logr Posted July 21, 2012 Share Posted July 21, 2012 (edited) The car is a 73 240z with 240z struts.I lowered my car and put Bilsteins in shortened struts. The problem is that, in the front, I have -2.5* camber on the left and -.25* camber on the right. The left tire is much closer to the strut than the right. I have all stock suspension components otherwise. I would think a strut tube is bent but which one? My wheels are no help since they are 8.5x17 on Z31 hubs. I guess the question is does a lowered z have a bunch of camber or almost none? Also is it OK to heat up the tube near the bottom and bend it or do I replace the tube? Edited July 21, 2012 by logr Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
logr Posted July 23, 2012 Author Share Posted July 23, 2012 No views, no answers, no help. Does this really not interest anyone? The front camber is totally different from side to side but how do I know which side is right? Is mine the only car in the universe to have this issue? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
logr Posted July 23, 2012 Author Share Posted July 23, 2012 OK, now it shows 48 views so someone is looking anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnc Posted July 23, 2012 Share Posted July 23, 2012 You could have a bent strut tube, a bent spindle, bad LCA bushings, bent strut tower, bad upper isolator, or you could be measuring camber on an unlevel surface. Also is it OK to heat up the tube near the bottom and bend it or do I replace the tube? Find a new strut corner. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
logr Posted July 23, 2012 Author Share Posted July 23, 2012 It is in the strut tube or possibly the spindle but I don't know which side is bad(all the other things are new and checked). I'm guessing the one with more camber is the bent one since over 2* stock seems like a lot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ComicArtist Posted July 24, 2012 Share Posted July 24, 2012 When I first put my coils on, which gave a rough 6 - 8 inch drop, I had like six degrees in the front. Surprising the rear wasn't too bad, about 3-4. After camber plates I'm around -4 front and -2 or -3 in the back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnc Posted July 24, 2012 Share Posted July 24, 2012 Take the suspect strut off the car and check tube straightness with a straight edge. You can also check spindle straightness with a machinist or carpenter's square. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Posted July 25, 2012 Share Posted July 25, 2012 The most likely culprit is an incorrect alignment of the spindle pin with respect to the strut tube. It's a manufacturing defect. I have observed this frequently, going though several front struts at junkyards before finding a set that was symmetrical left-right. Actually, what surprises me is that more people don't report this malady more often. Remove the front left and right struts, and stand them up on a level surface, with the strut tubes mutually parallel. The inclination angle of the spindle pin with respect to the horizon will be different between the left and the right strut. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turbonat240 Posted December 19, 2012 Share Posted December 19, 2012 I just found out I have the same problem. One full degree more neg. camber on the passenger side for me. I really feel stupid for not checking carefully for this BEFORE doing my coilovers. Now they're all pretty and powdercoated... damn I thought I was done with that !! I'm not sure one could say it's a manufacturing defect unless it was observed on a brand new, unmolested car. I know my 240z climbed a sidewalk a long time ago (don't ask!). Back then I replaced only the passenger side strut with another used one cause it was visibly bent (probably 5 deg. neg. camber). I don't have any memories about the next alignment but I remember having the straightness of the body checked and it was OK. Now I think the driver side may have bent with a bit more positive camber but not enough to be noticed with the naked eye when you have 3-4 inches of wheel gap! Fast forward 10 years to now and I wonder why this didn't pop in my mind when I was fabricating the coilovers... I believe there is quite a few s30 Z's that have been in small incidents that can bend a strut over their 40 years of life. Now it's something to look into when buying used struts. I remember having seen in a thread here that some people weld a piece of steel to close the gap between the strut tube and the back of the spindle. Supposedly this can close the gap with the shrink induced by the welding giving a bit more negative camber. Closing this gap by about 0.040'' could be enough to get both my struts equal. Or maybe I should do it right and go measure some parts and find a ''good'' strut and then redo the coilover work on it... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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