Blown struts=bad alignment?

[twitchy]

Im a total noob when it comes to suspension stuff....

when i bought my 240 almost 3 summers ago, the struts were blown. NOW im hoping to replace them soon and all but ever since i bought the car the tires wore like in the attached pic.

http://www.zilvia.net/f/attachment.p...achmentid=6170

When a car is loaded up, or it hits a bump, and I may be totally wrong here but the tires bow out right? like / \ which is why you see lowered cars sometimes having the tires lean out like that...

so if my tires are wearing out like that and I change the struts, will it help?

[aznpoopy]

your image = "Invalid Attachment specified. If you followed a valid link, please notify the webmaster" ... just letting you know.

well; since i posted... i'm no suspension guru, but if your struts are blown you have to replace them regardless. i'm in the same boat btw. fix that, get an alignment, drive around and then see what's going on with your tire wear.

[91rusty240sx]

what your seeing are tires that have negative camber from lowering their cars or adjusting their camber. Struts will not effect camber, but springs will. The only thing a shock does is dampen spring oscillation (bounce)

if your tires have negative camber, and you want to fix it, either get OEM springs or get camber plates. no matter what, its always good to have a little negative camber because it improves tire traction on turns.

[twitchy]

I cant get that pic up.... I know that springs have more to do with ride hight than struts but i know one side of my car rides an inch lower for instance, Im thinking that when the struts are changed the car will sit at the proper ride height and the wheels wont bow out. Cause when the struts compress the wheels naturally camber out till it settles right, like look when you take the car up on a hoist the wheels are angled all funny. What i mean is that I know i need an alignment but will changing the struts which im doing myself help?

[Phlip]

Originally Posted by twitchy

Im thinking that when the struts are changed the car will sit at the proper ride height and the wheels wont bow out. Cause when the struts compress the wheels naturally camber out till it settles right, like look when you take the car up on a hoist the wheels are angled all funny. What i mean is that I know i need an alignment but will changing the struts which im doing myself help?

No, the struts will do nothing to change the ride height, at least not noticeably... Struts are there to dampen, to smooth out bumps as I would describe it... I would imagine that if you have blown struts then you may have some worn springs as well, especially if you have been sitting on the blown struts 3 years now... The comparison you gave when putting the car on the lift is not quite what you describe it to be either; imagine the difference of NOT having a 2700lb car sitting on the springs. The springs can now push the wheels down and the natural tendency when there is no weight on the wheels will be the appearance of positive camber, like this: \ / while when there is weight on the wheels, gravity will give you the appearance of negative camber, like this: / \
Long story short, replacing the struts CAN help you with the tire wear problem, but what you have described seems, to me, that it may be time for springs as well. Either way, you will need to follow it with an alignment.

[kandyflip445]

[JagdStealth]

Is the car very bouncy when driving around?

[BSeay]

The struts in the rear of my 240 are blown to hell, but my alignment is on point....so all i know is that when i hit a bump it's ridiculous and there is some serious slop in the rear end of my car....

[twitchy]

not bouncy but very very rough, jarring...almost like there ARE no struts

[Phlip]

Originally Posted by twitchy

almost like there ARE no struts

Meaning effectively there likely are no struts, just the abused shell of one sitting there doing nothing but taking up the space