camber is way off, how to fix?

the_master

Member
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Mazda, Protege, 1.8L
Alright so about 2 weeks ago i tried to install new tire studs on the front left side of my car and i guess i did not do it right because my tire came flying off and my car dropped on the rotor. Ever since then its been riding really rough on the left side. I went to get a front end alignment and i saw that the camber was around 2.0 (i think) and you could tell something wasn't right with the front left. So i ordered a new strut to see if that was the problem. i haven't installed the strut because i decided to take it to a shop and see what they said.

The shop said nothing is bent or broken and that the front right strut is blown out, so i need 2 new front struts. They also said i need a control arm bushing, but said that i'd have to buy the whole control arm with the ball joint, since you can't just buy the bushing. Then they said i also need a lower control arm.
all totaling $1,034.72

I went on rockauto.com and found the control arm bushing for around $8.

So i asked how to adjust the camber, since thats all i really want to do and they said i need to buy a camber adjusting kit which are basically just different bolts for the strut.

So what do you all think of this?
Should i replace all these things?
Is there a way i can adjust the camber otherwise?
 
You can't adjust camber in these cars. If the bushing smashed, that could def. cause the problem. Rough ride would indicate a blown strut, though I'd be surprised that one good hit could blow out a strut... it's probably bent. Don't try to fix the symptom (camber), fix the cause (possibly bent arm / strut, destroyed bushing, etc).
 
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I didn't think you could either but the guy at the auto shop showed me this bolts that he said can change it. I don't notice a rough idle at all and the funny thing is they said the front right is blown, and the tire flew off the front left. My first thought was it was bent too, we will see though i already have the strut and will replace it monday or tuesday. I'm going to order the bushing now. I'm not sure if it is the vertical or horizontal bushing, any way to tell?

Thank you aMaff for the help btw.
 
who said anything about idle? lol you're the one that said you experienced rough ride :p

Those are commonly known as crash bolts. FWIW, they tend to slip. You pretty much constantly need to keep after them. That's not a 'fix' IMHO.
 
whoops, sorry i thought you said rough idle not rough ride. Yes it does ride rough but more on the left then the right. I have low profile tires so i'm not sure if its just rough because of those or not, i should replace the struts anyway, they have 113,000 miles on them i believe.

So should i replace both vertical and horizontal bushings?
 

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