Boxster toe way out at max adjustment

[TROOPER88]

Hi Guys
I have posted this on a Boxster website but am looking for more advice.

Perhaps someone on here knows of a specialist wheel / body alignment place?

Anyway:

As some of you know I am doing a mini restoration on a 1999 Boxster.

Lots of seized nuts and bolts but I thought progress was being made.....

At the start of the project I took the car to have its 4 wheel alignment carried out as the steering wheel is slightly off centre. As some of you may recall they were unable to do the work as the rear control arm eccentric bolts were seized.
I set about cutting the old arms out and fitting new one's with new eccentric bolts. At the same time I have done discs, pads, exhaust, front wishbones etc.
Nearing the end of the mechanical stuff, this morning I went back to the garage in attempt to get the alignment done.

We have a problem.

They are still unable to do it as the toe in on the passenger rear wheel is 1.5 degrees out with no adjustment left....

The manager there is really good and we both got under the car and he explained the situation. He was saying that had it been 6 degrees out as an example, then you would clearly see a bet arm or similar. With it being 1.5 degrees out (which by all accounts is huge when it comes to setting the car up properly), visually all looks normal.

I asked what it could be and he wasn't sure. He said the chassis did not look like it had been damaged but it is hard to tell.

The car has most certainly had a smash on the passenger side at some time of it's life as I can tell from the paint.

I guess I need help as to where to go from here??

What could be the issue? Which part/s could be bent?

I have started work on cleaning / polishing of the car and yesterday started with the clay bar. Although I know the car has had a smash, it is not recent as there was absolutely no evidence of over spray on the clay. I guess someone has been driving the car as it is for years.

I do not really want to start changing parts for the sake of it.

I will attempt to upload the print off from the tracking machine.

Many thanks

[TROOPER88]

[E-bmw]

My understanding would be if all the suspension parts/bolts/bushes etc are correct then, that only leaves the chassis/subframe being bent.

Can you take any pics of the underside of both sides?

[TROOPER88]

E-bmw said:

My understanding would be if all the suspension parts/bolts/bushes etc are correct then, that only leaves the chassis/subframe being bent.

Can you take any pics of the underside of both sides?

Thanks for this and yes, tomorrow I will post up some pics.

There could be suspension component/s bent. I have only replaced the control arm with the eccentric bolt on.

There are other arms, the hub, the strut etc

[helix402]

Lots of the front angles are out too.

[SebringMan]

Where did you go for your alignment and what do your wheels look like? Some wheels make life hard to get adjustments.

The only thing I can think of bar the car being bent is either something is fitted incorrectly or one of the parts is throwing the measurements off. Where did you get your parts from?

[TROOPER88]

Hi
Thanks for the replies.

I've spoken with a few people inc Porsche.

The comment regarding the fronts also bring out, the rears are set up first followed by the fronts.

1.5 degrees out is a huge amount but equates to only 2.5mm.

If I were to take a guess, I'd say maybe the strut is bent or one of the other arms.

I purchased and fitted on Saturday an adjustable set of rear toe control arms.

Whereas normally adjustment can only be made a small amount on the eccentric bolt, with these you can adjust them in the same way that you adjust the front track rod ends.

Tomorrow I'll take it back to see if it can now be set up correctly, fingers crossed!!

They do have a lot of adjustment in them so I'll let you know tomorrow.

[TROOPER88]

Hi guys
Good news and bad news.

The good news is the adjustable rear arms did the trick and the rear is now done

The bad news is the front track rod ends have seized!

The locking nuts can be undone but when a 13mm spanner is then placed on the flats of the inner section there is no movement; stuck solid.

I'm going to have a look tomorrow.

If I split the ball joint am I likely to remove the track rod by using leverage on/around the ball joint??

Or is it more likely I'll have to replace both the inner and outer parts on both sides?

[GreenV8S]

TROOPER88 said:

If I split the ball joint am I likely to remove the track rod by using leverage on/around the ball joint??

Not quite sure what you mean by that. The track rod inner joint is likely to be free to spin, so if you plan to remove the outer joint from the steering arm to make it easier to free the outer from the track rod, I don't think that will get you anywhere. If the connection has seized I suggest applying plenty of penetrating oil over the course of a few days, and then trying again. Be careful not to round off the flats while you're struggling with it - make sure the spanners you use are a tight fit.

[TROOPER88]

GreenV8S said:

Not quite sure what you mean by that. The track rod inner joint is likely to be free to spin, so if you plan to remove the outer joint from the steering arm to make it easier to free the outer from the track rod, I don't think that will get you anywhere. If the connection has seized I suggest applying plenty of penetrating oil over the course of a few days, and then trying again. Be careful not to round off the flats while you're struggling with it - make sure the spanners you use are a tight fit.

Ah I see. So when I remove the ball joint from the hub, the track rod would just turn. I did not think if that!

I will try heat and two spanners as you suggest. If not I will replace both the outer in and inner I guess

[GreenV8S]

TROOPER88 said:

I will try heat and two spanners as you suggest

Be careful - the joints at either end of the track rod won't tolerate much heat. Penetrating oil and time would be your best bet, here

[kev b]

Try a mix of atf and thinners on a rag fastened around the joint, or you could try mild heat and candle wax, both these methods work better than wd40 etc.

Usually these components seize because heat has been used on them before and the parts not regreased.

Gas torch will have it free in a jiffy but I would then fit a new track rod end to be safe.

[TROOPER88]

GreenV8S said:

Be careful - the joints at either end of the track rod won't tolerate much heat. Penetrating oil and time would be your best bet, here

Roger

[TROOPER88]

kev b said:

Try a mix of atf and thinners on a rag fastened around the joint, or you could try mild heat and candle wax, both these methods work better than wd40 etc.

Usually these components seize because heat has been used on them before and the parts not regreased.

Gas torch will have it free in a jiffy but I would then fit a new track rod end to be safe.

This is what my plan was now.

I'm aiming to heat the end of the track rod and not the part that come from the steering rack?

This way expanding the end of the track rod

[GreenV8S]

kev b said:

Try a mix of atf and thinners on a rag fastened around the joint, or you could try mild heat and candle wax, both these methods work better than wd40 etc.

Just use proper penetrating oil, not WD40 etc, not candle wax (wtf?) and not transmission oil.

[helix402]

Forget spanners on seized track rods, this is what you want:

[TROOPER88]

helix402 said:

Forget spanners on seized track rods, this is what you want:

I do not mind purchasing a set but where / how would that help?

Where do you use it?

[E-bmw]

You use them or something similar that grips where you are putting the 13mm spanner & are then able to apply much more force to the rod.

Generally with these a pair of hammers on opposite sides of the locking tangs of the inner rod at the same time will shock the things loose & always go backwards & forwards until it is fully free and get some grease in there then as "you may be the one who has to undo it next" (good advice from an old mechie years ago)

[TROOPER88]

E-bmw said:

You use them or something similar that grips where you are putting the 13mm spanner & are then able to apply much more force to the rod.

Generally with these a pair of hammers on opposite sides of the locking tangs of the inner rod at the same time will shock the things loose & always go backwards & forwards until it is fully free and get some grease in there then as "you may be the one who has to undo it next" (good advice from an old mechie years ago)

Thanks

So a pair of mole grips on the one part with a 13 mm spanner on other sort of thing?

Thanks for the advice

[GreenV8S]

TROOPER88 said:

So a pair of mole grips on the one part with a 13 mm spanner on other sort of thing?

A pipe wrench will give you massively more grip than a mole wrench - I wouldn't expect a mole wrench to be sufficient.