front wheel too far back?

[cecotto_singh]

one of my front wheels sits too far back compared to the other and is rubbing on cornering. i had the tape measure out and it sits about an inch further back. ive just done a lot of work on this car recently , engine change etc, and used differnt bits from different cars to build mine up. I checked the control arm bushes and changed them for the eccentric ones and they are the right way around but this made little difference.
i thought i would get the wheel alignment done but was unable to as the garage told me the track rod ends needed replacing as they have been stressed and bent. but surely this wouldnt cause the wheels to sit back too far.
any ideas?
havnt changed the track rods yet.

[CLUBBER]

did you check the wishbones ? If they are not model correct, lets say from an e36 or something, they may pull the wheels back a little...

[F0Bman]

Sounds like your caster is off, make sure you get it aligned man.

[cecotto_singh]

Sounds like your caster is off, make sure you get it aligned man.

by caster you mean alignment? that wouldnt cause the wheels to sit back, would it? thought that would push the wheels out?

[Hoofty]

The only thing you can adjust on a stock M3 is the front toe, period. The caster angle on the strut suspension (and the longitudinal position of the wheel) is determined by the positions of the upper strut mount, and the lower ball joint. You can buy kits which give you adjustment of the top point, and the bottom balljoint position is determined by the offset in the wishbone bush. As you've replaced the bushes all sounds well, so check the wishbones, as noted by Clubber. Did you change these recently?

The track rod ends may well need replacing, but there's no way they can affect the longitudinal position of the wheel.

Hope this helps.

[justin11572]

lower arms are probably different...i mean to say not a match!

[Mmark]

There are two different rear bushes for the front lower wishbones for these cars. Early cars used a concentic bushing plus concentric top strut mounts.
Latter cars used eccentric items for more caster and more camber negative.

You may want to check since you admit to mixing parts.
The condition of the components can have an impact on static alignment.

Lastly, One hopes that the side with the shorter wheelbase, has not been pranged hard enough to have bent the strut tower.

m

[evans61]

that's exactly what happened to mine when i put the h&r race springs in. make sure the springs are properly seated. if one is, and one isn't, it will cause the exact effect your are describing.

[pmonsour]

The only thing you can adjust on a stock M3 is the front toe, period. The caster angle on the strut suspension (and the longitudinal position of the wheel) is determined by the positions of the upper strut mount, and the lower ball joint. You can buy kits which give you adjustment of the top point, and the bottom balljoint position is determined by the offset in the wishbone bush.

I am replacing my Rack, struts, and shocks. I have been told the same thing about only having a toe adjustment many years ago. Is there anything I need to be careful off or some guide to follow to get it alligned right when I put it all back together?

[Bruce]

I am replacing my Rack, struts, and shocks. I have been told the same thing about only having a toe adjustment many years ago. Is there anything I need to be careful off or some guide to follow to get it alligned right when I put it all back together?

Put in on an alignment rack...if something is out of spec then something is bent.

[pmonsour]

I so wish I had an alignment rack right now. the entire rebuild is being done in my garage. If I put it all together, you think an alignment shop could adjust it? I was hoping there was some inside trick to the project.

[Bruce]

I so wish I had an alignment rack right now. the entire rebuild is being done in my garage. If I put it all together, you think an alignment shop could adjust it? I was hoping there was some inside trick to the project.

If you are completely rebuilding it I would hope that somewhere on you "to do" list is to go get a proper alignment????

I did the same thing (rebuild in my garage) and took it to get an alignment and corner balance (in fact, I need one again as I am changing spring rates).

[pmonsour]

Oh..Definitly. I am getting the alignment. I just remember the last time I took it in they said there was just the toe and I needed to get it to a body shop to align the rest. I was hoping there was a trick to it where I can get it as close as possible

[Bruce]

Oh..Definitly. I am getting the alignment. I just remember the last time I took it in they said there was just the toe and I needed to get it to a body shop to align the rest. I was hoping there was a trick to it where I can get it as close as possible

Did they say there were certain things they couldn't get into spec? On my old 2.5 I had it aligned and couldn't get the rear toe into spec so I had to take it to a frame shop to get them to straighten the rear subframe to get it to spec.

[Hoofty]

I wouldn't like to have anything bent or straightened out that I couldn't unbolt from the car - but if it's massively out it might be the only way. Other than making sure all the subframe components aren't duff, there isn't much you can do - the important parts are located with dowels, so you can't loosen them off and shuffle them about. You could try pushing the front upper strut mount as far back and inwards as you can when tightening the nuts holding it to the body, but that will gain you very little.

I do mine with string - it's not perfect, but I know where it's at. It won't show up if you have a bent body, but unless it's been shunted at some point in its life, it'll probably be fine. Rebuilding on a body jig might highlight body issues, but not many people have access to one of those.