Hi guys, my mechanic said my compression arm (pic above used as reference) is bent. If i take a picture of it, would you guys be able to tell whether it's really bent or not? And if so, what angle should i take the pictures at ?

I asked this in one of my threads but no one responded, thought i'd make a new thread for it for exposure

 

Oh sub'd for answer to, took a bad slide and cement wall did some damage so in for answers to!

 

Take a known good arm, and put marked blocks of wood cut to the correct height under the ends and stop pin, and mark the outline of the holes and stop pin. Place the questionable arm on the setup to see if there's any mismatch.

 

^^^ this, I hit a curb in a fwd car when I was 17. After I aligned it, the car still pulled to the right. I took the lower control arm out and noticed it was warped. Bought a used one, problem solved

 

maybe i have a bent tie rod or compression arm.. my car always pulls to the right after alignment and tire change

 

I doubt a bent tie rod would cause pulling. The only effect would be to change the toe setting, and the alignment would correct that.

A bent compression arm will change the camber, caster, and kingpin inclination and that could cause the car to pull. Unfortunately there are no adjustments for these settings on the 350Z.

A side-to-side difference in ride height might also cause the car to pull.

Have you checked the tire pressures? Any mods to the car? Did it pull before the alignment and new tires?

 

my car was pulling even when the car was stock. Before and after the alignment and tires change, it pulled to the right.
It weird that my brother's g35 also pulls to the right no matter the alignment and tires..
Right now, i have spl compression arm bushing, ES LCA bushings, coilover, new alignment and new almost new tires. Air pressure is OK. still pulls to the right.


i pretty much gave up.

 

Same case here. My Z also pulls slightly to the right but only noticeable at highspeed.

I've replaced all the related bushings, attempted to get the alignment as straight but still does the same. I guess it's because the car is lowered and it cannot get the perfect toe alignment. We probably need toe-bolts?

 

I"m lowered and had no problems, now i may have a problem after a run in with going off roading beside a cement wall....

 

I have toe arms

 

Suppose i do have a bent radius arm, if i dont fix that, would it cause further damage to the car as time progresses, kinda like a domino effect? The mechanic said it would damage the tranny, etc if i dont fix it

 

I'm really curious how the bent compression rod in the front suspension could damage the transmission. Did the mechanic explain how this would work?

Were any of the non-adjustable alignment specs within the acceptable range? If not, how far are they out? Any issues driving the car before you took it to the alignment shop?

 

^ This..they shoudlve given you an alignment printout when doing the inspection

When my comp arm was bent the caster was affected big time, 4.8 degrees vs 8.5 on the opposite side- 7.4-8.9 would have been in spec.

The alignment printout will tell you a lot. Hopefully you trust your mechanic enough to not fudge it.