Bent lower control arm?

[GNRick]

I replaced the upper and lower control arm bushings on both sides of the car, along with center link, tie rod ends, ball joints, and any thing else that had a castle nut holding it. Anyway, after putting everything together, I took it for an alignment. Mechanic said pass. side was fine but driver side was way off. They said to bring it to a body shop with a frame machine. I've taken it to two body shops and 3 mechanics to get their opinions. They all seem to agree- have a body shop with a lazer set up where they can measure key points to make sure the frame/control arm were not damaged in an accident. What do you guys think? The body shop charges $200 to hook it up and take measurements. Any additional frame straightening is extra. I could just buy a new lower A arm but that might not fix the problem. I have an appointment with one of the alignment shops that already looked at it once, just to have him look at it again before I spend the $200 (or more) at the body shop. After the body shop does their thing, I would still have to get it aligned.

 

[TURBOTWIN2]

Ask your alignment guy if he did a caster sweep with steering axis inclination reading. If it is one degree or more difference from one side to the other, you could have a bent spindle or steering arm (part of the spindle where the outer tie rod connects).
You could also measure underneath yourself with a tape measure and look for anything obviously out of whack or visibly bent.
What exactly does "way off" mean? Did he give you the camber/caster readings for that side?

 

[GNRick]

Alignment specs

Here are the specs.

 

[TURBOTWIN2]

Uh, Rick. Could you have that guy click on the lowest left box that says "Show Measurements"?
That screen is to make adjusts off of and I don't think the Caster reading is what you really have. No way is caster off 12 whole degrees, BOTH sides?
The left Camber is too low but could probably be brought back in, you might need Moog's Problem Solver offset upper shaft/bushing kit there.
You might want to try another Alignment shop.
HTH.

 

[GNRick]

Uh, Rick. Could you have that guy click on the lowest left box that says "Show Measurements"?
That screen is to make adjusts off of and I don't think the Caster reading is what you really have. No way is caster off 12 whole degrees, BOTH sides?
The left Camber is too low but could probably be brought back in, you might need Moog's Problem Solver offset upper shaft/bushing kit there.
You might want to try another Alignment shop.
HTH.

Turbotwin2- sounds like you are in agreement with the shop that I am going to later today. He looked at the specs and said the tires would rub so bad the car wouldn't move. The shop that took the measurements said the passenger side was fine, but the driver side was way off. I have no idea how to read the specs but I thought that picture just applied to the driver side. The mechanic that took the measurement said that I might need the offset bushings, so you guys are in agreement there. Why would I need offset bushings? Does that indicate a past accident or bent spindle? When you say upper shaft kit are you referring to the upper control arm bushings?

 

[GNRick]

I took it to the alignment shop today and they showed me that I need to replace the upper ball joint (driver side). Pissed me off because that ball joint is a year old and maybe 500 miles. I have another appointment with them Wed. If I don't replace it myself tomorrow, I will just let them do it. They plan on trying to align it at that time. Stay tuned. Any more suggestions are welcomed.

 

[TURBOTWIN2]

Let us know what how they do after the ball joint replacement and subsequent alignment.
Get a print out. I always look at SAI (steering axis inclination) and the thrust angle, in addition to the usual caster, camber and toe readings. All the modern machines should also give you the rear camber and toe readings, even though they are not adjustable.

 

[charlief1]

This may help or confuse you some Rick. I'll be more than happy to answer any questions you have but the readings you posted are almost impossible to achieve without some major work to the chasis. You'd litterally have to cut the upper mounts off and move them.

Read the whole thread to get a better idea of what you need to know.

http://www.turbobuick.com/forums/threads/g-body-drag-car-alignment-settings.290592/

 

[8UWITH6]

Looks to me like the guy didnt do the caster sweep correctly......... but I wasnt there to watch. Everything else is fine/adjustable.

 

[GNRick]

You wouldn't believe what I did. I even started a new thread about it. I put the upper control arms on the wrong sides! If all goes well I'll switch them today.