rick350

hey peeps, how do tell if a control arm is bent? car road walks from left to right. seems to be problem is located on drivers side. have had the car aligned, ball joints & inner & outer rods are good. something is definitely bent. my guess is sway bar or control arms. today I took front sway bar off to see if it would make a difference. none at all. I took a level placed against tire on pass side. bubble was within lines. drivers is a different story. bubble is a little more than half outside line. car is 1997 z28. stock suspension. thanks guys.

Injuneer

Sway bar isn't likely to cause that problem.

When they did the alignment, did they check the thrust angle for the rear suspension? Often, they don't. If a rear lower control arm is damaged, it can cause the axle to not point straight ahead, i.e. point off to one side. Then there's the issue of the panhard bar. That positions the chassis over the rear axle, side-to-side. If the panhard bar is bent, the rear of the car can be offset to one side.

Post is unclear, are you asking about front or rear control arms? Did you place the level on the front or rear tires?

rick350

sorry, talking about front control arms. like I said it pulls & uneven tire wear. this problem is in front not rear. checked rear nothing amiss. rear tire wear even.

JakeRobb

To be clear, can you confirm that the thrust angle of the rear has been checked?

Injuneer

My initial read of the problem ("walks from left to right") left me with the impression it was "crabbing" down the road. But the update, identifying the problem as pulling to one side is completely different. Checking with a level on the sides of the tire would not seem particularly accurate. Chances of ply deformation, ply overlap, bubbles, would make that less accurate than putting the level against the rim. But that is difficult to do.

If you suspect a camber problem, take it back to the shop that aligned the front wheels. And while you are there, have them check the thrust angle if they haven't already.