Control arms bend easily. And from a safety standpoint, this is good- helps absorb energy.

And if one thinks they can tell if a control arm is bent by looking at it, well, they are mistaken. Until you line up the current against a new one, you cannot tell the difference even off the car. I have pictures somewhere showing the difference between such pieces.

Also, I'm not saying they are bent in this case... just saying not to rule it out. Even if they are, you can still drive it.

 

so mr mechanic says it doesn't look like anything is bent... tires need to be realigned and the rear caster adjustment bolt is out of whack so they're fixing that at the moment.

all said and done.. $300?

 

Sorry to hear what happened to your S...did the mechanic say rear caster? I didn't know that the S has a rear caster...

 

maybe it was something else but i'm pretty sure that's what he said. in any case, if you look at the car straight on it looks like the driver's side rear wheel is *slightly* bent in.. the mechanic said he just needed to adjust this bolt to straighten it again... rudimentary sketch below.

front of car

| |.......| |


/ /.......| |

 

:FAIL:

As Ron already mentioned, the rear of any non-rear-wheel-steering car doesn't have caster. Even if it did, that would be part of the alignment process. Good alignments go for $125.

 

Just curious, were you on summer tires, or all seasons/winter tires?

 

Something is bent, You may be able to adjust it out. But the geometry is going to be off.

 

okay my rudimentary sketch is a little exaggerated... i'm hoping these guys know what they're doing.. i just called them and told them to double check that nothing is bent.

 

goodyear eagle GT. all seasons.