hey, i hav a 2004 lancer es and i hit a curb about a month ago and at first it was fine apart from some scratches on my rim

but then i noticed that i had to turn the steering wheel slightly to the left just to go straight....

then 2 days later i'm driving to school and i notice that my front tires are rubbing whenever i turn

i got the steering realigned and the steering wheel is straight but there is still a little tire rub and when i let go of the steering wheel it pulls to the left

the mechanic said it could be a blown shock (but i thought that with a blown shock the car would be bouncy in that area, but its not) or i need frame work done. by the way i do have progress spring installed on stoch shocks

just want to know if anyone can give me a better understanding of what the problem is and how much it might cost to fix it

 

Where is it rubbing? Top, front side, back side? Both front wheels? Just the one that hit the curb?

 

yea its the front right tire that hit the curb, and its rubbing at the front/top

 

That's probably just bad toe from when you hit the curb. Alignment shops almost never to a "centerline" alignment, they do a relative alignment. They pick the tire that's the least messed up in relation to the manufacturer's specs and they set all the other tires relative to that one. A true alignment uses the centerline of the car to set the toe. The strut that controls the toe (the little bar on the wheel hub behind the brakes) may have bent slightly but it only takes about 3mm on a 15" rim to throw the alignment off 1/2degree. even a 1mm difference would be enough that your car would want to wander. A friend who worked in a mechanic's shop told me that people who go over speed bumps with only one side of the car need alignments more often than people who go over with both tires; so it's relatively easy to mess up.

Put the steering wheel where you want it and set the toes from there.

Setting toe isn't hard, but it's a little time consuming the first time you do it, expect to need about two hours and +-$20 in "stuff". I use two industrial tiles with some axle grease between them as slip plates (you'll read about those). Google "DIY alignments" and variations on that theme and you'll get a lot of info. The adjustment is made by loosening the nut on that strut off of the control arm and then turning the bar. right=tight=toe out (I think it's toe out- you'll figure it out real quick). Also our axles are evenly spaced, so you don't have to worry about offsets if you use the method that uses the wheel hub centers to measure centerline (again, you'll need that info later, it won't make much sense now). It's a valuable skill and it will save you literally hundreds of dollars with every car you buy (especially if you ever get into racing- I check my alignment at least 4 times a year depending on how many major changes I've had to make).

Good luck

EDIT: http://www.negative-camber.org/jam14...alignment.html These guys are awesome. A-Z on DIY alignments. To check camber I recommend a quality digital level. It saves on all the math

 

thats great info.have the same problem and same mods. will try it when it gets warmer out.