Absolutely correct on the thrust angle. .... And the one reason you need to ask for a four-wheel alignment, which they usually charge an extra 20 or $30 for. It seems like if you just go in and ask for an alignment, they don't even look at the rear axle.

And yes, the ride height has to be done prior to setting the alignment. The do it yourselfer can get it close.... Maybe the proper term is close enough.

Many people don't have a good choice in alignment shops, stuck with a couple of the high volume type places that have a 19 year old doing the alignment after he was trained with a 30 minutes video.

I would be afraid to see what the dealer charges to set the ride height exactly where it should be. Our local GM dealer doesn't even do alignments, they send the work next door to the Les Schwab tire store. (With the 19-year-old I refer to above, LOL. That's what the kid told me what I asked him what he knew about torsion bar adjustments)

However you get it adjusted, have them use red loctite and mark the bolt and next to it with paint.... Easiest way to look at it later on and see if the bolt backed out.

 

One other note. If you look at the adjustment bolt for each torsion bar, you may question it because one bolt is in further than the other one. Actually that's pretty common. I don't know if that's differences in the torsion bars themselves or what... But not uncommon

 

Interesting, I wasn't aware that you may get slightly different ride height from the bolts being at the same position. I'm going to check the measurement to the frame and see if there's any lean.

As for the trust angle, they did check the rear axle both times they did the alignment. I asked the tech at the 2nd location if the rear end being slight toe right or the thrust angle being what it is could cause the pull, he said he didn't believe it would.

 

All good info above. Check a few simple things.
Measure side to side for ride height, then adjust torsion bar accordingly. Make sure one side is not riding on the bump stops.
You say its pulling but is it really pulling or is the steering wheel not where you think it needs to be?
This is an alignment issue and as others have said, find a better shop and explain to them what your issues are.
TH

 

Might be worth having someone fall you down the highway and see if it's tracking straight. Theoretically possible I suppose that the problems in the back. I think we've all noticed an older for pickup with the ifs up front, following them down the freeway with the back end a couple inches off to one side... Those have similar issues with the front end geometry.

 

TH,
It's definitely pulling, you have to turn the wheel deliberately left to go straight or the vehicle will go to the right, flat parking lot included. Alignment tech also confirmed it was pulling after he drove it, just wasn't sure as to why.

I haven't had someone see if it's crabbing yet, I'll check that and ride height tomorrow and report back.


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TH I also agree that it appears to be an alignment issue, or could at least be mitigated with a "creative" alignment. But I don't have any experience doing alignments to confirm that suspision. I also haven't found any flaw in the work I've done or the new parts.

Wish I had enough money to buy an alignment rack and learn!

 

Checked on the same spot on the frame, took a while to find a flat spot...

Used metric since it's easier:
Driver - 36 CM from ground
Passenger - 35 CM from ground

Fenders are the same height however at 106 CM from ground

Would this small difference make the alignment improper?
The torsion bar keys haven't been touched since the alignment was done.

Also the vehicle pulled right before I removed the lower control arms and readjusted the keys...

 

That tells me they messed up the alignment. Frame height gets set first, then the alignment. It's the frame measurement that's important. Body, irrelevant....body mounted on 20+ year old rubber bushings.

Can what you have affect alignment? I would think so.

 

Thousands alignments performed successfully since the '80's, along with 10's of thousands alignments performed under my watch!
NEVER NEEDED TO CHECK RIDE HEIGHT IN ORDER TO GET A VEHICLE TO DRIVE STRAIGHT AFTER CHECKING SUSPENSION!