Negative camber correction

[Schnellvintage]

I remember, back in the day, alignment shops would bend the lower part of the strut to get a small (0.5 at most) degree of negative camber.  It’s possible you have one of those.. the tube would not show any bends or deformities.   
 

fwiw,

Matt

[MarcD]

9 hours ago, Tommy said:

Which width and ET wheel you're fitting? We could make a guess...

15x7 et25. 

 

I was mostly kidding about which side was bent. 

[M3M3]

just look at the alignment sheet specs to see which one is bent.  wheel size/offset/tire size/etc have zero impact on camber, toe or caster.

 

hint.  stock 02's have close to zero camber.  

[TobyB]

Quote

hint.  stock 02's have close to zero camber in the front.  

 

heh

 

t

 

[M3M3]

5 hours ago, TobyB said:

 

heh

 

t

 

Well . The whole conversation is about front struts.  Context.

[MarcD]

  I spent some time on it this afternoon.  I have a bunch of shit going on up front that's totally unrelated but according to my measuring tools these struts are straight. Can't say the same for much else. Every pivot point needs to be refreshed before measuring again. I got an IE set ordered but if there is a better kit out there someone post a link. 

    

    We gave it a careful measuring tape alignment job and threw the old wheels and tires back on until I get some free time to do the job. All things considered the car drives really nice so a completely new set of bushings and a real alignment job should liven it up quite a bit. I'm sure there where will be some more "while I'm here" parts to change. 

[TobyB]

It's pretty much gotta be a bent strut.  

 

That said, as long as you add a bit of spacer so nothing rubs, a degree difference

in camber side to side won't matter enough to notice.

 

Quote

Well . The whole conversation is about front struts.  Context.

 

where's the fun in that?

(Ray's a bad influence, you know?)

 

t

 

[Tommy]

20 minutes ago, TobyB said:

It's pretty much gotta be a bent strut.  

 

That said, as long as you add a bit of spacer so nothing rubs, a degree difference

in camber side to side won't matter enough to notice.

 

 

where's the fun in that?

(Ray's a bad influence, you know?)

 

t

 

Yep, and with the information about the wheels it is pretty sure it's the not fitting side where the bent strut is.

@Hans Maybe there is a tire brand that has 205 wide enough to cause issue but haven't seen such case documented yet.

[DanJer Motorsports]

Just park on a flat surface and put a tall enough square on the ground against the tire. You have to measure to the rim top and bottom as the sidewall bulge on the bottom will push the square off. Whichever side isn’t straight up and down is bent. The closer you can get the camber to -2° the better it will handle. 

[Hans]

On 3/8/2023 at 12:53 AM, Tommy said:

Yep, and with the information about the wheels it is pretty sure it's the not fitting side where the bent strut is.

@Hans Maybe there is a tire brand that has 205 wide enough to cause issue but haven't seen such case documented yet.

I didn't intend to imply that tire width directly caused the situation where one side rubs and the other doesn't. What I was saying is that the same tire size can have slightly different dimensions from model to model.

So if clearance is tight,  do some research.

Anyway, let's await strut investigation. That would appear to be the problem.

[MarcD]

11 hours ago, Hans said:

I didn't intend to imply that tire width directly caused the situation where one side rubs and the other doesn't. What I was saying is that the same tire size can have slightly different dimensions from model to model.

So if clearance is tight,  do some research.

Anyway, let's await strut investigation. That would appear to be the problem.

 

You couldn't be more right about the inconsistencies in stated with of tires. I've had 195's and 205's on 7 inch wide wheels that were nearly identical. These damn 205 RT660's are noticeably fat. 

 

As best as I can measure the struts are straight but I'm obviously screwing up the measurements or I didn't look in the right spot. Either way I'll pull it in a few weeks when I do my bushings. It drives fine-ish on the 195's for the time being. I have a good friend with a machine shop so I'm going to try to straighten it.  Surely a replacement or core will pop up for sale soon. 

[cda951]

String and angle finder alignments can be extremely accurate if they are set up properly, but it takes some practice for the process to be easily repeatable.

 

One advantage professional computerized alignment equipment is it can quickly measure a number of diagnostic angles such as caster (which can be calculated with home equipment) steering axis inclination (SAI), included angle, setback, track width, and more. An experienced alignment tech can use this information to deduce exactly what might be bent. Don't be surprised if a 50+ year old, well used BMW 02 has some wonky readings in this department

[MarcD]

8 hours ago, cda951 said:

Don't be surprised if a 50+ year old, well used BMW 02 has some wonky readings in this department

 

My front end is all kinds of sloppy. I got a new bushing kit, upper strut bearings and some steering components on order. Once I do that job I'll send it off to the alignment shop. Most of the bushings are out of square or brittle with no rebound so. Should be a happy little car once that's all done. 

 

 

[MarcD]

Update!

 

Both strut tubes are confirmed straight. Thinking the passenger side spindle could be the culprit. I pulled the hub and found a mangled garter spring and the bearing seized to the hub. Broke a bearing puller trying to remove the bearing. Also found a broken caliper bolt. Weird and dangerous stuff. IF/when I get the bearing off the spindle I'll report back if it's out of spec. 

 

[uai]

8 hours ago, MarcD said:

Both strut tubes are confirmed straight. Thinking the passenger side spindle could be the culprit

I am pretty sure they're not
How would you be able to tell a 1,5° bent tube (I know I had a bent tube and it was not visible with a straight edge or similar).
The spindle can easier be checked. Brake disc has to be parallel to the Caliper mountings.