Can't get my '04 Titan into alignment

siroiszoo · May 20, 2009

Been searching these threads until my eyes bleed. Desperately searching for a solution for my '04 Nissan Titan.

I bought it used from my brother-in-law August '07. Pristine condition & only 25,000 miles on it. Tires needed to be replaced as all were worn down; evenly as I remember.

By Nov '07 I noticed serious inside wear on a brand new set of tires. Took it to my mechanic who couldn't get it in alignment (and didn't charge me). His numbers were:

Camber: Front-Left -0.7; Front-Right -1.6
Caster: 2.9; 2.8
Toe: 0.13; 0.10

Cross Camber 0.9
Cross Caster 0.1
Total Toe 0.23

Took it to the Nissan Dealership and after I caught them trying to pass the truck off as aligned and forced them to do better, they got the following after 3 days of brainstorming:

Camber: Front-Left -0.9; Front-Right -1.7
Caster: 2.7; 2.3
Toe: 0.11; 0.12

Cross Camber 0.8
Cross Caster 0.4
Total Toe 0.23

This was after deciding that he only way to get it this close to alignment was to cut a bolt to give extra room.

Nov '08 I buy a new set of tires. Now, after 5,000 miles, I see my Bridgestone Duelers are wearing just as fast but now on the outside!

Off to my mechanic I go, who has the top of the line alignment machines.....

Again, he doesn't charge me cause after 5 hours & kits that wouldn't even help, the best he could get was:

Camber: Front-Left -1.3; Front-Right -1.8
Caster: 3.6; 4.2
Toe: 0.08; 0.12

Total Toe 0.20
Steer Ahead -0.02

They looked at every possiblity to fix this alignment problem but can't come up with a solution.

Do you know of any solution to this problem? I love the truck but can't keep buying a new set of tires every year.

twistedfreedom · May 20, 2009

sounds like you need cam bolts. IIRC the early model trucks only had toe adjustment.

Walrus · May 20, 2009

This truck hasn't been in a wreck has it?

gyrate · May 20, 2009

04-06 inclusive cannot have camber adjusted out of the factory.

There is a TSB for it, but you are out of warranty and dealer will charge you like 300$ for it. Good luck..

Had mine done under the 12k warranty for it (its not covered under the 36k or 60k)

siroiszoo · May 20, 2009

Nope, never been wrecked. But problem seems to be getting worse as the miles add up.

siroiszoo · May 20, 2009

gyrate said:
04-06 inclusive cannot have camber adjusted out of the factory.

There is a TSB for it, but you are out of warranty and dealer will charge you like 300$ for it. Good luck..

Had mine done under the 12k warranty for it (its not covered under the 36k or 60k)

Do you have a link for the TSB? I've been searching forever and can't find one.

Quartz · May 20, 2009

Try this.
Knowledgebase - Service Bulletins - Nissanhelp.com

curbfinder · May 20, 2009

gyrate said:
04-06 inclusive cannot have camber adjusted out of the factory.

There is a TSB for it, but you are out of warranty and dealer will charge you like 300$ for it. Good luck..

Had mine done under the 12k warranty for it (its not covered under the 36k or 60k)

04&05 came with camber bolts? In 06 however because of cost cutting the camber bolts are deleated. I own 06 and have read that on up models also don't come with them.There are after market camber bolts that allow more camber adj than the ones dealers carry. Not sure about the TSB you speak of? I know there was an issue with 04&05's having a under torqued bolt issue in the front end some where?

siroiszoo · May 21, 2009

Quartz said:
Try this.
Knowledgebase - Service Bulletins - Nissanhelp.com

Couldn't find anything there. My mechanic said he couldn't find a TSB on my truck's problem, either. From what I've researched, Nissan wasn't owning up to the problem; others have experienced it and in some cases the dealership kept replacing the tires for awhile. Then they started blaming it on driver error and quit doing so. Same crap I've gotten from dealerships around here.

miketan · May 21, 2009

Technically speaking, those LCA cam bolts (if you have them) should be replaced during every alignment. I had problems with extreme front tire wear that wore out a set of brand new OEM Wranglers in less than 10K miles. I rotated them every 3k miles too! Turned out one of the LCA cam bolts got stripped at the dealer and it fugged up the front suspension settings. I should've known something was wrong when I noticed the tech wrenching on it for what seemed like forever when he was adjusting the settings on the driver's side. He probably knew it was stripped, but kept wrenching on it to get an acceptable reading for the print out. As soon as I drove it off the lot, the alignment probably got all screwed up again like it was before. Make sure you can watch them when they're wrenching on those cam bolts. If it seems like they're having a difficult time adjusting them or it seems like it's taking an awful long time to get it to proper specs, the LCA cam bolt/s are probably stripped and will need to be replaced with new ones.

loufish · May 21, 2009

Technically speaking, those LCA cam bolts (if you have them) should be replaced during every alignment.

Technically speaking, you don't what you're talking about...Just because YOUR bolts had an issue from some monkey who ruined them, it doesn't dictate bogus maintenance policy for all Titans...

The 04' came with alignment cams, as does mine. Is the truck stock?...Is it stock height?
It should line up pretty good, there's a problem your "experts" haven't found yet...

MJB09SRT8 · May 21, 2009

try getting a hold of prg products greg should be able to get you cam bolts with more range and he may be able to give you more info on what needs to be done to get every thing right.

Montrose

HRTKD · May 21, 2009

While you're talking to PRG ask about the Delrin spacers for the lower control arms. Some Titans have had issues with the lower control arms moving around on the bushings where the LCA attaches to the frame. There are threads here and on CT that discuss this issue.

