Bent control arms on my right side

macdiesel said:
Dang. Hopefully the bent wheels are in the rear now. I had my old on lca’s that I put on with new ball joints.

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Where the hell did you find replacement ball joints? I was under the impression that they could only be bought complete with the LCA.
 
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@krimsonviper

These cars have sway bars in the front and rear. The front is a standard MacPherson strut design. The rear is considered "independent rear suspension" since each side can be aligned independently and has their own camber and toe arms to control suspension cycling.

The front has a balljoint that connects the lower control arm to the bearing/axle knuckle. You'll see it at the bottom of the knuckle, it is held on by a pinch bolt.

The front strut will have a vertical arm bolted on that attaches to a thick black bar, that bar will be snaked inside the chassis between the body and tie rods. That is your sway bar.

As soon as you can, post up that alignment sheet. I dont think your car is as damaged as you might think.
 
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Mauro_Penguin said:
Where the hell did you find replacement ball joints? I was under the impression that they could only be bought complete with the LCA.
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I got verification from the other site for fitment before buying the 500209. I’m not a huge fan of Moog’s quality control but didn’t feel like buying new arms. I’m not confident the Moog arms have stiffer bushings like the oem arms. The bolt it comes with didn’t feel right when I installed it. Spun around in the ball joint. Mic’d it and the Moog bolt is slightly thinner than the oem bolt. The oem bolt went in like always, some pressure with a tight fit.

Assuming Moog sends the right bolt. Bought two ball joints and got two different sized bolts.

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The image with the wheel symbols were the before the recent alignment. The one with just numbers is the most recent alignment
 

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Here is what you should check. I couldn't find useful pics on my phone or laptop, so these are generic Google pics.

This is one of the two front subframe bolts. When you remove the front wheels, you can see the bolt. Check and make sure the white rim of the subframe, is centered along the the green washer for both sides of the front subframe. You dont even have to loosen it, just visually inspect it. Worst case scenario if you cant find a comfortable way to visually inspect it, you can cup the green washer and feel if both sides are centered on the subframe.
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This is the rear trailing arm, the side with the bushing bolts up just under the rear doors. Then the blade extends out to the wheel/bearing side. Make sure the "long blade portion" of that arm is straight and not bent up. Again, you dont have to unbolt anything except the wheel to inspect this.
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Another thing, check the front strut mounts under the hood. Make sure both sides are centered and one side isnt pushed all the way forward, and the other all the way back.
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That is what I would check first before panicking and throwing parts and labor at the car.
 
Update! I finally had some time today to inspect just my left side I can’t see any visible parts being bent, but maybe you guys can see something that is off? I took at look at the top of the strut as instructed at the end of mauro_penguin’s post and that is off by about a quarter of an inch. The top is pushed towards the fender. See pics. What can be done about this? Would other parts be damaged if just the top of the strut moved? Another question I had were the end links. Are they suppose to be able to move? I noticed they can pivot. I do have more photos, I just didn’t want to post them all because I don’t know what to look for


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These pictures dont show any damage.

So long as both sides were uniform, then you may just need to adjust the strut top hats to even them out, and possibly center the subframe. No, there is no damage to be caused if your strut top hats are offset. Your caster or camber might just be off by 0.10*.

Yes endlinks are supposed to pivot side to side, they have a spherical bearing on them similar to a ball joint. So long as they dont wiggle in and out like as though the bearing were too small for the socket.
 
Would I need the subframe adjusted again after I had It adjusted before I made the thread because this strut was off, or will that alignment still be good and I can go to any mechanic to get this strut realigned?
 
krimsonviper said:
Would I need the subframe adjusted again after I had It adjusted before I made the thread because this strut was off, or will that alignment still be good and I can go to any mechanic to get this strut realigned?
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Yes you will need an alignment after adjusting your strut top hat.

You can adjust the top hat yourself. You will need a second hand to help you. You will loosen up the 3 surrounding bolts (green ones) about half way out. Disconnect one of the endlink ends on your front sway bar. Then have a buddy push down on the knuckle to give you enough slack (the coil spring will keep everything tight), in order for you to shift the top hat. The top hat is lined with rubber, and so is the underbody, so if it feels tough to move dont panic. DO NOT TRY TO MOVE THE TOP USING THE 3 GREEN BOLTS! You will break the top hat nut that is pressed on, and have a bad day. Instead stick a socket on the strug lock nut (center nut), and just push down to give you more slack. Again you do not need to loosen that center nut, just push down on it.

When you adjust them, just make both sides match. So adjust both top hats inward toward the engine, or back towards the hatchback. There is not a ton of room for adjustment so it wont take much.

Take it to get aligned afterward. Any kind of suspension offset can be fixed/adjusted by shifting the subframe while they do the alignment.
 
Mauro_Penguin said:
Yes you will need an alignment after adjusting your strut top hat.

You can adjust the top hat yourself. You will need a second hand to help you. You will loosen up the 3 surrounding bolts (green ones) about half way out. Disconnect one of the endlink ends on your front sway bar. Then have a buddy push down on the knuckle to give you enough slack (the coil spring will keep everything tight), in order for you to shift the top hat. The top hat is lined with rubber, and so is the underbody, so if it feels tough to move dont panic. DO NOT TRY TO MOVE THE TOP USING THE 3 GREEN BOLTS! You will break the top hat nut that is pressed on, and have a bad day. Instead stick a socket on the strug lock nut (center nut), and just push down to give you more slack. Again you do not need to loosen that center nut, just push down on it.

When you adjust them, just make both sides match. So adjust both top hats inward toward the engine, or back towards the hatchback. There is not a ton of room for adjustment so it wont take much.

Take it to get aligned afterward. Any kind of suspension offset can be fixed/adjusted by shifting the subframe while they do the alignment.
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Sweet. Gonna check out my rear for damage when I can before getting the alignment done. I went to review my paperwork last night and noticed the rear camber is more out of line than the front.
 
JohnnyTightlips said:
I have had the moog LCA's for 3 years and they have been without issue. I would recommend them. Sounds like the car had to have some sort of damage with both wheels being bent as well. You could see if anyone is selling rx8 wheels as those are a decent upgrade for cheap and your new tires would fit them. We really need to see some pictures of what you are seeing to have a better idea of what is going on.
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Looking to replace my LCA however I dont have issues with the actual arms but more so the Ball Joint. Recommend to swap the whole piece with a Moog or just the ball joint?
 
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