Tie rod hit the inner wheel housing

All I can suggest is , if all looks ok in alignment terms, try measuring some fixed points across the front suspension (lower arm mounting points) and the distance across the engine bay high up, and compare to another car - with a view to checking if the front chassis legs are bent. The WSM shows longitudinal measurements when on a jig, but nothing on lateral measurements.
 
Have disassembled the suspension. Taking some measurements and playing around with plastic shims I can move the tower over 10mm by packing the inside mount out 7mm. Caster was good on the last formal alignment check so my next task is to check how far (fore or aft) this adjustment moves the top of the tower. This should give me an idea if I'm on the right track. PS 10mm equates to 1.7 degrees if you believe the maths
 
PNP said:
Have disassembled the suspension. Taking some measurements and playing around with plastic shims I can move the tower over 10mm by packing the inside mount out 7mm. Caster was good on the last formal alignment check so my next task is to check how far (fore or aft) this adjustment moves the top of the tower. This should give me an idea if I'm on the right track. PS 10mm equates to 1.7 degrees if you believe the maths
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You will find caster angle will reduce as you shim out the top pivot mounts. Steering will be lighter, but stability and self centering will be reduced. I believe standard desired camber angle is around -0.5° to -0.7°
 
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PNP said:
Interested to know if you ever got to the bottom of this.
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No not yet unfortunately. I couldn't bring myself to fix it during the summer. This winter/spring, as a first step, I will try adding shims to see if it helps.
 
Cooper99 said:
No not yet unfortunately. I couldn't bring myself to fix it during the summer. This winter/spring, as a first step, I will try adding shims to see if it helps.
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Check your top arm pivot bushes first, a badly degraded inner bush can cause the arm to swing in towards the inner wing. Measure your camber angle next, that'll give you a good idea of the state of the chassis.
 
The bushings are probably worn as they are the original ones I think.
 

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What do you think, is it "necessary" to replace the springs when I have everything disassembled, or can I keep the original ones?
 
Cooper99 said:
What do you think, is it "necessary" to replace the springs when I have everything disassembled, or can I keep the original ones?
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If you feel the ride height hasn’t sunk excessively I’d stick with the originals. However, if you feel it has look into new.
 
Does anyone have experience with the Gunson Trakrite camber gauge?

Now the right hand side wing is removed, so it is a little easier to access and see the condition of the bushings. I suppose they are quite worn?! There are no shims at the inner mount.
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That last pic shows quite a bit of space behind the inner mount - is that normal?
 
And the outer mount also flush on the bulkhead? Still suggest getting the front end measured for camber and caster before moving anything.
 
SydneyRoverP6B said:
No, from my experience the mount should be firmly against the body with no gap.
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jp928 said:
And the outer mount also flush on the bulkhead?
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Both mounts look the same, with gap between mount and body, due to the shape of the mount, se picture below. It is like that on the left hand side as well. I´m quite sure it is original, since the car has low number of owners and mileage.

jp928 said:
Still suggest getting the front end measured for camber and caster before moving anything
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Yes, I will do that in the coming week (s).
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That looks strange to me, that's quite a shim behind those mountings. Could be the result if a repair following an accident?

As JP says, I would certainly get it all measured before stripping it down; I am assuming you are going to remove it all to replace the rubber bushes.
 
quattro said:
Could be the result if a repair following an accident?
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I don't think it has been in an accident, but I can´t be sure. It looks the same on the other side, and it seem like the original yellow primer is found behind the rust protection. Well, I need to take measurements as first action.
 
I’m not sure that’s a shim. On my shell there was quite a variance in the stick out of the drilled mounting bosses, presumably just how the factory suspension jig is set up in relation to the bulkhead square etc.

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Jim
 
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