Hey everyone new to the neighborhood, thanks for having such a great site!

in a moment of stupidity i slid my C4 backwards (driverside rear hitting first) over a short curb at about 10 MPH. after the fact i just simply can't bring the camber back into alignment. its not out by much about .75 degrees from where i would like it but it am at the limits of the strut rod cam. when i drive it when the drive side rear bearing "howels" a bit and gets worse in a right hand corner, seeming to be a tell tale sign of a bad bearing.

My question is does anyone think that a bearing (especially one that was stressed in the way mine was) could cause the camber to be so hard to bring back into spec?

perhaps the rear bushing on the strut rod was damaged? but is sure seems like its ok.

thanks in advance guys!

 

If the bearing howls, it's bad. Other things could be damaged. No way to diagnose it over the net short of seeing pics, etc.

 

Healthy bearings don't make noise, but if your alignment is seriously tweaked, what you may be hearing is tire scrub noise, not bearing noise. Before laying out any cash, I'd do a closer inspection of all of your rear suspension components. If you're at your limits on the strut rod and can't get a good camber setting, the strut rod is probably bent. The bearing may be damaged as well....and it may BE causing the noise, but I suspect a tire is dragging / scuffing while you're driving.

Are you able to get the rear toe setting correct? If the alignment is being set based upon the premise of all components being straight, but something is bent, the car is tracking down the road incorrectly.

Check the strut rod carefully to ensure that it is true. If it's even the slightest bit tweaked, replace it. Then get the car back up on the alignment rack and see how things shake out. I really can't see a wheel bearing disallowing a camber setting....unless it is seriously distorted...and I doubt the car would even be driveable in that case. But...I've been wrong before.

If it were my car, I'd take the whole rear suspension apart on that side and start checking every component. Yes, I've had one apart before, and no, it's not fun. Check all your bushings while it's down, make sure nothing is mushy or worn.

Good luck to you....and don't beat yourself up for hurting the car....we've all been there before.

 

The OEM bearing is a weak link in the rear suspension. It's a ball bearing type set up which really doesn't like lateral forces. There is a tapered bearing available for your C4 which seems to be much better. I have had mine on for about a year now and all is well. Jack your Vette up and do a simple test of the bearing by grabbing the rear tire at the 12 o'clock and 6 o'clock position and see if you can move the wheel. Any movement that you can feel is probably too much and the bearing should be replaced. BTW, welcome to the site where we can spend your money faster than Uncle Sam can print it.

 

thanks for the advice guys, i am thinking this winter (i live in Minnesota so the driving season is short) i am going to tear the whole rear suspension down anyway and replace all the bushings with a poly kit.

this is the one that i found that seems like a nice one:
http://www.mamotorworks.com/corvette-3-148-1089.html

i also think i am going to replace the strut rods anyway here is what i found but i am open to suggestions: http://www.mamotorworks.com/corvette-3-157-1139.html

the howl is not the kind that you would get with tire scrubbing (i did not describe that well at all), so i am going to do both bearings.

as for the toe, the funny / strange thing is its dead on from where i had it, i sure expected everything to be hosed up.

 

If you have to take the car down for the winter, it's a good time to replace all the bushings and sort through any issues. If it's not tire scrub, it's most likely a noisy bearing....and a noisy bearing is sending you a distress signal.

But I still think something is bent...most likely the strut rod. The sudden inability to get a decent camber setting is what's leading me there. I don't think the bearing is causing that. Good time to meausure everything while you're doing bushings.

Incidentally, poly bushings will REALLY wake up the way the car handles.

 

Also check the yoke at the end of the half shaft. You may have broken off the end retaining piece that holds it in the diff. That would cause increased negative camber and is highly likely if you have a low horizontal impact with the wheel. If you jack the car up and that wheel is tucking down more toward the center line of the car than the other, that is a clear indication.

 

with the suggestions above. Also look at the carrier's(batwing) ears to make sure they are not bent or damaged.

 

So after a long winter, i finally replaced the wheel bearing and the strut rods with the Mid America Motorworks units. the car is back and better than ever!

while i was at it i bought a Polyurethane bushing kit on all four corners, for the $200 ish i paid for the it, it is WELL worth the money, its better than ever in terms of handling!!

the only gripe I had was getting the new strut rods installed, they where a pain, has anyone else had this problem?

thanks guys for all the support and suggestions!

 

Yes reinstalling the strut rods is a pita. I disconnected the sway bar, shocks and spring and was able to move the hub around to get the strut rods bolts to line up.

 

Hey! you updated the thread with a cure for the problem........

Nice touch.......Thanks for that.