Tuffguy610

Just three weeks after purchasing my new 99' Z/28 last year, a girl decided that it needed a little love tap down in Ocean City, Maryland to christen my new Camaro experience. I had the car repaired, but I am now experiencing abnormal tire wear on the tire that the other car in the accident hit. The girl's car came at an angle to my passenger side, grazed my passenger mirror, ripping it off, then proceded to scratch my fender, ripping the bracket that connects the front fender to the front fascia, and lastly exerting enough force on my passenger front wheel to bend a tie rod into a "horse shoe" as the guy at the shop said.
Now for the problem: My passenger front tire tends to wear on the inner part of the tire, and the camber appears to be to a point where the lower part of the wheel sticks out, and the upper part of the wheel sticks in, thus making the wheel ride at an angle that would wear the inner part of the tire. I took the car to two alignment shops, the first was down where the car got hit (I was on vacation), and they put a tie rod on it just so that it could get home (they said the camber was off most likely due to a bent strut, but it does not look bent at all). I then noticed after the car was repaired from the accident by the body shopb that the camber was still off, so I took it to a reputable shop near my house (everybody in a 15 mile radius says this is the place to take it to). The guy at the shop charged me 65 bucks to have it aligned and said he adjusted a bolt where the shock meets the lower control arm. I still see that the tire is leaning, and I want this fixed. I do not see any differences in the passenger and drivers side suspension when I take the wheels off and look for bent control arms/spindles...etc. My question to everybody is what do I do? I know the frame is not bent, and would like to know what to look for/strategies to find out what is bent. I dont want to get ripped off, and would like to solve this problem myself. Taking this back to the body shop will not help because I refuse to deal with insurance again.

gt_biker13

I would guess a bent spindle. It wont be obvious just by looking because its curved, i would give it a good look over. If theres a spindle in stock at a junk yard i would take it off to campair the two.

Tuffguy610

That doesnt sound like a bad idea. The upper/lower control arms look fine, but the spindle could be damaged. I suppose I would get new balljoints for this as well, as I dont want to have them give way while I am doing some spirited driving. Can a spindle be changed out with basic tools (torque wrench..etc)?

gt_biker13

Yes. The hardest part is breaking the top and bottom castle nuts loose. You first loosen the bolts (do not remove them) then hit it with a 3-4# hammer from the side close the bolt until it pops out. The reason why you dont try and hammer it down is because you can damage the ball joints that way. You will also have to unbolt the caliper and stand it on a box (dont leave it hanging by the brake line).
If you need a more in depth walkthrough on how to remove the spindle try searching for :LST front brake conversion" or "98+ front brakes".

Tuffguy610

Thank you. Once again, I am nervous about messing with these balljoints. Does anybody know the GM part # for the spindle, and perhaps the balljoints (upper and lower)?? A friend told me of a website (GMpartsdirect.com) that is pretty cheap for parts, provided you have the part number of the item you are looking for.

Tuffguy610

Yea its in the shop now. My friend hooked me up and I am getting a new spindle (its clearly bent), and installed for 175. He is going to get a nice dinner gift certificate.