Rear Wheel Alignment– all cars?

[Julian]

Hi,

Noob question. Took in my 89 Mustang to an alignment shop after putting in new springs. Seems they only did the front alignment (wow, what a difference btw). My question is, did they skip the rear wheel alignment– or does this car not have the means to align the rear? In general– can all cars have 4 wheel alignment or not. If not– what’s the criteria for not being able to do the rear? The mustang is RWD and has a solid rear axle.

Topic

[college man]

Your vehicle won’t have any adjustment with a solid axle.
Usually front wheel drive vehicles will have the capability
for rear adjustment depending on the vehicle.

[Dave]

You can have a solid rear axle aligned, but most shops do not have the equipment to do it.

[Joe]

solid axles don’t have any adjustment points for a typical alignment. Generally if your axle housing is bent or crooked for some reason the alignment machine will show that the thrust angle is off and repairs/adjustments can be made from there.

Also, if you got a printout of your before/after alignment specs feel free to post them. Your camber/caster is adjusted by installing eccentric bolts I believe (or by installing expensive adjustable strut mounts). Was your camber/caster out of spec and if so, did you have them install these pieces to correct your alignment?

[EricTheCarGuy]

Your vehicle does not have any rear wheel adjustments. However, in order to do a proper alignment on ANY vehicle, all wheels must be measured. If the back isn’t straight, you can’t align the front properly. So even though there isn’t an adjustment in the rear, it still needs to be checked as a problem back there could indicate a frame problem or broken suspension components. Both things will greatly effect the vehicles alignment and not allow you to align the front wheels properly.

[Chris]

With the solid axle that juels98 has (well…his car has) could bad rear wheel bearings create a thrust angle issue?

[Author]

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