Alll righty, here goes. This has been an ongoing problem since I bought the car, and I'm to the point of either selling the damn thing, or fixing it.

The car had been hit on the front passenger side.



Not alot of damage, at least I didn't think so...

But I seem to have quite a problem with camber.



Yet it still eats the hell out of the outside of the tire!

I've replaced:
Ball joints, yet the one on the side in question has ruptured again (only about 6 months old)...



linkages
center link
tie rods
struts
and the idler arm

My questions are, is there another place to get some more camber?
Could the LCA be "smushed" in somehow?
Could the frame be bent? (please god don't let it be...)
Can the other side affect this side any, in adjustments I mean?

I got it adjusted to where the car drives straight, but (like today for example) when in the rain, it's just slipping left and right, back and forth. Like the tires are fighting for control.

I have a V6 parts car, same year. It drove perfect when I brought it home, so I plan on using parts from it this weekend to replace the LCA, whatever brackets I think could affect this, and the spindle.

I'm open to any suggestions guys... Anything. This things is breaking me... Tires aren't exactly a dime a dozen...

Lastly, I don't have much money at all to throw at this. About all I could afford to buy would be new bushings for the LCA, and hope I can get them pressed in for the cheap...

 

Bump.

 

My last car (95 Monte Carlo FWD) was hit in the RF corner once too, when my grandmother first got it.

I got the car with only 50k so its wasnt too bad. However, after 2 years, it had eaten 3 sets of front tires. Techs said they couldnt align it. They said bent control arm.

The first time the CV shaft snapped, it took out everything. I mean tie rod, ball joint, control arm, wheel bearings, all that stuff. Dealership fixed it.

The second time the CV broke, it took all that, plus the tranny case and more. That is when I decided it was time to fix it again, and sell the car.

If you looked at the passenger side wheel in the wheel well, it actually sat about 1/2" too far back, and also rubbed. The whole engine cradle was bent.

 

Cmon' guys. So far I got lower control arm... Any second opinions on that? If the cradle is twisted, can a frame shop pull it out? What would you expect to pay for something like that?

 

Not sure how much you are willing to pull your car apart, but a peek under that fender may be more revealing. By the pictures its difficult to tell if the sheet metal took the brunt of the impact, or if the subframe is smashed up. Maybe its just the camera angle, but it appears the fender has bent to conform to the subframe, which makes me think its taken more damage than you think.

If you've replaced everything that should affect camber, and it's still a problem, I'd vote for a bent engine cradle too. Its almost impossible to tell you what it'd cost to fix, but most shops will give free estimates if you can indeed isolate that as the problem.

 

I'm thinking of relocating that triangle plate that the tower brace is mounted to. Something along the lines of this:


It barely needs to go in more, so I figure if i can get about 3/4 of an inch more, it would give me the play that I need. Anyone know of any major issues that this could result in?

I really don't have the money to have this thing put on a frame machine...
I would either have to
a: Drive the car to them and let them do the disassembly, and charge even more or,
b: Do the dis-assembly myself, then find a way to tow it up there (more $)

I know it's a hack job, but I need the car to be on the road and I simply don't have the money that some people do. I have tons of bills, and a family to support, and honestly can barely afford tires, one at a time...

Oh, and campin, I've already replaced that fender you see in the pic, and when it was off, I saw no structural damage. The new fender bolted right up with no hassles whatsoever. I don't mind pulling it off, so if need be, I can do it again.

 

I figured it out, only took about an hour.
Thanks for the replies slow and campin.

 

What did you find out? My car has the right side mount at the stops for camber, just like in your photo, with the left still having travel. I see no evidence of a collision and am at the point of sending it to a body shop to check the frame. I am very interested in your findings.
Thanks

 

I took the tower brace out, and moved it over, to the holes I suggested in my last post. All together about 3/4 of an inch, and I now have a 1/4" to maybe 1/2" to still go, in case it ever needs to go in some more. Though I actually I think it could come out some. Maybe a 1/16" or so...

I also discovered I had waaay to much toe in. I had been eyeballing it, and thought I was close, but after putting matching tires on the front, I had tread points I could measure from. Across the back of the tires I had 58" and across the front I had 56 1/2". Way to much toe. I dropped it to 57 1/8" in the back and 56 7/8" in the front, leaving about 1/4" toe in. It doesn't hop through a sharp turn anymore, and rolls across gravel and dirt in a turn, rather then plowing through it.

Over all it took me about an hour and a half to do it all. I can't believe I let this go for a year before getting the ***** (and the idea) to do it.

If you check your toe, your numbers may be different. All you're looking to do is measure from the same point of tread on each tire across both tires.

Something like this (please excuse my horrible paint rendition...)


End result so far looks like this, but once I'm sure it's going to stay like that, I plan on welding up the factory holes, and adding a small piece to fill in the hole where the strut comes through.

From the top:


From the bottom:


And the tire sits flat now:


I should also mention, there was no need to fully remove the strut to do it. Removing the one nut from the top, and cutting the wheel to full lock, gave me plenty of room to move it around, and compress it when needed.