Have the shops explain to you just how the camber could be different from the way it came from the factory. I'll bet bet that you will get a very entertaining ear full of BS.

The only way that the camber could be knocked out of spec is major uni-body damage, or severely worn out parts, like control arm bushings, strut mounts, wheel bearings etc. And at 53K any or all of those are possible, my personal bet is control arm bushings, they are very difficult to see.

 

And then innocently go to another tire store that offers "free alinement check" and see if the after numbers are still the same. If they alined with bad parts it will be out of spec again.

 

X 2, what did the CarFax report read ?

As far as alignment & warranty, I doubt that is covered. Worn parts yes..

They could tell you, you musta hit a pothole on the way home, for their bail out..

Hopefully they will do you right..

 

hate to say it but i have seen some so called techs lean on the heads to get all greens

 

The spec is barely out
If It was caster out I would be worried about damage
Seen many cars in my days with camber out
Yes I would believe that some techs lean on the machines to get different readings.
Gm makes the bolt kit for adjusting camber so obviously a common thing to be out
Clean carfax
Clean car I would guess 10,000 miles on it had I not seen odometer.
Right front wheel bearing was replaced at dealer
Worn bushings would be a good guess
Really thought that an alignment meant more than adjusting toe adjustment

 

If we where talking caster I would suspect unibody damage .
I would not be shocked to see that it came from the factory with this camber tolerance.
Not uncommon at all for a camber adjustment up here and I am sure more common in parts of pa with all the potholes.
As I keep mentioning just amazed that independent shops are telling me that. Camber adjustment is done if necessary in there alignments
Gm is saying they don't and gm.
Just hoping gm will help me out here.

 

Is the SAI the same side to side?

 

My certified SS only has 29k on it and it pulls to the left when I'm driving. I have new tires and wheels so I wonder if those are the culprit. I do think the car was pulling with my snow tires too though.

I had a new Silverado I bought and had an alignment done under warranty at 6k miles. I brought it back around 14k and they tried to charge me that time. They said I hit a pot hole or something. Untrue! I babied that truck as I baby the H car!

Brian

 

You said that the camber is "slightly out" of perfect or tolerance? They always have a +/- range to the perfect. Some people use "spec" to mean the "perfect", when it actually means "within this range". I would still be interested in the answer to "how did the camber get changed?"

The camber and caster on this suspension can only be affected by frame damage or worn/bent parts. You have to literally bend metal in order to change the caster and camber. They are set on the engineer's drafting table, by the positioning and angles of the strut mountings (top and bottom) which are basically rigid, except for rotation.

The only adjustment that is available from the factory is the toe. A proper alignment should include an in depth inspection (and sales) of all of the suspension parts. Personally, I would be looking into the future repairs needed if a part was "modified" by a mechanic and then down the line another dependent part was changed.

The only 2 reasons for the use of a "camber kit" is for racing and/or non stock size wheel and tires.

I am just trying to help. I do not care how you spend your money, just know what you are spending it on. Not even attempting to argue any points, just point out facts that many people are unaware of. Yes, a double A frame suspension needs camber and caster adjustments frequently to compensate for normally wearing bushings, the HHR suspension is a hugely different system.

 

Also lowering/raising the vehicle will cause caster/camber changes
Just a thought,