GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

Alright, so I'm posting this on here so I can hopefully understand the problem better and maybe get a second opinion on what I should do.

I took my 2007 Vibe in for a wheel alignment. They did the front wheels just fine. When they moved to the back, they noticed the rear toe was just off by a very small degree. They said they could adjust it, but they recommended just to leave it alone unless I was having major tire wear issues or steering problems. Because they would have to remove the wheel bearings to insert shims, and removing the wheel bearings could be a huge PITA and cost a lot of money.

He mentioned something about wheel bearings seizing up inside of the axle tube because of rust and corrosion (I might have misunderstood this and gotten it wrong, so please correct me if I'm wrong here), and trying to remove it could involve a lot time and most likely replacing those parts (thus, a lot of money). He said it wasn't worth it just to adjust that small degree of toe, but if I was ever experiencing rapid tire wear then it would be worth doing.

At the same time though, if there is rust and corrosion like he said possibly could exist, I feel like I should address that issue now instead of waiting? Any thoughts or advice?

I concur with what they told you. Don't worry about it unless you see abnormal tire wear. As for the rust, if you take it apart to shim the wheels, you are going to disturb the rust which could lead to other wheel or axle problems. Just leave it be and enjoy the ride.

If a wheel bearing fails, it is going to make noise first. At that time have the wheel bearing replaced and the shims added for the alignment. All cars have rust. Don't waste your money and just follow what they told you.

I know this is old but I'll add on to this my experience for other people searching this subject.

The rear wheel bearing is held on by a few bolts and even if there is rust, a healthy swing of a sledge hammer should knock it loose, it's not a press fit. I had to shim my passenger rear .75 degrees and it was a very quick and easy job. If you look at your alignment print out and are still in the "green" acceptable range then dont worry about it. If it's out of the acceptable range it's a simple enough job for even an inexperienced person to fix. There are plenty of youtube videos for this type of repair as well. As for the potential rust issue and preventive maintenance, I wouldn't say it's necessary but it would make for peace of mind knowing it's good.