Trouble With Alignment And Rust

[tpirovol]

Hey Everyone

Me being the nice guy I lent my cousin my car for the past couple of months since he did not have one. He wanted to change the tires and I told him to go to Costco and ended up going to some buddy of his. He brings me back the car yesterday and mentions that his friend said there is rust on the back under the car and that the car cannot be aligned. I found it kinda odd to say that specifically but let is slide.

Fast forward to today and I drive it to work and notice the car pulling slightly to the left. It is not bad but it is their and annoying. Now I know my trailing arm bushing is on its way out but curious as to what bolts the mechanic was referring to when he said the alignment could not be done on the back. What parts does that cover so when I get the trailing arm bushing replaced I can also replace that as well and get the alignment done? Also does anyone know how much Jimmy charges to do a trailing arm bushing swap?

In the end I think my cousin had the best intentions and this mechanic was like lets do an alignment. He then messed up my alignment and or could not fix it and hence where I am at now.

Mazda 3 2008 GT

Thoughts?
Thanks T

[bmxjordanbmx]

I've lived in Newfoundland for the past two years and have seen some pretty rusty cars get aligned just fine, your best bet would be, going to a trusted garage and see what there opinion would be. Everything rusts out here, due to the salt water and the salt on the roads.

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[morganc]

It depends what aspect of alignment the mechanic is referring to. The only stock adjustable portion of alignment on the rear of these cars is toe. There's an eccentric bolt on each of the rear lower control arms where the arms meet the chassis (centre of the vehicle, circled in green).

If the mechanic is stating that the camber of your rear is off then your springs are worn and riding too low. You can buy adjustable camber arms for the rear, but I'd solve root cause if this is the case.

As for bolts related to the trailing link, they're circled in red in the linked photo. I suppose if your trailing arms are incredibly worn out, they could be responsible HOWEVER, I would think it's more likely that your Rear Lower Front Links are shot as these would affect toe more directly (circled in blue).

http://i1149.photobucket.com/albums/o589/irmugz/Mazda%20susp_zpsitsfqbow.jpg (http://s1149.photobucket.com/user/irmugz/media/Mazda%20susp_zpsitsfqbow.jpg.html)