front suspension and tire clearance problem

[newbzee]

I have an issue where I have the same tires and rims on the front of my 73 240z but upon reassemble after frame rail rebuilding I'm noticing that the passenger side tire looks fine but the drivers side tire is rubbing against the spring seat.  When I didi the repair I maintained the exact front crossmember hole placement and everything lined up and bolted up fine.  This was not an issue prior to taking the from suspension and cross member apart so I'm wonder what could be so far off.  Shouldn't both sides be equal distances?

[Zed Head]

Did you forget to put the bearings in the hub?  (I actually did that once on a different model of car).  Something odd happening.  That relationship is all tied to the strut alone.

[newbzee]

Never took the assembly apart.  I did lower it but kept the front axle and suspension assembly together, minus tires.

[Patcon]

The spindle that fits into the hub is a fixed piece to the strut and basically sets the angle there. Like ZedHead is saying, it has to be in the hub, bearings or the wheel. Nothing else would affect that area of clearance

[Zed Head]

Has it ever rolled?  Not clear what the history of the car is.  If the wheels are the same and the hubs correctly assembled with bearings then the strut is bent or broken.  Or you have mismatched wheels.  Did you get one of your backs on the front and they have different offsets?

[newbzee]

Just to clarify, when I removed the suspension, the engine was out and I unbolted from the frame rails then the struts were unbolted and the whole front assembly was slid out from under the car.  Could that drivers assembly have bent doing that?  Seems like very little stress to cause a bend.

[newbzee]

All is as it was when I rolled it into the shop, but interesting thought, both front tires were off together so I wonder one is different.  The rears never came off.  I don't know the history either, but it ran and drove when I got it so something changed.

[Zed Head]

The super quick not much thought required test is to swap the wheels.  The problem will follow the wheel or stay with the strut.

[Zed Head]

I think that the hub casting is slipped over the end of the tube then welded on.  Maybe it's falling off.  Worth a close look.

[newbzee]

I'm going to switch the tires this morning.  I'm trying to remember if there is anything else I did on that side to effect this.  Now I'm wondering if I didn't lower the shock to test it while it was in the car.  I vaguely remember messing with it to see if I could use the weight of the car as a spring compressor to disassemble it like I did in the past with my son's Jetta.  I'm looking at the picture of the assembly that is rubbing and that shock doesn't look centered in the spring.

[cbuczesk]

Where are you in PA?

Chuck

 

[240260280]

Two key points when doing anything with suspension or steering (lifting car off ground or replacing parts):

1.  If car is just lifted off ground, the wheels will camber in when lowered. It must be rolled a few feet back and forth to settle into its natural position.

2. When unbolting and/or replacing any part, the bolt or part must be re-torqued after doing the above and/or loading the part (e.g. if the wheel is off, and a strut is being replaced, a jack must be placed under the strut and the strut lifted enough to simulate loading it before torquing the strut bolts.).

 

In your case I would just loosen all the bolts to just snug and roll the car back and forth to see if the wheels better align.

 

Here is a 240z that was lifted then lowered without rolling.  The camber of the rear is very positive.

 

Edited August 17, 2018 by 240260280