So, 3 months later after installing my AGX's, I hit a median going about 40mph. After replacing my front left tire because of a bubble, the alignment shop told me something must be bent because the camber for the front left was -2.7 I'm thinking it's the strut. I was trying to avoid pulling it apart to determine if it's bent but I don't think I have a choice.....

Also, can camber bolts be found at local stores or do I have to order them from an online place like southwestautoworks,cattman, or tireack?

 

I don't think you bent the strut.

The upper mount's rubber bushings allow for some movement of the strut. Rubber is much softer then the metal strut.

If anything is bent it's the lower control arm or even the frame where the control arm is attached to. The strut could have moved when your impact occured, but the control arm and frame are pretty solid. Thats what takes the impact the hardest.

My buddy hit a chuck of concreat on the highway with his I30, I was with him when it happened. Blew two tires, bent a rim and knocked his rack and pinnion over about 1/2 inch in it's mounts and bent the control arm. That was some impact we took. The Tokico's he had took the impact pretty good, we could see how far it moved everything over. The upper mount had quite a side load on it but it allowed the strut to move over without causing damage to it. Everything else was pretty messed up.

Why don't you try to remove the lower strut mounting bolts and pull as much positive camber as you can with the play in the holes. Then tighten them up again and let the shop shoot the front end again. If it's still way off, camber bolts will help put it back to spec, but your really only masking the problem, not fixing it.

You may need a body shop with a frame machine to measure the car to find out what actually got bent. The front end shop should also be able to pin point it by looking at the other readings on that wheel. Caster for instance might be off too if the lower control arm is bent.

 

Thanks for the help. Crap, these other things will definitely cost more money than a bent strut. I just found out a friend of the family has a body shop so hopefully, I can get some help there. Also, taking it back to the aligment place can start to add up even if they charge $20 just to measure the car...I need to get a lifetime alignment from firestone...

Thanks for the suggestions. I'll definitely pull apart the suspension and look at the arm and strut and hopefully take it to the body shop.

 

I had a situation where my son slid into a curb with my 92 Accord.
Only the wheel impacted the curb. The only visible damage was a
bent wheel. The shop I had check it out replaced the lower control
arm but the car could not be aligned. They had to replace the
crossmember as well to get the alignment right. I looked at the
damaged crossmember but nothing was visibly bent. It only takes
a very small distortion to render the car unalignable.