Spirited Drive -- Now rear Camber Negative

[RocketyMan]

Originally Posted by Fifty150hs

How much did you lower your truck with the lowering springs? I put coilovers on mine and lowered it 2". With that much drop I had to replace both control arms with adjustable ones to be able to get the alignment into spec.

The springs only dropped the rear 1" about. Maybe it's possible the springs are still settling in--but that's been since about over 10k miles ago.

I had an alignment soon after I changed the springs to H&R.

[Fifty150hs]

Originally Posted by RocketyMan

The springs only dropped the rear 1" about. Maybe it's possible the springs are still settling in--but that's been since about over 10k miles ago.

I had an alignment soon after I changed the springs to H&R.

1" drop isn't enough to require adjustable control arms, but it's on the edge. Have you checked to see if your springs settled some more after having the hell beat out of them?

[nick325xit 5spd]

I would not expect the rear subframe bushings to cause a camber issue, but if you notice wear on them, I would not pay for an alignment without replacing them.

Did you inspect the springs for broken coils?

[RocketyMan]

Originally Posted by Fifty150hs

1" drop isn't enough to require adjustable control arms, but it's on the edge. Have you checked to see if your springs settled some more after having the hell beat out of them?

That's one thing I'm trying to figure out. How do I tell the springs settled more? The spring pads are pretty thin (#13&14), so I wouldn't think they would squish anymore. Is this just the springs compressing more as denoted them "settled in?"

Originally Posted by nick325xit 5spd

I would not expect the rear subframe bushings to cause a camber issue, but if you notice wear on them, I would not pay for an alignment without replacing them.

Did you inspect the springs for broken coils?

I can see the rubber looks to be severely cracked on the bushes--especially the rear ones next to the exhaust mufflers.

It is a little hard to get a good look, but I looked at the springs and I didn't see any of the coils looking broke.

[crystalworks]

Under extreme circumstances #7 can tear through and your springs would be unassisted by the shocks. It would be noisy though and would have thought easy to notice. Pretty common on 3 series vehicles.

[RocketyMan]

I can lift up the rear hatch and check the shock mount fairly easily I think.

[andrewwynn]

Originally Posted by crystalworks

Under extreme circumstances #7 can tear through and your springs would be unassisted by the shocks. It would be noisy though and would have thought easy to notice. Pretty common on 3 series vehicles.

Very noisy as the shock slams around at every bump. I've done that repair.

[Fifty150hs]

Originally Posted by RocketyMan

That's one thing I'm trying to figure out. How do I tell the springs settled more? The spring pads are pretty thin (#13&14), so I wouldn't think they would squish anymore. Is this just the springs compressing more as denoted them "settled in?"





I can see the rubber looks to be severely cracked on the bushes--especially the rear ones next to the exhaust mufflers.

It is a little hard to get a good look, but I looked at the springs and I didn't see any of the coils looking broke.

Measure the distance from the middle of the wheel arch to the bottom of the rim. I don't have time to look it up right now, but there is a stock ride height. If you come out more than 1" shorter than the spec dimension that could indicate additional settling or damage to the springs.

[oldskewel]

Originally Posted by Fifty150hs

Measure the distance from the middle of the wheel arch to the bottom of the rim. I don't have time to look it up right now, but there is a stock ride height. If you come out more than 1" shorter than the spec dimension that could indicate additional settling or damage to the springs.

I'd start with something like that ^^^. Figure out if the rear suspension has dropped. Very easy to do.

From my notes on my 2001 3.0i with 19" BMW wheels and non-sport spring suspension, the spec is (different wheels will mean different numbers for you, but similar concept):
"Ride height check:
For 19" wheels, front should measure 711 mm = 27.99" from underside of fender lip to bottom edge of lower wheel rim. Max combined deviation = 10 mm.
Rear, with steel springs, spec is 712 mm = 28.03"."

So for me, the spec was about identical front vs. rear, in case that helps. I found it to be accurate on my car basically to measurement error (basically unloaded vehicle on flat ground).

But here is a thread where I found a real problem on my car, and fixed it to get the suspension back in spec. I wonder if it might be that yours simply slipped. It can be difficult to see with the naked eye what shows up in photos, so keep that in mind if you just stick your head under the car for a quick look.

https://xoutpost.com/bmw-sav-forums/...djustment.html

[RocketyMan]

I checked underneath the car where the swingarm bushings are. That was my first check to see if they slipped perhaps. They are indeed well within the sub-frame dimples.

I'll go ahead and measure the wheel arch to bottom of rim with the car on the ground.
Won't this measurement be skewed a little bit when the camber is way off?