ArmyAviation · May 21, 2009

gyrate said:
04-06 inclusive cannot have camber adjusted out of the factory.

There is a TSB for it, but you are out of warranty and dealer will charge you like 300$ for it. Good luck..

Had mine done under the 12k warranty for it (its not covered under the 36k or 60k)

$300?!!! It cost me $183 for cam bolt install on my 06 Titan from the dealer http://www.titantalk.com/forums/titan-suspension/42561-camber-kit.html

Gladiator-21 · May 22, 2009

My 07 had serious wear on the front right outer edge and pulled right too...had it aligned & rotated the tires... and mangled another the same way. Local Nissan dealership put it on the rack 3 times before I refused to take the vehicle back. They then discovered the truck needed "Adjustable Eccentric Bolts" and yet another alignment. She glides straight as an arrow now. Dealer ate the parts & labor.

gyrate · May 22, 2009

ArmyAviation said:
$300?!!! It cost me $183 for cam bolt install on my 06 Titan from the dealer http://www.titantalk.com/forums/titan-suspension/42561-camber-kit.html

3hours labor @ 88$ or something.. it was a warranty job so maybe thats why they took their time. +cost of alignment

somebody else mentioned that it was the 06 that lacked the bolts only.. thats right. my bad i guess although there have been quite a few other years retrofitted with said bolts too for some reason.

JonnyMie · May 22, 2009

HRTKD said:
While you're talking to PRG ask about the Delrin spacers for the lower control arms. Some Titans have had issues with the lower control arms moving around on the bushings where the LCA attaches to the frame. There are threads here and on CT that discuss this issue.

Sounds like what HRTKD said might be your issue .. here's a related thread on TT: http://www.titantalk.com/forums/tit...m/forums/titan-suspension/91924-what-options-worn-out-control-arm-bushings.html ... check out my post at the end of the thread ... WyoTITAN posted in depth info on CT

miketan · May 26, 2009

loufish said:
Technically speaking, you don't what you're talking about...Just because YOUR bolts had an issue from some monkey who ruined them, it doesn't dictate bogus maintenance policy for all Titans...

The 04' came with alignment cams, as does mine. Is the truck stock?...Is it stock height?
It should line up pretty good, there's a problem your "experts" haven't found yet...

Technically speaking, I think you're being very RUDE with your comment and I suggest STEPPING AWAY away from the keyboard for a few minutes before you get a HEART ATTACK.

It's not bogus maintenance policy Mr. Goodwrench. Those cam bolts (if you got them) have a habit of stripping like mine did. If you're like me, you may run into a goober or goobers working on the alignment rack at the dealer. My truck was almost brand new at the time (>3k miles) except for a leveling kit (that just got installed) which required getting a front end aligment to adjust the camber settings.

Like I said before, it's generally a good idea, TECHNICALLY SPEAKING, to replace those bolts every time you get a front end alignment. That way, you won't run into a situation like I did by having a stripped bolt that fugged up 3 separate attempts to align the front suspension (under the 1 year warranty on labor) before the culprit was found. Getting 4 cam bolts every couple of years is a heck of a lot cheaper than buying a new set of tires every 10k miles.

Yah, I guess I do know what I'm talking about.

loufish · May 27, 2009

Technically speaking, I think you're being very RUDE with your comment and I suggest STEPPING AWAY away from the keyboard for a few minutes before you get a HEART ATTACK.

It's not bogus maintenance policy Mr. Goodwrench. Those cam bolts (if you got them) have a habit of stripping like mine did. If you're like me, you may run into a goober or goobers working on the alignment rack at the dealer. My truck was almost brand new at the time (>3k miles) except for a leveling kit (that just got installed) which required getting a front end aligment to adjust the camber settings.

Like I said before, it's generally a good idea, TECHNICALLY SPEAKING, to replace those bolts every time you get a front end alignment. That way, you won't run into a situation like I did by having a stripped bolt that fugged up 3 separate attempts to align the front suspension (under the 1 year warranty on labor) before the culprit was found. Getting 4 cam bolts every couple of years is a heck of a lot cheaper than buying a new set of tires every 10k miles.

People have a bad habit of spreading B/S as gospel, and it gets old....Replace all the bolts you want, BUT don't tell others it's the normal thing to do when it's not. Tell them that yours got stripped, but remember to tell them there are guys out there that work all day on front ends and manage NOT to ruin other peoples hardware.

Your situation does not mean everybody else should throw common sense out the window...or should they share your paranoia
I'm in the the automotive field, and deal with front end guys every day...

Oh by the way, I've lost count how many times I've played around with the alignment on my front end from changing ride heights and such, and I'm still on my original bolts and cams, which have never slipped AND I've got plenty of off-road miles....along with thousands of hard pavement miles...

HRTKD · May 27, 2009

loufish is a big boy and has no need for anyone to stick up for him (besides he's holding his own in this thread quite well on his own) but I think it should be reiterated that replacing the camber bolts at each alignment would be highly unusual. It would be like putting synthetic engine oil in your Titan and then changing it every 1,000 miles. Yes, you CAN do that but it sure would be a waste of time and money.

Can't get my '04 Titan into alignment

siroiszoo

twistedfreedom

Walrus

gyrate

siroiszoo

siroiszoo

Quartz

curbfinder

siroiszoo

miketan

loufish

MJB09SRT8

HRTKD

ArmyAviation

Gladiator-21

gyrate

JonnyMie

miketan

loufish

HRTKD

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