Greetings,

I had the recent misfortune of having all 4 wheels stolen off of my 2006 g35 coupe 6MT. The car front jack points were left on cinder blocks and the rear was sitting completely on the ground.

Anyway, I'm going through getting everything fixed now through my insurance company. The body shop I took my car to, performed an alignment (after I got my new wheels, factory 19s) and told me I had severe camber issues. My front left is reading at -1.0, the front right is -1.1 and the rear right is -1.5 (the rear left was in spec). This shop is suggesting that I need new shocks for these 3 wheels, which, I'm no mechanic, but I'm not entirely sure how much effect shocks have on camber. In any case, my insurance company is refusing to pay for new shocks because they don't believe the shocks effect camber either.

My question is, is my camber that far out of spec that I need to worry? Is it possible my car was that bad prior to my wheel theft? The shop doing my alignment isn't the dealer, so it's possible they don't know what to look for. I have all factory suspension and wheels, so I'm not sure why my car won't get back to factory alignment spec.

Any advice is greatly appreciated.
Thanks,

 

I wouldn't say they're severe camber, it's more like near or just a lil over the minimum. IMO, it's the springs that's not holding the car high enough causing the negative camber. Although it's a little odd that springs have that much sag since it's a fairly new 2006 car. Toe alignment is more significant and it'll allow you to have some camber without eating up your tires too quickly. Anyways, here's the specs...

 

+1 your camber isn't that far out of spec. indeed, the rear is within the acceptable range, and your fronts are right at the edge of the range for your year. are you on OEM springs & struts (sorry if I missed this)? just make sure you even out your camber (ie same angle on driver & passenger side) and get your toe as close to zero as possible. and consider going to a different alignment shop...

 

+2^^^^^

 

Thanks guys, that was helpful. I don't really have any say what alignment shop I'm going to. My car is at an autobody shop now (having the moldings replaced, underbody damage repaired, etc). They contract out their alignments to some shop.

Deezflip, springs sound more like the culprit to me as well. Maybe I can convince my insurance company / alignment shop that is the issue instead and get some new springs out of it.

Bigc, yup I'm on factory everything as far as suspension and wheels are concerned. If my Camber isn't that far out of alignment, I guess I'll just live with it.

 

^ pay attention to the other alignment parameters too, particularly caster. if the thieves dropped the car suddenly, it could throw off your caster angles which will cause the car to drift left or right on the highway. if insurance is paying for everything might as well make sure they do everything right.

 

Both caster and toe are within spec all the way around. It's just the camber I was concerned about.

The insurance company is of the opinion that my car sitting on the ground and on cinder blocks did not effect the suspension at all and thus, they aren't springing for any suspension work. So if my alignment is fine as is, than that's ok, it means I'll get my car back sooner. But if the thieves damaged my suspension, I just want to make sure the insurance company sees that and will act accordingly.

I attached the alignment sheet I received from the shop. Sorry for the horrible quality.