5kcsq Alignment Problem

[Gil Ceniceros <gil@shore.net>]

Can anyone offer advice as to what would cause caster out of spec. in the 
negative direction? Today's (Friday) machine listing shows the following 
caster readings, left -1.70 deg. , right -0.09 deg. According to Bentley 
it should be +1.0 +/-.67 deg. The car is not certain about holding 
course, it pulls to the left and steers itself to left into bumps.

It looks to me that the longwise relationship of the lower ball joint to 
the upper strut mounting is the caster. The control arm shape, stabilizer 
bar location, and maybe the coil spring height would influence the 
caster. Does anyone know the proper unladen height of these cars to check 
for spring sagging? How can I check for (suspected) bent control arms? I 
think that any damage which would push the stabilizer bar out of place 
would be quite obvious on the subframe.

Monday I had the 4 wheels aligned at Ira Porsche/Audi in Danvers, Ma. 
They said all was set correctly, but didn't give me the listing from the 
alignment machine that day. I called them back the next day to complain 
that all was not right as described above. I took the inner tie rod ends 
loose to inspect them and lubed the steering rack yesterday to be sure it 
was not binding. Went back today to have the alignment re-examined. They 
tell me now that it is the same as Monday (caster out of spec.), no way 
to adjust it, and absolutely no suggestions for finding the cause of the 
condition. So much for trust in, and advice from those "experts".

Lesson learned, bring the spec's and check the report before paying for 
alignment. I don't mind fixing what's broke, but hate to pay to adjust it 
again when they knew it wasn't going to be right the first time.

TIA for any helpful responses.
Gil Ceniceros
Danvers, Ma.
88 5kcsqw with 4 new wheel bearings, all new bushings, shocks, 
halfshafts, etc. Preparing for cross country migration before winter 
arrives.