so i've had my 85 fb for about a year and i didnt notice until i got wider rims that my front left sticks out about an inch or so more than the other. i noticed this first when i went over a bump or take a hard right turn the tire touches the fender. then i actually looked at it and could see that it sticks out a lil more. no its not the wheels either, i put the old stock wheels back on to check and the left side still stuck out a lil more. so i checked the suspension components and nothing seemed bent or outta place.

my alignment isnt even that bad either. its just slightly off to right but doesnt shake too bad or anything. i just wanna know if anyone else has had this problem and if someone could give me some advice. i already ordered new inner and outter tie rods just bc it needs them. any advice would help.

 

The components that could affect the side to side placement of the front tires are:

Front frame rails. (Crash damage?)

Front crossmember. You may be able to move them a little by unbolting the four bolts that hold the front crossmember in and shifting it as much as the bolt holes will allow and then bolting it back down. If you remove the crossmember you may even be able to slot the holes a little to get a bit more correction. This will change your camber settings however so I would findout what the comber reading were to determine if shifting the crossmember would help them or hurt them.


Lower control arm bushings. If one is completly shot then it could let the lower control arm shift to one side a bit.

Lower control arms (not likely) but I guess one could be bent somehow.

Ball joints. If these were worn I think you would know it and I dont think it would let the strut move enough to cause what you describe.

and finally it could be your fender. one could have been pushed in or out without showing any other signs of damage. If your satisfied with how your car drives this may be the easiest way to fix it. Just pull it out at the top of the fender opening. Be careful so you dont kink it.

 

i tried to c if it looked like it was in a crash b4 but nothing looks bent anything. i will doub;e check everythin tho. i have access to an alignment machine so ill c if checking that will help too.
its just so weird bc it just looks like theres a wheel spacer one side but then i take the tire off and theres nothing there.
thanks for the advice tho!

 

probably not the culpret but u can take both of the front rims off and compare em to see if there identical.. One may have a old spacer rusted on and you cant tell or something lol.

 

rwatson covered about everything it could be, only other thing I can think of is the strut tubes/camber. If the front end slid into something the strut tubes are usually the first thing to bend, it would make the camber + a few degrees on that side, and maybe a bit negative on the other side if it shifted the crossmember. When you align it if the camber is + on one side and - on the other the tops of the tires will be pulled in/out and would make the fender gaps be off.

 

lol no theres no old rusty spacer on it, i have new brake rotors on it. but yea i hope its just an alignment issue and nothing too serious. thanks for the input guys!

 

would it be possible that a shot ball joint and lower control arm bushing could cause this??
bc occasionally i do hear a knocking sound in the front suspension.

 

lmao nvm, thats wat rwatson said it could be. so yea i think he's right. ill check it today and give you guys a heads up

 

im waiting on my new whole lower control arm from mazdatrix, which is $164 . i didnt wanna go thru taking out the 26 year old ball joint lol

has anyone else had this problem tho? i just find it sooo weird that my tire sticks out an inch more than the otherside. am i the only one this has happened too??? am i mad???

 

kinda pissed actually......

 

Your post made me curious so I checked mine. They are not perfectly even, but they are pretty close, about 1/4 or maybe 3/8 of an inch off.

 

so im not crazy!!!!!
thats for checking. now i feel a lil better lol
hopefully my control arm comes in today or tomorrow

 

Henry,
Just an Idea here. The ball joint on the other side is more than likely about worn out too. I'd suggest remove both control arms and replace the ball joints and the bushings. You can loan out the ball joint press from Advance, and I can tack weld them in for you. A lot cheaper than $164. + $164. Return the part to Mazdatrix, maybe exchange it for something else. If you're worried about down time, I have a car I'm about to remove the front suspension from and could use the control arms from it.

Steve.

 

Did you pull this out of the old suspension thread?

 

Nope, I am not familiar with an old suspension thread.

 

https://www.rx7club.com/forum/showth...pension+thread that's what I'm calling the old suspension thread, you posted in it now that I look again

 

I remember that thread, My interest was centered on resolving ackerman steering geometry issues related to the re-speed rack and pinion set-up.

 

Yeah I was up late last night reading alot of it and just couldn't process most of it, I think the forum could use more dividers for suspension, engine, carb, interior, etc among the different generations of 7s as that post should be a sticky but as it looks 1/4 mile leader boards takes a bigger priority... anyway just my 2 cents, OH and I now know what ackerman is thanks to that whole thing too.

 

Steve- yea i was planning on getting the lca for the otherside next week. i didn't wanna pay for it all at one time.
that is actually a great idea and i really appreciate that you willing to help but i decided i was willing to spend some more money to save me some time and the headache of taking the old ball joints out and such. i planned on doing the whole thing at once after i get my other new lca bc i also have new inner and outter tie rods, and sway bar bushings that im plan on doing in one day, hopefully lol.
although i am kinda on the broke side at the moment. i will deffinatly pm u if i do decide i need ur help. i really appreciate it.