Diagnosing a bent control arm?

[SKYHI]

Do you know the complete history of the car? Has it had any repairs in the area?

It really is a job for the professionals to check all that.

Being 14 years old I don't know the full history of the car so there is a chance that something has happened during it's life. However, we had the car up on a hoist for a thorough check prior to purchase and could not see anything to suggest it's had a major accident.

As JBT said there is no harm at looking but at the end of the day the damage might be so minor that I will only be picked up by a "professional". It's a matter of whether that professional is a wheel aligner or a panel beater with the right equipment.

Given that the components in question seem to be a bolt on item perhaps a wheel aligner with new or second hand parts might be able to pinpoint the problem?

Paul.

[Cal]

The car certainly doesn't need to have been in serious accident to bend either of those components. It is easy to see of the lower bush is the whole way to the outside. Also, you could fit offset bushes to the upper arm to fix the problem. It is unlikely you'll see it is bent until you have it on the floor next to a good one. Obviously the K frame (or crossmember as it is referred to on that diagram) is a little harder to remove.

I'd not worry about it and see how it feels tomorrow. I know it sounds mad, but you might not notice that much. What they should have done in my opinion is bring the other side a bit closer to the same setting so at least it is even and balanced. Can you email me the final settings sheet?

[SKYHI]

What they should have done in my opinion is bring the other side a bit closer to the same setting so at least it is even and balanced. Can you email me the final settings sheet?

Exactly! I asked for 3 degrees negative camber on the rear and they give me 3.44 on the right and 2.53 on the rear, how f#*%ed is that?

If I had have known that 2.53 was the most I could get I would have had the right set to match and then the front camber acoordingly from there. Unfortunately I got no call from them just a "yep it's ready to go" when I rang to see if it was ready

Email sent

Paul.

[bruce]

It would be a major operation with a panel beater to check as I think he can only check the body, which would involve removing all the suspension components.

Here's a wild suggestion. Perhaps call Mazda and ask if they have the particular point-to-point measurements for the suspension? I know with body components there are such measurements (panel beaters use them).

[SKYHI]

Yeah, I know panel beaters use those measurements and that's why I suggested one as I thought they may have similar points for suspension.

Who do the race teams use when they are repairing a crashed vehicle?
Surely there suspension points are fairly critical.

Paul.

[rjr666]

ive got a simlar problem with mine, I think I might have tapped a gutter somewhere along the line doing some silly things... my problem is I cant get the right amount of toe on the back left. I suspect that the long bolt that goes thru the wishbone that connects to the stub axel thing is bent. Havent pull the bolt out yet, and havent tried to get anouther one new or used. But I can tell the car just handels slightly worse when cornering one direction. Its been that long since ive dríven it I can remember which way.

[Juffa]

ive got a simlar problem with mine, I think I might have tapped a gutter somewhere along the line doing some silly things... my problem is I cant get the right amount of toe on the back left. I suspect that the long bolt that goes thru the wishbone that connects to the stub axel thing is bent. Havent pull the bolt out yet, and havent tried to get anouther one new or used. But I can tell the car just handels slightly worse when cornering one direction. Its been that long since ive dríven it I can remember which way.

Yep, had the same problem with my Mariner Blue '90. You could feel the difference when cornering one way, and not the other. Had a wheel alignment done and they spend twice as long trying to match the rear alignments. At the later time when fitting super pro bushes I found that the long wishbone bolt was bent. I bought a new one from Mazda and fitted it. This improved the handling no end.

Nearly forgot, there was not visable damge to the control arm, but one of the wheels had taken a big hit prior to me buying her, so I'm thinking that is what caused it. I had not worried too much about it as I had changed wheels. Once I found the damaged bolt it became obvious that more than the wheel had been damaged.

J

[Cal]

I meant to tell you to replace those long bolts anyhow Paul. However as you've had them out, I'm sure you would have noticed if they were bent.

[SKYHI]

I meant to tell you to replace those long bolts anyhow Paul. However as you've had them out, I'm sure you would have noticed if they were bent.

Makes me wonder though as they haven't really picked anything else up. If I happen to have them out again and they're a bit suss should I just get new ones from Mazda or are second hand ones accepatable?

Paul.

[Cal]

We replace them all the time. They get munted. We always buy them new.

[SKYHI]

Just out of interest I came across this post on the weekend. It shows all the measurements of the suspension components from an NA series MX5.

http://www.locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=1409/

Paul.