I broke my mazda3!

[brettjay]

5500 miles later, going on 3 months my rear wheels bow outwards. the rims are not straight but on a diagonal. i'm taking it into the dealership tuesday. does this seem indicative of tire wear or something more serious. i'm an aggresive driver. i think i broke it.

 

[Prodigy]

Camber's out?

 

[brettjay]

maybe! i hope it is an easy fix...i love my 3 to death but after getting a few dings and now this i'm very sad.

 

[goldwing2000]

Unfortunately, the camber isn't adjustable.

If it's suddenly extremely out, then you probably broke something.

Using the picture that Prodigy posted, are your wheels positive or negative?

 

[brettjay]

Unfortunately, the camber isn't adjustable.

If it's suddenly extremely out, then you probably broke something.

Using the picture that Prodigy posted, are your wheels positive or negative?

negative

 

[toucci]

They have a little negative camber from the factory which helps with performance. Maybe you're just noticing it now.

 

[tsunami]

they are supposed to be negative (a bit) but i wonder how much yours are compared to what another car has...

 

[Prodigy]

It's possible that your struts are shot..
have you been carrying extra cargo or people often? been jumping off houses?
or anything else putting an excessive load on the car?

 

[nate0123]

It's possible that your struts are shot..
have you been carrying extra cargo or people often? been jumping off houses?
or anything else putting an excessive load on the car?

(hah) (rofl2)

 

[brettjay]

they are supposed to be negative (a bit) but i wonder how much yours are compared to what another car has...

i might add the body of the car tilts down on the left side. this is from viewing the car looking at the tail. i'm about 180lbs so i doubt its from my weight. also 80% i'm the only passenger.

i wish it was light outside so i could post a pic.

 

[FunkyBuddha]

he said he was an aggressive driver...well frickin slow down man...jeeze..it's not an F1 car.

 

[Mikey444]

I'm agressive only on smooth roads and always shift smoothly, I never jerk the car.

 

[brettjay]

I'm agressive only on smooth roads and always shift smoothly, I never jerk the car.

automatic here...

i travel alot of highway. i drive 7 days a week. typically i hit 65 mph often (1/4 of the way) to work. otherwise i'm ~40mph.

 

[BrianG]

Yeah, all the 3's I've seen have negative camber. I've had mine about the same amount of time (3 months), but not as many miles (3500). I have a couple amps and sub in the back and I'm not a lightweight by any means and the camber hasn't changed from what I can tell.

I'd take it to the dealer to see if something is broken. If it is and you keep driving, you could end up damaging more parts - not to mention being unsafe in general.

 

[goldwing2000]

It's possible that your struts are shot..
have you been carrying extra cargo or people often? been jumping off houses?
or anything else putting an excessive load on the car?

Bad struts would have no effect on the rear camber of a Mazda3. It doesn't have struts on the back, it has shocks and 3-link.

 

[goldwing2000]

i might add the body of the car tilts down on the left side. this is from viewing the car looking at the tail. i'm about 180lbs so i doubt its from my weight. also 80% i'm the only passenger.

i wish it was light outside so i could post a pic.

Sounds like maybe a broken spring. That would cause it to sit lower and sitting lower would cause the camber to go negative.

 

[DE31]

i would agree with him. since most cars would experience some negative camber when the suspension is down like in cornering so the tires would stay perpendicular to the ground. if the springs in two that would be really bad.

Sounds like maybe a broken spring. That would cause it to sit lower and sitting lower would cause the camber to go negative.

 

[brettjay]

i would agree with him. since most cars would experience some negative camber when the suspension is down like in cornering so the tires would stay perpendicular to the ground. if the springs in two that would be really bad.

Here are some pictures of my baby...she just got a bath.

the final pic you can see the negative camber...which i think looks more than usual. (boom07)

 

[Gambino]

doesnt look bad to me....then again I have sportlines so i am used to looking at tons of negative camber......

 

[goldwing2000]

You said the left side is low but you took a picture of the right side (which looks normal).

Unless the left side looks a lot worse than the right side, it doesn't look like anything is broken.

The rear-view picture looks level to me. If you really think it's low, measure it.