Alignment off after hitting a curb

HARTWELLBEN

MEMBER
2004 INFINITI G35
6 CYL
4WD
AUTOMATIC
13,700 MILES

I hit a curb on the passenger side of the car going about 10-15 mph. Afterwards the alignment has been off pulling to the right (passenger side) I have replaced the struts and upper control arms both sides, the outer tie rod on the passenger side and steering knuckle on driver side. But there was no change plus or minus in the pulling. When I let go of the steering wheel it will almost make a 90 degree turn. I cannot see any places that are visible bent or out of whack. I have been told it could be the rack an pinion or the steering knuckle on the passenger side, someone also suggested that it could be the bushings on the lower control arms. Please let me know which I should look at first?

Monday, December 23rd, 2019 AT 4:45 PM

1 Reply

CARADIODOC

MECHANIC
34,095 POSTS

Did you get a printout of the alignment? If you did, please post the readings for caster, camber, and toe for each front wheel. Those are the three main alignment angles we look at for every vehicle.

Next, see what is shown for "steering axis inclination", (SAI). All alignment computers measure that automatically, but we rarely pay attention to it except when inspecting it for crash repair. No spec is given for SAI. What is important is it must be the same on both sides.

If the alignment appears to be okay, the next step would be to switch the two front wheels / tires side-to-side, then see if the pull goes the other way. If it does, the tires are suspect for having different rolling resistance. That may just be a characteristic of the tires, and not exactly a defect. That can show up right after a hard impact.

This pulling should have been noticed on the test-drive as part of the alignment. What did the mechanic say about it?

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Monday, December 23rd, 2019 AT 6:16 PM