Hello all, Im new here. A couple weeks ago i slid in the snow and hit a curb with the left front wheel going 5+ mph, wheel locked, in my r53. Broke off a good chunk of the rim, bent the tie rod and their is a very noticeable amount of positive camber. Im talking a good inch past the fender on top. The strut tower mount does not appear to be bent. Any other ideas of what might be causing such an extreme camber that i cant see? Ive read through a lot of related posts but havent found the helpful info im looking for. Could the lower and inner ball joints be out of whack enough to cause this? It doesnt seem like the control arm could be bent at all....

 

Bumping this post, as I did this same thing about a week ago. Nothing in the wheel well looks bent, to the naked eye, but I have 2.5 degrees of positive camber on my passenger side front tire. R53 mini cooper S. I had an alignment done after I hit the curb, but they were unable to adjust the camber.

I saw somewhere else that if the tower is mushroomed, then the wheel will have more positive camber?

 

Pay 'tention to this guy. If you've got strut tower mushrooming, get it straightened out and double check the bushings. Next thing is to install strut tower defenders. External ones are easy to install. Remove the three nuts, set the plate in place and re-torque the nuts to 25#.

 

you should be able to look and tell. easily could be something else that's bent though

 

I was unable to see mushrooming on the tower. is there a good spot to measure or to check the "flatness" of the tower? something that I could use a straight edge or caliper would be awesome. thanks/

 

I would think mushrooming would add negative camber. With 2.5 degrees of positive camber you most certainly did bend something. Yes you could have mushroomed the tower, but you also bent some suspension parts. Find a shop that works on collision repaired cars. The folks you used should have been able to determine a cause if they had the skill.

Good luck

 

thank you. I will have the dealership look at it. I am taking it in to the shop next week, since there is some rust coming through (under the tail lights), and I am still under the 11 year rust warranty. I am just going to have them do a diagnostics, as I am unwilling to pay the 90+ dollars and hour to change out the parts, but I am willing to pay for the diagnostic.

 

sorry, when I fist looked at the post, the video did not load (I was on my phone.)