[Salty SAAB]

I purchased a SAAB 9-3 3 months ago that had a off center steering wheel. I changed a changed a badly bent inner tie rod end and the steering wheel centered. Then I attempted to get it aligned and they said the camber was off, way off.

I am guessing the car hit a curb and something is really bent, but nothing looks bent. You can tell what rim hit the curb and car does have a rotational hum, like a wheel bearing. Do I just change the control arm? Should I be changing the knuckle too? There is NO noise when turning. It chewed up the inside edge of the tire.

Any help would be great thanks!

2007 SAAB 9-3
2.0 T convertible

 

[okcrum]

The hum might also be the outer CV joint. Check the bottom strut mount for damage. If nothing is bent then something moved.

 

[Flarfignewton]

If it hit a curb, it could be lower control arm, strut, knuckle or combination of all 3. If it were me I'd replace them in that order until the specs are correct.

 

[Salty SAAB]

The hum might also be the outer CV joint. Check the bottom strut mount for damage. If nothing is bent then something moved.

The strut looks fine. It doesn’t even look like anything happened. When you say something moved what do you mean? Do you mean the wheel bearing? The CV shaft int the wheel?

 

[okcrum]

If there's too much negative camber, there are two possibilities. Either the upper part of the wheel assembly (above the drive shaft) has moved inward, or the lower part of the wheel has moved outward. The bent inner tie rod end you replaced is above the drive shaft. Something else above the drive shaft center line must also be distorted or moved inward to cause the camber issue.

Is the camber correct on the wheel on the other side from the problem wheel? If so you should be able to compare measurements from the two wheels to help find out what's different about the bad one.

 

[Flarfignewton]

It doesn't take much to throw the alignment out, you likely won't see anything bent unless you were to disassemble the suspension on that side and compared the components to known good ones.

Measuring certain areas can also help as long as you are able to check with the suspension loaded. If you do this measure the same areas multiple times just to be positive.

 

[Hus_sho]

Take pictures of everything, control arm, struts, bushes ... etc
has to be clear and from an angle where we can compare .. maybe that will help us figure it out for u