02nissmax

So, I went to align my car since I put new struts and left lower control arm as a result of a plow trick hitting the left front corner of the car. The side that was hit came out but the Un hit side had positive camber so the tech suggested camber plates.

I read somewhere here that these are "race parts that require maintenance"
My car has 120K and I'm pretty sure I can get another 100K out of it. All I want if for front tires not to waste away quickly so a relatively cheap solution to fix the positive camber. Any ideas where I can get one of these kits?

djfrestyl

iTrader: (89)

There is no such thing as a camber plate for a spring/strut setup on your car, nor should they be required on an OEM or OEM-replacement suspension.

I recommend locating what is causing the camber issue, and resolving it. Something is tweaked, and should be remediated.

DennisMik

iTrader: (2)

I agree with djfrestyl. I would guess that the car took a side hit, Even if I'm wrong, something is bent. Take the car to a collision shop that does frame alignment and have them check it out.

FanaticMadMax

It has to be your strut or control arm got bent. that's only way, you can not tell by the naked eye. You probably would have to take it to shop to do an alignment and they probably can tell you how far off the car is, that's what where you have to start looking on which side of the front. The rears do not have any control arm but a solid axle so no tweaking unless it got hit, and bent, then you would have to replace the entire beam axle.

JSutter

iTrader: (46)

I had Stillen camber plates, they work with the stock stuff. Good luck finding a set.

If you can't replace what is bent you can slot a hole on the strut for some added adjustment. There are ways to make it safer than camber bolts that can fail or slip.

02nissmax

Not sure how the other side could've bent unless it was a preexisting condition. But I usually used to get decent mileage out of my front tires.
I'm taking it back again and making sure he realigns it.
A few quick searches yielded nothing for the 02 maxima as far as camber kits. And the ones I found for BMW were like $300. Definitely not spending that much on something I shouldn't have to use. Thanks for the input guys.

DennisMik

iTrader: (2)

There are also things called camber bolts that replace the bolts that connect the bottom of the strut to the knuckle. They give around 2 degrees of adjustment.

http://www.importpartspro.com/581260...FY-EaQod1W4AVQ

djfrestyl

iTrader: (89)

^^ I hesitated even mentioning them because it still does not fix the root of the problem (which I still heavily recommend the OP to investigate and resolve in the proper manner)

02nissmax

I've seen those and I don't like that at the bottom. Just a pain in the *** to have to adjust at the bottom.
Otherwise, the only thing to replace on the good side that didn't get hit is the lower control arm. The strut is brand new. The only 2 things that control camber, strut and arm so we'll see about the arm.

djfrestyl

iTrader: (89)

Check your tie rods too. Ends and rod itself.

DennisMik

iTrader: (2)

You are 100% correct. Finding the bent/defective part and replacing it is the only real way. Plates and bolts are just a mickey mouse solution and I've done my share of it.

One of the craziest things I did involved a bent strut on an old Volvo. Back around 1990 this Volvo had a bent strut. You could only get struts from Volvo for that model, a 1984 (?) and it cost $450! That's $808 in today's money. I put a chain around the strut and attached it to my car and gave it a tug. Got lucky and didn't rip the suspension out, either.