Question:My mechanic says my suspension is not adjustable.
Does that mean the wheels can't be aligned?
Answer:No, it simply means the vehicle manufacturer was
too cheap to design adjustable suspension components when it engineered
your car. When a car maker designs a car, engineers and accountants
scrutinize each and every component to figure out how they can
reduce manufacturing and assembly costs. If a few cents can be
saved by leaving out an adjustable camber bolt, caster shim or
whatever, they'll do it. They may have great faith in their own
ability to build a vehicle that never needs to be aligned or fixed,
but we all know from experience that such notions are untrue.
So even though a suspension is nonadjustable and shouldn't require
any corrections, that doesn't necessarily make it so. Even brand
new vehicles can roll off the assembly line with wheels that don't
meet their own alignment criteria.
Fortunately, the aftermarket has come up with ways to correct
the "mistakes" of the vehicle manufacturers. If the
car maker doesn't include provisions for adjusting the suspension,
it creates an opportunity for some aftermarket part's supplier
to come up with means of making such adjustments possible. These
include offset bushings, shims, wedges and other alignment aids.
So even though your suspension may have few if any adjustments
for things like camber, caster and rear toe (front toe is adjustable
on all cars and trucks), there are probably aftermarket alignment
aids that allow at least some limited corrections to be made on
nonadjustable suspensions.
