Front Camber Issues

[TheFox]

I'm not super familiar with suspension issues and components but I am very concerned about the front camber on my car. I have been trying to solve some odd darting under WOT and I think that my struts may be the underling cause. The strut towers where checked out by my shop and they looked to be in great shape. The alignment solved some of the darting under WOT however there are still some slight issues every now an then.

I will be replacing the struts soon however I would like to know if there is anything else I should conciser replacing or if I should look into other things before the struts.

Thanks for the help.

[Ginger_Extract]

What are you modifications? Thats an incredible amount of camber for these cars.

[TheFox]

Originally Posted by Ginger_Extract

What are you modifications? Thats an incredible amount of camber for these cars.

The suspension is stock from what I can tell. Only mods I have at the moment are engine related.

[Kgolf31]

Do you have visible camber differences when looking on the left and right side?

[TheFox]

Originally Posted by Kgolf31

Do you have visible camber differences when looking on the left and right side?

Its not to the point where you can see it, at least I cant.

From what I understand this much camber on a stock suspension is a sign of a serious problem with the strut or strut tower.

[Kgolf31]

Originally Posted by TheFox

Its not to the point where you can see it, at least I cant.

From what I understand this much camber on a stock suspension is a sign of a serious problem with the strut or strut tower.

Well yes.

-3 is VERY noticeable on a car. You can easily see it just looking at it.

Can you take pictures.

The alignment rack and easily be not calibrated correctly. It has happened to me

[fe1rx]

Originally Posted by TheFox

Its not to the point where you can see it, at least I cant.

From what I understand this much camber on a stock suspension is a sign of a serious problem with the strut or strut tower.

Your struts are bent.

[TheFox]

Originally Posted by Kgolf31

Well yes.

-3 is VERY noticeable on a car. You can easily see it just looking at it.

Can you take pictures.

The alignment rack and easily be not calibrated correctly. It has happened to me

I park on gravel so I may have not gotten a great view when I looked at it. I'll grab some images tomorrow. The alignment rack was used on a few cars that day before mine with no indications of any front camber issues on any of the other cars.

Originally Posted by fe1rx

Your struts are bent.

They are making a nice squeaking sound when I drive over large bumps that I haven't noticed before so I'm thinking this is defiantly the case now.

[MightyMouseTech]

Positive camber on one side, and big negative camber on the other, that is a serious issue. I don't think they had the rack level during that measurement, or your front subframe has been heavily knocked to one side. Actually sounds like the subframe has been pushed to the right about an inch.

Has the car been in a serious front end collision?

I would have another alignment done somewhere else, ASAP!

They can try loosing off the subframe and pushing it back.

I doubt it is bent struts. A bent strut won't allow them to move at all up and down. They will essentially be locked solid. Would be very obvious.

With the subframe centered, you should be able to get -0.8 degrees left and right which is perfectly normal.

[TheFox]

Originally Posted by Kgolf31

Well yes.

-3 is VERY noticeable on a car. You can easily see it just looking at it.

Can you take pictures.

The alignment rack and easily be not calibrated correctly. It has happened to me

After looking at the car on a flat surface I think the measurements are correct

Originally Posted by MightyMouseTech

Positive camber on one side, and big negative camber on the other, that is a serious issue. I don't think they had the rack level during that measurement, or your front subframe has been heavily knocked to one side. Actually sounds like the subframe has been pushed to the right about an inch.

The car has never been in any accidents however I did go over some railroad tracks a few weeks ago that are in the middle of a sharp right hand turn that bottomed out the front end. I had to speed up to avoid being t-boned by a guy who ran a stop sign.

Couldn't I determine if it was the subframe by measuring wheels to fenders or something similar? Would a shifted subframe cause strut noise over bumps?

[chris82]

If you can find a good indy, or a dealer, I would take it there. They will be able to determine if the subframe is shifted, and what the source of the problem is. I agree that the struts cannot be dented, because they would not move if they were. Looking at those pictures, it doesn't appear that the camber is off as much as the alignment sheet says. Did you pay for that alignment? I wouldn't have...

[TheFox]

Originally Posted by chris82

If you can find a good indy, or a dealer, I would take it there. They will be able to determine if the subframe is shifted, and what the source of the problem is. I agree that the struts cannot be dented, because they would not move if they were. Looking at those pictures, it doesn't appear that the camber is off as much as the alignment sheet says. Did you pay for that alignment? I wouldn't have...

Is the sub frame seriously that susceptible to shifting? I know allot of people who beat the shit out of their beemers and don't have this issue.

The shop had a few techs look through everything to verify the numbers where correct. And yes I did pay because all I really wanted was the rear alignment for my new tires after the old pair where eaten up by excessive toe.

Is there a single case of front sub frame shifting on an e82?

[TheFox]

After discussing this in depth more with some of my friends who track their cars I most likely bent my struts when the suspension was under full compression witch is why they didn't lock up. The struts where most likely bent when the car bottomed out while making a right hand turn. l I will be replacing the struts soon and updating this thread with the results.

The consensus is it would take a huge impact to effect the subframe . I also could not find a single case on an e82 or e9x of a front subframe issue that wasn't related to new parts being installed.

I appreciate all of the input.

[lowside67]

Before you do too much more discussing, I would go have another alignment done at another shop. There are 3 options that come to mind:
1) Shop's alignment rack is not correctly leveled
2) Subframe has shifted
3) Struts are damaged/bent

I believe #1 is the most likely and it is really worth getting a second look from a different shop for the minimal cost. #2 is unlikely but not impossible - stock camber is typically between -0.5 and -1.0 and the spread between those two settings is enough that if the subframe was shifted to one side and moved back, it would give you -0.75 on each side which makes sense. #3 seems impossible to me - the type of impact it would take to bend both corners to the point that one has +1.6 and one has -3.1 would be absolutely massive. If you didn't take it off a jump anytime recently, I would troubleshoot in the order I posted.

Mark

[fe1rx]

Originally Posted by TheFox

The struts where most likely bent when the car bottomed out while making a right hand turn. l I will be replacing the struts soon and updating this thread with the results.

The struts are twin-tube. It is easy to bend the outer tubes with a good hit, without affecting the function of the strut. I think you are on the right track.

[Hops128i]

That's easier than installing camber plates.... Ha ha.