Long story short: I've got negative camber in my 03 maxima driver rear wheel. I've been to an alignment shop, body shop (frame machine), swapped out rear axle and struts, still have a problem.

I know there aren't any for sale for the max. Are there any I can buy for other vehicles that will work for me in the rear?

When thinking outside the box for a solution, a mechanic at Nissan said if I can't get camber plates, to wallow out the strut tower holes in the rear to line camber up correctly...definitely don't want to do that unless its a last resort.

I guess custom camber plates would be an option if I cant get something from another vehicle?


EDIT** now that I think about it, the camber plates would only move the angle of the strut, it wouldn't change the angle of the wheel because of the single bolt that mounts the strut at the bottom. Any other ideas?


Thanks,
Matt

 

from what I know of the set up on those, you might have a bent axle or something, since it's a beam axle even if you lower it the camber should stay about the same. Yea camber plates will do nothing for you since it's not a macpherson strut set up....

http://www.nissanpartsdeal.com/parts...agram=431_A001

is there a adjustment bolt near the bearing spindle area?

 

oh hey have you checked the bearings?

 

Well I have already replaced the rear beam. The car it came off of was not wrecked and the rear wheels sat correctly on that car.

 

if the beam is sitting like it should and the other side isn't off, I would say it's the bearings, if they are loose it will allow the hub to tilt, jack it up and see how much play you have. Might be just a matter of tightening them up but replacing would be best if they are the issue.... with the beam axle I think the only way to adjust camber is to bend the axle as far as I know which could be wrong....

 

The beam seems to sit like it should until I put the weight of the car on it. So when I have it sitting on jack stands, everything looks normal. As soon as I put it back on the ground and the weight of the car is on it, not only does the driver rear wheel have negative camber, that side sits about 1.5 inches lower than the passenger rear when measuring from the ground to the bottom of the fender arch in the middle...

I'll be working with some spacers between the top of the strut and bottom of strut mount in the wheel well this weekend to try and resolve the right height issue.

 

I don't think you've actually got a camber issue. The rear beam is fixed, camber, caster and toe cannot change with ride height.

The issue at hand is spring related, which is causing the left to right ride height issue. Your eye might see the wheel as cambered, but it's actually the angle of the body to the wheel that's making you see it as a camber issue.

Get new springs for the rear, that should level it out and I bet what your see as a camber issue, disappears.

 

I would LOVE for that to be the case.. But I swapped rear struts from left to right and the result was the same: lower on the driver side and negative camber (Ive had an alignment done).

But for the sake of testing, anybody have some stock rear springs I can buy for cheap? Or even a stock rear strut/spring combo?

Thanks,
Matt

 

did you replace the lateral link and rod with the rear beam? i'd think if one of those were damaged or broken it would change the position of the beam when weighted

 

.....about this one.

 

Yes, I pulled that off the car I took the rear beam off of. Everything on the donor car looked normal.

 

make sure everything is ok with the strut tower and spring seat, maybe put the jack stands under axle so you can get under it with weight on the springs and see what is off, check and see if the strut is sitting higher in the strut tower, if it's doing the same thing when you swap the struts from side to side it might be something with the strut tower like there is a spacer on one side but not on the other.....

 

Your rear coil-over shock (not a mcPherson strut) has a rubber bushing at the bottom, and you have a solid axle. How exactly do you think a camber plate will affect camber on your 4th gen Maxima??

There is a reason no one makes a turbo kit for a Tesla too.

 

Sounds like you have a bent/damaged/defective chassis mount otherwise check your spindle/bearings for the tire that's off.

 

you can get under it with weight on the springs and see what is off, check and see if the strut is sitting higher in the strut tower, if it's doing the same thing when you swap the struts from side to side it might be something with the strut tower like there is a spacer on one side but not on the other.....

 

at this point the car is either fixed or scrapped. its been 10 years.