bent spindle?

[DTMbimmer07]

Alright so here is the story, I have a e36 5lug swap on my car right now with BC coils, and the camber shims from Bimmerworld for a bit extra camber. I went to get an aligned this past Friday, and the the guy couldn't get my passenger side to even move camber wise, even if he went to full negative on the camber plates it would still read -1.2 degrees. While on the drivers side it would go way past -2.5 degrees, and for some reason the rim was hitting my coilover adjusters on the passengers side while the driver side was perfectly fine. I checked the wheel bearing and it seemed fine, anyone have any ideas? I'm seriously leaning toward my alignment guys bent spindle idea.

[jlevie]

A bent strut is a possibility, as is frame damage that has moved the strut tower. That of course assumes that the correct (and same) control arms are on the car.

[DTMbimmer07]

Car has never been in a wreck so i dont think it is frame damage, control arms are e36 M3. How exactly would you get a bent strut exactly?

[DTMbimmer07]

Forgot to mention that the car is pulling to the right while i am driving as well.

[jlevie]

It doesn't take much of a curb strike, which typically doesn't count as an accident, to bend a strut or move a shock tower.

[DTMbimmer07]

Havent hit anything with the car with the coils on that i know of, besides when my car was sitting for a while at home and my dad drove it to work once, and hit something cause he snapped a bolt of my skid plate from hitting something. So i guess ill pull out my strut out on Thursday and see if its straight.

[jlevie]

You can check the strut without removing it from the car. Get the front of the car up in the air and using a digital level read the angle of the strut tube and the angle of the hub face along the vertical axis. The difference in those measurement is the angle between the tube and hub. Repeat for the other strut and compare the results.

[DTMbimmer07]

I dont have a digital level reader though. :(

[DTMbimmer07]

would it be that obvious of a bend that i could see if i took out the shock?

[jlevie]

You would have to take both struts out and try to compare them to see if one was bent. You can get a pretty good digital torpedo level for about $35 from Sears, and maybe less from other places.

[DTMbimmer07]

Kind of on a tight budget right now sadly, so guess i'll have a lot of work to do thursday evening.

[jlevie]

A one to degree error is probably not going to obvious even when both struts are side by side. You have to have something that can measure angles to find out if you have a bent strut.

[DTMbimmer07]

Guess i have to get one then. ugh. So if i go to sears and tell them i need a digital level reader they will know what i am talking about?

[jlevie]

You want one of these:
http://www.sears.com/craftsman-digit...p-00948295000P

[SkiFree]

Redneck way to check...

Support the strut with the caliper mounting tabs resting on blocks, angling the spindle downwards. Take a tape measure and measure the distance from the surface of the table that the mounting blocks are on to the top of the strut tube. Write down the number, then rinse and repeat.