dealership says caster can't be fixed- need help please
 

hey guys I have a question.

my z was wrecked some time ago and the dealership who repaired it said that they were gonna check the alignment and if it aligned correctly then they assumed that there was no suspension damage. well after I got the car back it pulled to the right a quite a bit. so I went to a different dealership to get it realigned and they said that they fixed it but it was way out of spec when I brought it in. well it wasn't fixed and I took it back and they did another alignment. this time said that the caster was out of spec, and that it still pulled to the right but they couldn't adjust it any further.

I know this could be possible frame damage from the accident. is there anyway that I could possible correct this issue?

any help you could give me would be very much appreciated.

As far as I know, the caster cannot be adjusted or can only be adjusted a very small amount. To correct caster, you'll need to repair or replace whatever was broken in the accident.

by OEM specs, you cannot adjust the caster.

Unless you the aftermarket A-Arm. My best suggestion is the SPL A-Arm. Adjust Camber and Caster as well.

Frame damage , no , we dont have a frame. Damage to the unibody, subframes, and or suspension components is highly possible.

There was a member on the boards that made his own custom A-Arm and it had a knob that actually adjusted the castor. However w/ OEM equipment, you cannot achieve this.

well in the accident the passanger rear wheel took a large amount of the impact. as a matter of fact it took so much impact that it cracked the OEM wheel. what most likely would have been damaged?

A-arm, toe- arm ETC? I really appreciate all the help.

Rear subframe bent along with attachment points plus ever suspension arm.

The FSM has diagrams which show every one of a few hundred dimensions that must be checked in serious accidents..............if the numbers are off by evem 1/16" things must be replaced.

Body shops almost never fully repair cars to brand new oem specs............who did you contract [pay out of your pocket]to oversee and check body shop work?..........prior to accepting the final.
Once you've signed/drove away you are stuck!

well the place that fixed the car was a nissan dealership, and the give a lifetime warrantee on there work, so I'm gonna do what I can to press them into fixing the work. especially since they brazenly lied about even having done an alignment on the car to start with. the 2nd dealership that I took the car to (after signing for the car) said that the specs were way way outside of spec when I brought the car to them. so far out of spec that they gave me a print out of how far out of spec they were and asked me if I wanted to report the dealership that originally did the alignment.

But you signed accepting the work as complete, satisfactory, and in spec to the insurance company.
What does a Nissan dealership [the repair shop] have to do with anything they are just an independent business that has a reimbursement contract from Nissan Warranty Corp.

So when you have accident repair work done are you supposed to bring an independent mechanic into the Nissan garage and have him recheck all the measurements, work, and alignment before you sign the reciept and take your car home? Yeah right....Well I guess it probably is but it sucks.

For my knowledge what is "the caster" ?

called the shop that repaired it. they couldn't remember if they had replaced any suspension components. so the owner looked it up and found that they had not replaced any suspension components and in light of the amount of damage to the car he said that there is more than likely some amount of suspension damage. he gave me a # to my insurance company through which to file a suplimental claim. he didn't seem to think that the insurance company would have much issue with paying to fix it, but by the time that I got a chance to call them they were gone for the day. so I guess I will try to follow up with the insurance company tomorrow.

also I was looking at the rear camber arms (I belive it's the rear camber arm) and the one on the right side (the side of impact) looks like it bends at a slightly sharper angle than the one on the left side. I also had a friend of mine who does alot of autocrossing and knows alot about suspensions to take a look at it and he said that it is deffinately bent slightly more than the other and that could be the cause of the issue.

thank you for all your replies
-nathan

actually I never signed anything. I never even paid the full deductable (the body shops customer service and repair of the mechanical portion of the vehicle were quite sub standard so I told the insurance company that I was not satisfied with there work and I requested that the car be moved to another shop to finish the repairs. the manager of the body shop agreed not to charge me the full deductable because the work was so substandard, and I ulitimately had the work finished by C.I.N motorsports because I trusted them (and still do).

but I never signed and released the car as perfectly in spec. I also just talked to the insurance company and they said I need to find a shop that I am comfortable with and then they will inspect the car at that shop and then determine if a suplimental estimate needs to be written.

caster can't be fixed more than likely you bent your hub

Damage parts will cause problems regardless, but I believe caster has to do with the front suspension.

after doin a bit of research I believe that you are very correct.

I spoke with my insurance company and they said that I need to find a shop that I trust to look at the car and drop the car off there so that they can have an adjuster come out and look at it there. from there they will assess whether there is any further damage from the accident and if so then they will file it as a suplimental claim to the original claim.


hopefully they will honor there word and fix whatever is wrong.

thanks everybody for all the help, much appreciated.