I am the PROUD owner of 2 1999 Monte Carlo Z34's. One drives GREAT, but the other one.... Here is where I need help! I noticed the front end wears the outside of the tires BAD, so I took it to a local shop to have it aligned. It was so bad, that the inside of both tires weren't even touching the lift. The mechanic said that there was no way to adjust the camber. I took it home, very unhappy. The owner of the shop called me about 3 hours later, said he had called the people he bought his 'aligning equipment' from, and they suggested I grind out the top hole of the strut mount, see if I could bring them in, a little. Am I the only person that has had this problem? Any ideas what to do? I plan on giving one of these cars to my 16 year old daughter, and 1 to my 16 year old neice.

 

I too own a 1999 MonteCarlo Z-34 model...

Did you buy it from a private owner? Or possibly an auction house?
How long have you had it? I would try doing a background history check on it.... Maybe its been wrecked ? SEVERLY?

Thats the only way I would figure it not being able to get aligned!
Youd think any alignment shop would know instantly if it was wrecked....

I have no other idea as to why it would be in that condition!!!

 

It was put in the ditch, and hit a rock on the left tire. It was hard enough to poke a hole in the tire, and break the strut. It doesnt look like anything else was bent, plus it affected the other side.

 

Did the insurance company total it?

 

Grinding the strut mount sounds like a bad idea. That's just a band-aid over the real problem. I would try and find the root cause of your alignment issue instead.

 

they replaced a broken strut so im wondering if it was the right strut maybe an incorrect size Length? what else was replaced. I have a friend that had an altima that front sat way too high. the stuff that was replaced was for the wrong year and it made the car sit way up in front it was a 2.5 with all 3.5v6 suspension

 

I'm with zzapultimate on this. Now you mentioned it was ditched and hit a rock hard enough to break a strut. That's a serious hit. You did one or both of the items below:
- Bent some suspension parts
- Bent the structural integrity of the car

Hopefully it's some bolt-ons that can be easily replaced. If not, it may not be worth having it straightened.

I would start checking control arms, sway bars, inner/outer tie rods. You may also want to look at various parts of the under body for signs of buckling.

 

Thats kinda what I meant about the structural integrity...
When I asked if the INSURANCE company totaled it...
But he didnt answer ...

 

Maybe the strut towers are bent ?
Or the lower A arms bent in ?

 

Although it does sound like a bad alignment, try taking it to a different shop to get an alignment.