hey guys. a while back i bent my k-member doing some stupid stuff. the caster on the right front tire was so negative that i had to stop using my car for a bit. today i installed BMR fabrication's aftermarket k-member and it improved the caster issue dramatically. however, my car still pulls to the right and both front tires toe out. i messed with the tie rods so the tires would be as straight as possible but they're still pointing outward. do i have a bent control arm as well or do you guys think it could be something else? please help, i'm pretty bummed

 

I think you should take in and have alignment done!

 

^ agreed. Except you should probably go to a frame and body shop...

If you hit the K-member hard enough to bend it, I can think of at least a dozen things that can be damaged/bent as well, including the subframes...

 

nah i'm pretty sure i didn't bend my frame. i'm gonna get some control arms anyway and see what those do. if it doesn't fix my problem then i'll bring it into the shop :/

 

Unless you have a set of tools with which to do a proper alignment, I'm thinking that getting a professional alignment done is the first step here. There is no way that eyeballing toe will get you to the right setting.

 

its easy. just adjust your tie rods and drive it until it doesn't pull one way or the other and its almost perfect.

 

Go get an alignment done before you ruin your tires.

 

I still contend that you need a set of toe strings and something to lock the rack at the center at the least to set toe properly.

Anyway, assuming that the K-member bolted up easily and that the control arms bolted to it properly, I would guess that nothing is bent there. Do the control arms look bent? I guess another possibility is that the tie rod stretched and therefore even adjusting it to its shortest length isn't getting you to the right toe setting.

I still say get an alignment and see what the guys at the shop say. If they can't get it into spec that will confirm that something is broken.

 

You can get the toe close in your garage, but what about caster and camber? Also, just because the car tracks straight doesn't mean your alignment is in spec. You hit something hard enough to bend your k-member...who knows what else could be bent under there. Regardless, you need a professional alignment after you change something like a k-member.

 

It's your car, do as you wish...