I hit a curb, replaced the spindle and tie rod.... got alignment today and was told the caster is positive on the damaged side by 2.7 degrees.

the tire is about 1.5 fingers width further back in the wheel well than the other side.

im thinking about replacing the lower control arms, any opinions welcome thanks.

 

Definitely replace the lower control arms on that side. I stuffed my passenger front wheel into a curb a little over a year ago. This is what I've replaced since then:

-all control arms on passenger front
-TRE
-driveshaft
-wheel bearing
-wheels/tires on all corners
-airbag module because passenger seat airbag deployed (haven't fixed/replaced the seat yet though)

There is also a chance your subframe is misaligned. I know my camber is slightly off, and caster probably is also. If this is the case you would essentially need a frame alignment. I've been putting this off because it could cost up to $200.

EDIT:
Just checked from one of my previous alignments, my caster for both sides is around 3.5 degrees. The paper didn't list a range for caster so I don't know what is acceptable.

 

Ya mine says 1.1 on the left and 3.7 on the right. Im trying to hold off on the control arms to do the entire kit so for now I just want it straight gonna use a used pair of lowers. I didn't hit hard enough to deploy the airbag so im hoping its just the lower control arms.

 

Guess my question is if its reasonable to think its the lower vs the upper control arms

 

There's a good chance the upper control arms are fine, but it wouldn't be a bad idea to replace them as well.

And my guess is your front subframe should be okay. The control arms are (I think) just a cast aluminum so they will bend instead of other damage being done.

 

nice, that's where my intuition was pointing but wanted to put it out there and see what others thought. gonna pickup a used set from the guy i bought the spindle from...

another question, the spindle/hub i put in has a stripped lug hole, how would i fix that? replace the hub or can it be tapped?

 

What do you mean by "lug hole"? My mind can't make sense out of this.

 

one of the five holes that holds the rim to the hub is stripped.

 

Oh one of the wheel hub holes is stripped... Usually this would require purchasing a new hub, removing the old one, and having the new one pressed in. The shop I use to press in new wheel bearings (in which they remove/press in the hub also) charges $45 to do this.

OEM / Performance Parts for Audi, BMW, Mercedes Benz, Mini, Porsche & Volkswagen - ECS Tuning

It would be cheaper if you could re-use your old hub.

BTW, where is SoCal are you?

 

ya i figured that was the case. I recently put in a new wheel bearing on that side too and was thinking about swapping the bearing and hub but do you think it is likely that the bearing was also damaged when i hit the curb? and do they typically break when being pressed out?

thanks