curbing events?

That's a good question. It feels like the car is pulling, the steering wheel seems fine.

I don't think my steering wheel is out of alignment, for the most part, it feels straight. What causes the steering wheel to become unaligned?

A while ago, I backed the pilot into another car; we took it to the dealership, and a new bumper was put on. Aside from that nothing big. I haven't ran into any curbs, but I have ran over several pot holes.


I was wondering if someone could help me interpret the alignment sheet I was given.

I found this posted by another forum member in another thread

ED27:

Camber
Front: -0°30' ±1°
Rear: -0°30' ±45'

Caster
Front: 1°53' ±1°

Total Toe
Front: 0±2 mm (0±1/16")
Rear: 0±2 mm (0±1/16")

Front Wheel Turning Angle
Inside Wheel: 38°08'
Outside Wheel: 30°19' (Reference)

These numbers come from a '04 repair manual. I noticed that my alignment sheet numbers do not come close to these numbers. Is that a problem that could cause the car to pull?

I'm planning to go to a shop to get my tires rotated and an alignment done. I was initially going to switch out the Goodyear Integrity for some new tires, but the Integrity's still have a lot of thread on them, plus i don't have the funds for new tires right now.

[belundy]

The absolute camber on the front wheels is not similar and may be the cause of a (what should be slight) pull. Ideally, to have the absolute camber values both on the same side of zero (both negative or both positive) and the cross camber (left-right) of less than .4 degrees.

The Pilot has a few tenths of a degree play in the strut mounting holes before having to use using special cam strut bolts.

The rear wheels appear to be quite far off--something bent?-- in camber, and will cause pull as well. Need to be in similar camber agreement.

Toe errors wont cause pull, but will make steering heavy, and affect straight ahead stability.

Last, the absolute caster # needs to be similar (which it is here) , or that will cause pull.

[jdmbo1]

Thanks belundy for the informative post. I guess I'll have to go to the mechanic on Saturday, and see what he can do, especially concerning the rear chambers. I don't know whats up with those numbers.

[NJGuy]

FYI.

The alignment specs are usually posted in the owner's manual as well. Check in the technical specifications section.

[jdmbo1]

After getting the alignment done, the Pilot stilll feels like its pulling to the right. The front chambers are pretty close to each other, but my rear chamber; Left = 0.4, and Right = 1.1 is still off. The mechanic told me that the Rear chamber was not adjustable. Is this correct?

[belundy]

The -1.1 camber is going to wear inner edge of tire more quickly, even more so when you are carrying a load, as the negative camber increases.

Realize if you've already got a tire that has uneven wear pattern, it may cause pull which can only be fixed by replacing the tire or maybe some careful rotating of tires to cancel that tire's tendencies.

If nothing is bent (your mechanic did check for that?) and there isn't enough play in the strut pinch bolts to get the camber with a few ticks of spec and cross camber with .4, then there are aftermarket cammed pinch bolts for that purpose. I've never had to use them, so can't point you to a source. RockAuto?

There are certainly other "tricks" that can be used, but they aren't something you'd share, here.