Elongate Strut Slots to Get Car's Wheels Aligned?

[kcac]

I was told the struts on all four wheels of my 1995 Cutlass convertible, (67K miles) need to be slotted in order to get the car aligned properly. Anyone with wheel alignment or body shop experience care to weigh in on this?

 

I'd like to know if this is an acceptable way to solve the problem, or if it is a Band-Aid that doesn't solve a problem but instead masks a problem with the cars undercarriage.

 

[White93z34]

the OE struts were not slotted in this fashion, as far as i know there are supposed to be other ways to adjust this, however i have heard of KYB struts being slotted for that purpose .

[1990lumina]

My Monroe Sensatrac struts were slotted on the bottom bolt? IIRC...I just eyed it up, but the left wheel is out pretty bad which I still have to fix lol...

[19Cutlass94]

All rear replacement struts are slotted on the bottom bolt for alignment purposes.

[CSI_MuNkY]

You will also find slots on the subframe to move the lateral links. I can't remember if it was on the forward ones or the rearward ones, I want to say the rearward ones.

From the factory the struts weren't slotted because by making only one location for the strut to go in GM lessened the need for an alignment at the factory, you couldn't put the strut in the wrong place.

 

Jamie

[kcac]

So is the take-away from this thread that the need for a slotting the struts to get the cars wheels aligned does not necessarily mean the undercarriage is damaged?

 

Seems odd that the stock parts don't permit the car to be aligned - to me that would be a tip-off that the undercarriage is damaged in some way. But I don't repair cars for a living, so slotting might be a necesary "real world" practice among those who align vehicles every day.

[CSI_MuNkY]

Your undercarriage is fine. They don't slot the stock ones because it reduces work in the factory. When they install that strut it can only go in one place, the place it was designed to go. This way when they align it at the factory they have fewer variables to worry about.

I don't think you would want to slot your own holes, you'd be better off swapping out the struts. And to be honest, if the struts have never been done in 12 years, they are probably coming to the end of their life anyways. I just did my suspension job and I had one stock strut and one aftermarket one... I hate when people do that, both sides should be replaced.

 

Jamie