Alignment off...dealership told me to go find an aftermarket fix??

[AsianAccord]

my dealer has me beyond confused right now,

a couple months ago, I curbed my v6 sedan pretty hard (mostly driver front wheel area). The car was shaking at any speed, and my buddy told me I bent the Sh*t out of my rim, but i got it replaced with an OEM one.

a couple days ago i noticed the alignment was off, just enough to be noticeable. I took it to the honda dealer yesterday, and he adjusted the toe on all four wheels, but told me my front driver camber was off (its supposed to be -.5 to .5, mine was 1.1), and that it is NOT ADJUSTABLE

so i asked him how to get it back in spec, and he said he had no idea??
he actually said the tech is clueless about it to, and to buy a camber kit online or go to a body shop to see if anything is bent? Then he told me that body shop will report it to carfax if something is bent, based on the estimate alone.

just a little confused right now, and looking for advice....what would you guys do?

[glen e]

sounds like you bent the car - find out where it is bent and see if you can fix it. Take it to a body shop that the dealer recommends....or has good word of mouth in your neighborhood...

[dentalpain]

go to firestone, pay for the lifetime alignment. Get the print out of your alignment specs and post them here. Something may be bent, but I would get a "second opinion"

[Danielc409]

If the dealer can't get it back in OEM specs on all stock parts .. something is wrong, don't waste your money on another alignment.

[glen e]

Originally Posted by Danielc409

If the dealer can't get it back in OEM specs on all stock parts .. something is wrong, don't waste your money on another alignment.

absolutely....find a good body shop with an up to date Hunter machine...

[ncelk]

You more than likely bent a control arm. Get a Bodyshop to check it, replace if necessary then you should be good to go.

[kcdirtbro54]

I'd like to see how bad damage to the car when this all happened. From experience, you either bent the strut or a control arm first. Unless you hit it hard enough to screw up the knuckle, but that takes 1 real hard hit. I know they say the camber isn't adjustable BUT if they were to raise the front end on the alignment rack and loosen the 2 bolts that bolt that strut to the knuckle and have 1 person push in on the top of the wheel (if your camber is positive, pull out on the top of wheel if camber is negative) and the 2nd guy tighten the bolts, you would get SOME adjustment out of the camber. I'm not saying you're going to get a lot but you would get a small amount of adjustment.

[2011LX-S]

Originally Posted by kcdirtbro54

I'd like to see how bad damage to the car when this all happened. From experience, you either bent the strut or a control arm first. Unless you hit it hard enough to screw up the knuckle, but that takes 1 real hard hit. I know they say the camber isn't adjustable BUT if they were to raise the front end on the alignment rack and loosen the 2 bolts that bolt that strut to the knuckle and have 1 person push in on the top of the wheel (if your camber is positive, pull out on the top of wheel if camber is negative) and the 2nd guy tighten the bolts, you would get SOME adjustment out of the camber. I'm not saying you're going to get a lot but you would get a small amount of adjustment.

X2

[fastball]

I curbed my '09 Coupe, and had essentially the same situation occur. My camber ended up being .8, and he said while it was not adjustable it wasn't so bad I'd notice it. And I don't. That was about 2 years ago this happened, car still drives and handles the same.

[ElectricFuzz]

How fast do you have to hit a curb to cause this much damage? Local or highway speeds?

[Ice]

Originally Posted by ncelk

You more than likely bent a control arm. Get a Bodyshop to check it, replace if necessary then you should be good to go.

Originally Posted by kcdirtbro54

I'd like to see how bad damage to the car when this all happened. From experience, you either bent the strut or a control arm first. Unless you hit it hard enough to screw up the knuckle, but that takes 1 real hard hit. I know they say the camber isn't adjustable BUT if they were to raise the front end on the alignment rack and loosen the 2 bolts that bolt that strut to the knuckle and have 1 person push in on the top of the wheel (if your camber is positive, pull out on the top of wheel if camber is negative) and the 2nd guy tighten the bolts, you would get SOME adjustment out of the camber. I'm not saying you're going to get a lot but you would get a small amount of adjustment.

This and this. I would bet money that it's the control arm. While you're there, replace the ball joint as well.

[EX L V6]

@AsianAccord
Were able to get another opinion or did you get it fixed all together? Details of the process if so? I hope everything went well with the decision you chose! Im also thinking I have a bent front right control arm!?!?!?!?

[mi08coupe]

Originally Posted by EX L V6

@AsianAccord
Were able to get another opinion or did you get it fixed all together? Details of the process if so? I hope everything went well with the decision you chose! Im also thinking I have a bent front right control arm!?!?!?!?

I'd suggest PM'ing him if you really want to know. He hasn't logged in to DA since Dec 2011. May not even have the car anymore.