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Bent Lower Control Arm. Help!

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Old Feb 19, 2011 | 02:21 PM
  #1  
SOLID300's Avatar
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Default Bent Lower Control Arm. Help!

So I just installed new springs and shocks on my car.

Bilsteins and B&G supra springs and shocks.

Problem is my driver side front is way to low and rubs alot. I cant understand why except maybe my lower control arm is bent.

The drop is 1.5 in both rear and front. Do these car usually need the fenders rolled with this size drop? I dont think so from what I have read.

Can someone take a look at their LCA and let me know if mine really is bent?

Also There is someone on craigslist parting out there 92 SC300. I have a 97. will the LCA be the same? Any help is appreciated!

The First Pciture is my Pass side. The second is the Driver.
Attached Thumbnails Bent Lower Control Arm. Help!-pass.-front-edited.jpg   Bent Lower Control Arm. Help!-driver.-frnt..jpg  

Last edited by SOLID300; Feb 20, 2011 at 11:34 AM. Reason: Corrected Picture!
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Old Feb 19, 2011 | 03:17 PM
  #2  
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Ok, your first pic you have the red line on is the tie rod and the second one is your control arm.

Judging from pic 2 your tie rod boot is destroyed and the dust cover for your rotor is pretty beat up, too. Which leads me to believe something had to be hit on that side. But it's hard to tell if it's bent from the photos.

Did you purchase your shocks and springs new or used?

I would suggest getting to a shop and have them do an alignment (should be doing that after doing all four shocks) and they could help ya out more.

Ya may want to check and make sure both the spring were installed the same way as well. I recall a thread where the spring were installed incorrectly and I believe they had a similar issue. Not 100% sure though.
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Old Feb 19, 2011 | 04:12 PM
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I am lowered on Supra Vogtland Springs and Supra Gas-A-Just shocks...
Dropped about 2" ish or more...no rubbing or any issue with stock rims..
prolly no issue with TTs either it seems.
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Old Feb 19, 2011 | 06:20 PM
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if your car was at even height before you lowered it, and now after you lowered it one side is lower something is wrong with the parts you put on or you installed them wrong. Its pretty simple why did the dust shield got so bent? it looks like the car fell of the jack maybe?
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Old Feb 19, 2011 | 07:13 PM
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Easy way to check if it's bent. Is the other side identical? I doubt it's bent.
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Old Feb 19, 2011 | 09:02 PM
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This seems to be a common problem when going on lowering springs. My driver's side is slightly lower too. There are a TON of old threads discussing this same topic. What you can do is get a spring compressor, compress the spring a tiny bit and rotate the spring so it sits a little higher on the shock.
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Old Feb 20, 2011 | 11:40 AM
  #7  
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Originally Posted by Bflatsharp
Ok, your first pic you have the red line on is the tie rod and the second one is your control arm.

Judging from pic 2 your tie rod boot is destroyed and the dust cover for your rotor is pretty beat up, too. Which leads me to believe something had to be hit on that side. But it's hard to tell if it's bent from the photos.

Did you purchase your shocks and springs new or used?

I would suggest getting to a shop and have them do an alignment (should be doing that after doing all four shocks) and they could help ya out more.

Ya may want to check and make sure both the spring were installed the same way as well. I recall a thread where the spring were installed incorrectly and I believe they had a similar issue. Not 100% sure though.
I Corrected the first picture. I didnt notice I marked the the wrong Part in Paint since I did it enlarged.

Does anyone else notice the difference or am I seeing things?

And yes When I bought my car I was told that It was in an accident on the front driver sider. I never noticed anything wrong with the Car until now.

I bought Brand New springs and struts. I dont think there are any defects with them and I dont think I installed anything wrong.

Does anybody know if It will be okay to just buy 1 Supra LCA and change out the bad one? I dont really feel like buying two if the other one is good.
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Old Feb 21, 2011 | 09:48 PM
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What wheels and tires are you running?

As sc-driver pointed out this is a common issue when going with lowering spring on our cars. If you had no problems before you installed these and now it's too low on one side. It brings up the question are the parts you bought good?

Try running a straight edge from the bottom of the shock/end link mount to the ball joint and see if there is a significant difference in the gap underneath.

If you're certain it's the control arm then you should be able to get away with replacing just one. I would rather replace both at once but sometimes that's not an option.
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Old Feb 22, 2011 | 12:42 AM
  #9  
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Your passenger side looks fine. Your drivers side is most definitely bent. Check the wear on your tires cuz with it bent like that, the outside of the tire would be worn. I would replace the both upper and lower control arms on the drivers side for peace of mind. No telling what else is fubarred on that side either if it was hit.
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