t4l

iTrader: (1)

When I bought my 1997 LS400 I knew that it had previous damage to the right front corner before I bought it. (It's how I got it for so cheap), The front right wheel has always set slightly too far back in the wheel well despite the cam-bolt adjusted to compensate as much as possible. It drove fine and nothing was loose. The body panels all match up and gaps are decently straight, but the caster was off a little bit on that corner. I assumed that the mounting bracket for the strut rod was bent since the frame rails looked pretty straight and undamaged. I got another strut rod mounting bracket, but it measures nearly the exact same dimensions as the first one that I assumed was damaged. Unfortunately that means that there must be some sort of deformation in the right front frame rail (although for the life of me, I cannot see it).

I had a couple of ideas to take care of this and be able to get the car aligned correctly:

The cheap idea: Slot the mounting holes on the strut rod bracket so that it can be mounted slightly further forward on the frame rail (remember that the cam-bolt holding the strut rod to the bracket was already adjusted to the max). I shouldn't need to slot the holes more than about 3/8" to get the adjustment that I need.

Doing it the right way: Get the car on a frame rack and have it pulled correctly. Obviously this is the correct way to repair, however, I would like to get a copy of the measurements for the front frame (like a body shop would use to straighten one) so I can measure it myself to see how bad it is off..

Do any of you have access to be able to get me a copy of these correct measurements?

Thanks!

dicer

I should be in the shop manual for that year, or the collision manual.

PureDrifter

iTrader: (10)

This would be in the collision manual only. Most frame repair tooling companies have their own databases of this information as well.

You need to get he car into an alignment shop or a good body shop and have it looked at. Visual differences arent a good indicator of issues like this. Differences in alignment, or misaligned/bent suspension components and chassis structure need to be identified properly.