2011 Express
5 speed manual
17" aluminum wheels from the factory
233,000 miles

so i had some work done on the car at the dealer and they said i had a bad tie rod outer. okay nothing i cant do my self.
i put in a pair of new tie rod outers and did the brakes while i was at it. i have access to a heated barn with a lift and all the tools i might need.
i took it in for an alignment because its one thing i DONT have. they do an alignment and remind me (i had known before) i needed new struts and the rear upper lateral links. the numbers look spot on except for the caster (Calibers generally do NOT have adjustment for caster, at least that i know of) at 1.89". minimum is 1.90" so pretty stinking good. i drive it and it tracks straight as an arrow and i have no issues. other than my tires have about 80k in them and are getting cupped from the bad struts and one has a flat spot where it looks like the belts have shifted. no issue. ill address those at my next paycheck or so...

a couple of weeks later i put new tires on. Arizonians from Discount. the same tire ive owned probably 9 sets of over the course of 2 Calibers, or 13 years, or 650,000 miles. the car now requires pretty good pressure and right steering input to stay in the lane and if i let off, it will damn near dart into the left lane. thinking its time to do the struts and all i go to it...

put new monroe (as listed on Rock Auto) struts all the way around, with new rear upper lateral links and i did the stabilizer bar links front and rear because one of each was bad...

i take it in for an alignment and the shop says they cant do it because they cant get the caster number thats required. they want to drop the strut and "slot" the mounting holes so they have some adjustment... i think there has to be a different (BETTER?) way of getting the number they need. how would it have ever left the factory if the caster was out of spec? My concern #1


the snow has melted from the roads and theyre nice and clear and dry and now im noticing quite a bit of vibration when taking off from a start or accelerating from a turn, if i get on the go pedal with any vigor. brand new tires that were balanced (or so i thought) all of a 2 weeks ago. i noticed some vibration the past couple of days but thought it was the bumpy surface of the roads with ice and snow. time for another trip to get the balance checked? of course its New Year's Eve day. good luck getting in for that to happen. My concern #2


i hate complaining about this stuff but it seems ive just hit a big pot of crap luck as of late. my new (to me '04 Dakota) has a shudder in the drive line someplace that manifests itself around 30, then 33 then 37 (ish) mph. not looking forward to having to do u-joints on the drive shaft or on the hubs (4x4)...

 

Caliber getting you down? First off, in the caliber and see if it helps.

The car was tracking fine, and then you took it in for new tires and now it does not track straight?

First things to check:

1. Swap tires from the left side to the right side: LF goes to RF, RF goes to LF, RR goes to LR, LR goes to RR. Then see if you still have a problem.
2. Inspect all of your tires...if any got a bunch of weight added to make it balance, if may be bent
3. Check for bad wheel bearings
4. Check for dragging brakes

Concern 1
Slotting the mounting holes of the struts is a good idea to get better alignment numbers. I would do it. Just make sure they hit the slot with some rust proof paint before putting it back together.

Concern 2
This seems like a bigger issue. Check the four items I listed above, see if they contribute to this problem.

 

BRUuuuce!



yeah, i came back to this earlier today and decided 1st world problems right?

the dealer got it aligned but the service writer couldnt explain what the tech did... go figure....


sometime this week coming up, its going back to Discount Tire for a balance check....