my brother hit something in the road and the camber on the right tire is now off pretty bad, he took it to a shop and they said it was a bent control arm. iv looked and cant see it, i do know he has a bad cv joint, could this be causing it to have the negative camber that it does after the hit? any advice needed

 

I bent my front strut, right where the top of the lower bracket it. Check there too.....

the strut is much more likely to bend before the control arm (thin steel vs. cast iron)....

CV joint will not affect camber.

 

the strut doesnt seem to have any damage, i cant find anything, they also said he need a steering knuckle, possibly the bolt on the bottom of that but i cant tell

 

It's either the strut or knuckle. Sometimes very hard to see but deffinately there. Easy fix, get camber kit

 

a camber kit won't "fix" a broken knuckle, all it will do is be a band aid to the real problem.... just replace the knuckle if it is indeed bent, and then get your car re aligned and you should be fine.

 

i would look at the arm too though since i remember bending mine and not the sturt when i accidently drifted on to a curb =(. I would check local junk yards before you buy it new, since there are a lot of unfortunate people who get their cars messed up but still have good parts on them. Ask the guy you took it to to show you what could be causin the problem so that way you know your not getting ripped off. Also take it to another guy to get a 2nd opinion. The strut really has nothing to do with holding the weight of the car, its mostly the control arms and spring that do most of the work but i would check the strut just in case.

 

You can't see bends in your control arm or shock with your naked eye. The only way to tell is by an alignment machine.

If it cannot align, it means a part is damaged. I remember I had a bent passenger side strut and it didn't look bent while it was on the car, but when I took it to get aligned, it was off spec.

 

Thats the dayum truth, and if you can see them, then your parts must be totally f'ed up.

 

the rear end of the maxima is a solid rear axle your not suppose to be able to move anything anyway