My car feels loose on bumpy roads whole front end has been rebuilt with the exception of the spindles and tie rods but tie rods look good. When I was swaping struts I got the driver side on fine but had a little trouble when it came to the passenger side. It seemed as though the part of the spindle that bolts to the strut was a little bent and had a hard time sliping the strut onto the spindle. Is there anyway I can check to see if it is in fact bent before I go spending the big bucks on a new one?

 

yes. an alignment shop can measure steering axis inclination (SAI) and included angle (IA). if the SAI is the same for both sides and the IA is majorly different, then the spindle is bent. if the SAI is majorly different and the IA is closely the same, then the strut or tower is bent. you just replaced the struts so the SAI should be close.

now the trick here is in order to adjust camber, you change SAI to do it. so have them make the SAI equal instead of camber to see if it is different. i run an alignment shop in florida. probably too far for you to drive seeing as your in california.



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mrrjjdh03@aol.com moderator at www.fl-thirdgen.org

 

So If I ask them to run a steering axis inclination test they will know what it is. and even if the spindle is bent there are ways around it.

The reason is that I just had the front end aligned and it still drifts and still feels loose. Seems like it drifts even more than before I had the alignment done.

 

Thanks for that background, mrr23! I always wondered how my shop was able to tell me that I had a bent spindle. They told me they were "still able to align the car, there was just enough adjustment left". A few years later, I replaced it with a spindle from a parts f-body I bought.

Let me tell ya tho, the strut-to-knuckle (spindle) bolts had to get whacked out with a hammer- I bent 'em badly. (Hit a "newly poured" curb) I used the bolts from the parts car.

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-Tom P (Hot rodded 1986 Firebird 2.8l)