Hi all,
So if anybody on here remembers, I had a thread that I had a while back about a potentially bent trailing arm. It was identified after being unable to get the rear toe into alignment by my alignment guy. I measured and found that the trailing arm was in fact bent and replaced it with a new one.

I went back to my alignment guy and he got the rear into alignment! Woohoo! But he also said that now he can't get the front driver wheel to 0* camber... in fact he can't get it past -1.0*. Mind you, in the previous alignment that he did (1 year ago), where he couldn't get the rear toe right, he did get the front into alignment.

I asked him for 0* camber in the front and to maximize caster. This is what he came up with:



The shims on the passenger front wheel look reasonable, but the driver side only has one thin one in the rear. So surely the driver side is the culprit. Here are some photos I took of the suspension when it was still up on his lift... note the angles of the balljoints... the driver side ones look a bit suspect, while the passenger side ones are straight up and down.

Passenger (good) side:



Driver (bad) side:



So I have begun measuring things to see what's wrong. So far, all of there measurements have come out perfectly symmetrical between the driver and passenger side:

• Shock tower to shock tower is the exact measurement its meant to be (so no shock tower sag)
• The height from the floor to various parts of the lower control arm, hub, rotor.
• Height from floor to lower control arm shaft.
• Lower shafts and shaft mount brackets appear straight and no cracks/broken welds.
• Spindle holes (where balljoint studs mount).
• End of lower and upper control arm.
• Bottom of shock tower to end of lower control arm.

So what else can I measure to find something bent? The lower control arms seem pretty well-checked, perhaps the upper control arm is the issue? The upper ball joint is especially crooked.

Anything helps, thanks!


PS: I am considering buying the offset upper control arm shafts, not as a band-aid fix for this, but to unlock more caster adjustment.

PS 2: I want to start doing my own alignments... too many variables out of my control when I take it to somebody.

 

Since you have had pieces that were bent it might be that the car ran over something solid. Before I bought mine it had been driven over a curb and the right front hit a tree. He drove it a short distance home and then it sat. I was not able to get it aligned correctly and went crazy trying to figure out what was wrong. I eventually put it on a lift and started measuring everything and using a straight edge everywhere. I eventually figured out that the "dogleg" (the green item in the drawing) where the rear of the lower A-arm connects to the frame was bent. No one saw it because it is already bent in angles. I showed the frame guy what was wrong and he corrected it. Alignment worked after that.
This might not be your issue, but it wouldn't hurt to check.

 

Damaged/Split/Worn Control Arm Bushings can and will adversely affect Camber settings and/or stability.

 

In nearly fifty years' usage, perhaps the frame itself has suffered enough abuse to leave a mark; even when not obvious ?

Suggest book a checkup with local frame shop that has a frame machine aka frame table + guys w/ chops to use it.

Shop should also have a reference manual which details all pickup points.

Word of mouth from several auto body shops may help guide your choice.

 

I should add that all of the ball joints and bushings are “correct” style parts and under two years old.

 

I do not care how new or old the ball joints are.
That upper driver one looks awful.
It must be bent / worn out / shifter to the inside / an inch or more!
That would definately give you a lot of neg camber there.

I would not drive the car!
At least until you check it.

It could be very loose.
To check if it is loose you could jack that corner up under the a-arm, just until the tire is off the ground.
There will be virtually no pressure on that upper b/j.
Push & tug hard & quick on the top of the tire.
It should not move.
If it does, the car is too unsafe to drive.
It could break at any time.

 

I appreciate your concern, leigh. I had the same thought when I saw the ball joint looking like that.

So after taking the care home I jacked up the lower control arm and removed the castle nut on the upper ball joint and pulled the spindle off. It felt and looked totally fine… no wiggle and when positioned in the center of its travel, it is perfectly vertical, not appearing to be bent. I think the angle that it is sitting at when installed to the spindle appears much more extreme than it is. And I agree it makes it look like it’s bent.

But I believe that something else is bent that is forcing the ball joint to be angled like this.