alignment-has this happened to you?

[driftin luke]

Well, I went to my local Americas Tire store to get a new set of tires(General Exclaims) the salesman told me to be sure and get an alignment after the new tires were mounted because my old set showed severe wear on the inside of the right front tire.So after I got the new tires I took my 98 GT to a local tire place and sure enough it needed an alignment. Problem was the tech told me that he couldn't get the camber in spec on the right side because there wasn't enough adjustment left on the stock plate. He then said that if he could drill out the 2 rivets on plate it would give him the extra play he needed to bring the camber in spec. so I said o.k.Well he did it and according to the spec. sheet I got it worked. After driving the car I must admit it does drive dam good, no problems at all.I asked the tech why the right side would be so out of whack and he said that older mustangs with v8's were known to do that because the torque of the engine has a tendency to stretch the shee metal. I have never heard this before have any of you? According to the spec sheet when the car came in the RF camber was -1.7,final is -1.2. On left side the camber was -0.8 and was left there.The caster on the left is 3.1 on the right its 4.1. The tech suggested that I might want to get a set of after-market plates somewhere down the road.You should also know that 2 years ago some old lady ran into my right front scraping the fender and bumper and ruining the wheel,bending the spindle and tie rod end and also twisting the lower control arm,all these parts were replaced. What I am also wondering is could the strut have been bent and the body shop never realized it?Luke.

 

[bhuff30]

If the strut was bent, it would pretty quickly fail. The tolerances on the strut rod are very tight and it would quickly start leaking fluid or gas, and you'd notice either, so don't worry about that.
I'd say your alignment is definately off because of the accident. You were hit with enough force to damage the control arm and spindle, which I'm betting tweeked your K-member and/or frame. Sounds like you were eventually able to get it aligned, so everything should be fine there too.