Suspension & Brakes Springs | Shocks | Handling | Rotors

Bent Spindle???

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Old Jun 2, 2011 | 08:30 PM
  #21  
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Originally Posted by ChrisRZ28
From reading this site and Fraxx, mostly racers elongate the holes but I'm sure it would be fine on a street car. I know mitchntx has done it (racecar) without any trouble. You haven't hit the k-member or lower control arms on anything have you?
Nope.We thought maybe it was in a accident but no signs of anything looking under the car or maybe someone pulled a dukes of hazzard jump but it all looks ok but that would turn me towards my idea of a bent spindle.
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Old Jun 2, 2011 | 08:31 PM
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no time like the present to buy adjustable uppers.
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Old Jun 2, 2011 | 08:32 PM
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Im just kind of stump but I work too much to take it all over to different shops or spend lots of money on it.Sucks
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Old Jun 2, 2011 | 08:35 PM
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Originally Posted by 99SSJarhead
no time like the present to buy adjustable uppers.

Can't afford them right now.Really need it fixed b/c wife is now using it to work and back for now and needs it by Monday.long story.
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Old Jun 2, 2011 | 08:37 PM
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Originally Posted by ChrisRZ28
From reading this site and Fraxx, mostly racers elongate the holes but I'm sure it would be fine on a street car. I know mitchntx has done it (racecar) without any trouble. You haven't hit the k-member or lower control arms on anything have you?
any idea how much you can elongate the hole or link to thread?
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Old Jun 2, 2011 | 08:44 PM
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Have you measured both sides of the car to make sure the drop is the same? It could be a bad spring on the one side.
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Old Jun 2, 2011 | 08:49 PM
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Originally Posted by 99SSJarhead
Have you measured both sides of the car to make sure the drop is the same? It could be a bad spring on the one side.
Driverside sits 1/4 inch higher than passenger
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Old Jun 2, 2011 | 09:16 PM
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Thinking about a easy fix and elongating the camber adjustment slots by 3/16-1/4 max.Anyone disagree?
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Old Jun 2, 2011 | 09:51 PM
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Originally Posted by MillerTime85
Thinking about a easy fix and elongating the camber adjustment slots by 3/16-1/4 max.Anyone disagree?
My race car has the K-Member slotted so that the flat of the bolt head it at the edge of the K-member. I probably removed 3/8-1/2 of material.

But you have to slot the caster mount as well.

The camber and caster have to move as a unit. If you don't slot the caster, the lower will pivot around the caster point, losing positive caster (high speed stability).

You very well could have a bent knuckle. Its more common than any one might think.

Negative 0.4 - 0.8 degrees camber is a good range to shoot for.
Positive 4.0 - 4.5 degrees caster is a range
1/16" toe in keeps the trammelling to a minimum.

Camber sweep is measuring how much "wobble" there is as the wheels are rotated from full lock to lock.

This tells you if the wheel assembly is rotating square.
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Old Jun 5, 2011 | 02:52 PM
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Just a update.I got done replacing both lower A arms.3 out of 4 bolts were rusted.What a PITA.Haven't picked up new knuckles yet but I did notice the distance between knuckle & spring/shock on both sides differs.I can put my hand behind passenger side but on driver side I can barely get a finger in between.This confirm my idea of a bent knuckle?

Thank You for everyone's input and baring with me to get this figured out.
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Old Jun 5, 2011 | 03:24 PM
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Anyone?
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Old Jun 10, 2011 | 05:56 PM
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Update.Got a new Steering Knuckle on from a junkyard car.Fixed the problem.I told him to throw the old one in the back so I can shoot it.
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Old Jun 11, 2011 | 12:15 AM
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Good deal...glad to see you got it fixed!
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Old Jun 11, 2011 | 10:18 AM
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Yea.Same here.One of the biggest PITA's Ive had to deal with when it comes to this car.Now that the whole suspension is pretty much been replaced.Hopefully No problems for a long time.................Hopefully
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Old Jun 13, 2011 | 10:07 AM
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Originally Posted by sjsingle1
if something was strong enough to bend a spindle..........you would have a lot more damage in other areas
i disagree. I just recently had an accident that broke the spindle. It did slightly bow the inner tierod but those things are like pencils anyway. That was all there was. However i do agree that it would take an odd impact to bend the spindle in a way that would negatively affect camber. I can see it going positive, not negative.
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Old Jun 13, 2011 | 11:50 AM
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I'm guessing the previous owner maybe had hit a curb on that one side good enough to bend the knuckle or maybe jumped the car over some RR Tracks or something.who knows.
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Old Jan 8, 2013 | 06:02 PM
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I hate to bring this thread back because its a year old but I just recently have the same problem with my camaro only I did hit a curb and got into a minor fender bender at the same time.

Story is someone wasn't looking changed lanes into me and pushed me into the curb.

Drove to an alignment shop and just like the OP I had a lot of negative camber on the driver side but the passenger side seems normal. Drivers side was at -1.6. Not -2 but keep at mind I am on bone stock suspension so with a prokit that lowers a little I would think it would be about -2... Anyways. What the hell? The steering nuckle was bent for the OP last year? I am having a hard time figuring out what to replace or if its even safe to drive on bent parts. He couldn't tell if the parts were bent but he said that it was probably either a spindle or upper a-arm that was bent. He ended up aligning it for me anyway. I had him bring the camber in as far as possible but it only got to -1.4 on the drivers side.... so not sure what to think about that. Anyway I am driving on it like that and it seems fine but I know somthing is wrong.

The only problem is figuring out what parts to replace. I have no idea if its the lower a arm, spindle or upper a arm is bent.

I need some advice from people who have run into curbs in the past and had a similar problem as me and the OP. Btw, sorry for bringing a thread back from a year ago and then hijacking it lol.
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Old Jan 8, 2013 | 06:26 PM
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Given the geometry and materials everything is made out of I'd suspect the upper A arm is bent first before the spindle. The spindle is a pretty rigid piece while the upper A arm is basically a loop. If you smack the spindle the A arm will bend inwards sooner than the spindle bending.
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Old Jan 8, 2013 | 06:43 PM
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Originally Posted by SparkyJJO
Given the geometry and materials everything is made out of I'd suspect the upper A arm is bent first before the spindle. The spindle is a pretty rigid piece while the upper A arm is basically a loop. If you smack the spindle the A arm will bend inwards sooner than the spindle bending.
hmm ok. So that makes more sense because the camber was negative too. So it makes sense if the a arm bent inwards. I'm a little paranoid now lol because I don't know if anything is damaged or not. Any tips or tricks to rule out simple things like ball joints or w/e else might be damaged.
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Old Jan 8, 2013 | 07:21 PM
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Ball joints don't really bend. They break off. Even if it does bend it no longer would operate properly.

Upper arm is more likely to bend than the lower because of the shape of each one. Lower can bend however, especially since a hit on the lower part of the wheel is going to put more force on the lower than the upper. But that would cause camber to go more positive, not negative.

It is hard to say without a direct analysis of everything. I'd probably start with getting a new upper arm and swapping that first as it strikes me as the most likely part to bend. But also I'm not a pro at stuff like this so don't take my word as ultimate authority or anything.
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