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I have a quick question for the knowledgeable people here. I recently bought a 2000 WS6 and it pulled super hard to the right I took it to two shops and the second said they noticed the K member was bent and more than likely in an accident. I replaced it with a tubular K member which allowed them to adjust the front right caster from 1.9 to 3.1 on the passenger and 4.6 on the driver side. The thrust angle is also at .31 and the toe in the back is -.82 and it still pulls hard right. What should I be looking for to fix these issues without spending thousands at a body shop to have it scanned for frame damage? Any advice would be great. I was thinking of looking at getting adjustable rear lower control arms and panhard if it would help.
If you don't want to pay a body shop to do a proper diagnosis, you can do some shade tree methods first...
The right front is obviously where the issue is. I would put the car on a flat surface and measure the wheel well clearance all the way around the tire on both sides of the car. Also take pictures of both sides and compare everything to see where the caster is off.
My guess is that your LCA is bent. (Because the damage got to the K member.) Your ball joints must be treated as suspect also.
BTW - The stock control arms are adjustable for these alignment adjustments. You are probably just too far bent.
If you don't want to pay a body shop to do a proper diagnosis, you can do some shade tree methods first...
The right front is obviously where the issue is. I would put the car on a flat surface and measure the wheel well clearance all the way around the tire on both sides of the car. Also take pictures of both sides and compare everything to see where the caster is off.
My guess is that your LCA is bent. (Because the damage got to the K member.) Your ball joints must be treated as suspect also.
BTW - The stock control arms are adjustable for these alignment adjustments. You are probably just too far bent.
the passenger side LCA was replaced at some point and the alignment shop didn’t notice anything else wrong with it. I’m hoping the axel isn’t bent since there is a big difference between the rear wheels sticking out.
the passenger side LCA was replaced at some point and the alignment shop didn’t notice anything else wrong with it. I’m hoping the axel isn’t bent since there is a big difference between the rear wheels sticking out.
Things might be bent in the back, but I would expect those brackets are easily straightened out. I expect your functional problems are related to the caster issue at your passenger front tire. The upper arm, or the frame could be damaged.
I would go to a body shop at this point and get measurements. They will be able to tell you what is off. At this point, it sounds like you are playing whack-a-mole, which is going to get more expensive.
Toe out in both rear wheels seems odd, like really odd. Thrust angle would mean the at as much as one side is out, the other would be in, roughly speaking. And the rear camber isn't nuts, which makes me wonder how this is happening as it's not likely a bent axle.
The caster in the front, well that is almost assuredly a bent steering knuckle.
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Things might be bent in the back, but I would expect those brackets are easily straightened out. I expect your functional problems are related to the caster issue at your passenger front tire. The upper arm, or the frame could be damaged.
I would go to a body shop at this point and get measurements. They will be able to tell you what is off. At this point, it sounds like you are playing whack-a-mole, which is going to get more expensive.
Do you have side-on views of the front tires?
I’ll have to get some side pics of the front tires for ya.
Toe out in both rear wheels seems odd, like really odd. Thrust angle would mean the at as much as one side is out, the other would be in, roughly speaking. And the rear camber isn't nuts, which makes me wonder how this is happening as it's not likely a bent axle.
The caster in the front, well that is almost assuredly a bent steering knuckle.
I am wondering if the rear control arms are bent and that’s why the thrust and toe is so off. I order a BMR adjustable panhard to fix the rear wheels sticking out more on the drivers side. I heard the knuckle bends easy if there is a collision with the front tires so I may buy one and see if that fixes it at all. But would putting on a new knuckle fix it by itself without replacing anything else if that’s all that is wrong?
Things might be bent in the back, but I would expect those brackets are easily straightened out. I expect your functional problems are related to the caster issue at your passenger front tire. The upper arm, or the frame could be damaged.
I would go to a body shop at this point and get measurements. They will be able to tell you what is off. At this point, it sounds like you are playing whack-a-mole, which is going to get more expensive.
Do you have side-on views of the front tires?
there is about 1” difference from front fender to tire between the driver and passenger. Driver is 4” and passenger is 3” and the passenger spring is way more compressed.
there is about 1” difference from front fender to tire between the driver and passenger. Driver is 4” and passenger is 3” and the passenger spring is way more compressed.
Hard to see in the pictures but I'd say this is another indication that something else is bent in the front.
Hard to see in the pictures but I'd say this is another indication that something else is bent in the front.
yeah it is kind of hard to see. I can’t out my fist between the passenger side fender and tire but i can on the diver and then some. I know these cars lean more in the passenger but I wouldn’t think this much, at least my last Trans Am was near perfect. Do you have a suggestion what I should check for? Was thinking upper arms, shock or spring.
See post #6. Sam suggests the steering knuckle. Something in that area is likely bent or off. Sam is the pro and I would defer to his experience if you are in a try-it-and-see mode.
getting tougher to find, but maybe see if you can get a complete front dropout for your car.....maybe someone within a few hundred miles is turning their car into more of a track car and is ditching a complete k member/ a arm/ shock assembly.......labor for a shop to swap out everything as 1 unit is probably 4-5 hrs plus alignment
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2000 WS6 alignment issue 
