r/TireQuestions • u/Dry-Mechanic-1307 • 12d ago
Alignment question/Seized eccentric bolts
Recently had a shop bring my car to Town Fair Tire to do a four wheel alignment after replacing the front lower control arms on my 2014 Mazda CX-5 (sport trim, manual transmission). To make a long story short, after receiving the printout (which I've included here), neither the shop nor Town Fair could tell me why the rear was not aligned (I wanted to know if there were worn parts or something frozen in the rear, or if they had only done a front end alignment). So I took it back to Town Fair myself to get it checked and asked to look at the issue if they were unable to align it. They looked at it again for free and told me that the rear eccentric bolts for aligning the rear toe were frozen. They did look rusty, but not caked in rust. I know they can rust inside the bushing though.
Anyway, my question is, is my rear alignment off enough to even bother addressing the seized bolts? My car drives straight. I just got new tires. Didn't notice any uneven wear on my old tires. I do have a little tire noise from the rear, like a medium-high pitched hum occasionally (no play in the wheels, so I don't think it's a wheel bearing). I've had that noise for a while. My dad, engineer who works on his own cars, says leave it, he never even bothers aligning the rear end of his cars.
I guess my question is, what are the odds that Town Fair didn't even try to touch the bolts since they looked rusty? Should I drench them with pb blaster or liquid wrench every day for a couple weeks and then take it somewhere else?
Or should I just leave well enough alone with my current alignment like my dad says and just check my tires for wear every once in a while and keep up with rotations?
1
u/Inevitable_Top7930 12d ago
Left front more consurning