when to replace lower control arms
 

Broz: I ask this because of my caster settings from my latest alignment.

Right: 6 degrees (minimum that could be achieved)
Left: 4.5 degrees (maximum that could be achieved)

My shop says they see this all the time with Miatas in the Portland area that see track time at PIR. PIR runs CW. Basically the amount of time on the kerbing keeps hammering the LCA, bending it back slightly. I don't notice anything driving the car and it handles well on track. I should mention I'm third owner of the car, have put 35k of the 135k on it, and don't know if I got it with the issue as a pre-existing condition.

I'm not questioning my shop; they know their stuff. I'd like to hear from some fellow miata track junkies who have experienced similar issues.

* if you haven't done anything about it, how long / how much track time have you put on the car with the issue?

* if you replaced the LCA with stock, did the problem recur?

* if you replaced the LCA with V8 Roadsters tubular LCA, did the problem recur?

Basically where I'm at is, I was going to do the bushings this year. That got me to thinking, maybe I should fix this. Which got me to thinking, maybe getting at least the front LCA's from V8 Roadsters would be a good idea, since they're stronger, and that should happen when I do the bushings, since they use different bushings.

Edit: gun smiley because my 7yo wants it: :fael:

Two things:

1. It's a sawzall smiley, in honor of the late, great Failflora.
2. Does your shop know whether it's the LCAs that are getting bent or whether it's the LCA mounts on the subframe that are getting bent? If the former, then the V8 roadster's look like an attractive solution (I'd be tempted to do the uppers as well to get a maintanable upper ball joint). If the latter . . . .

They said the lower LCA typically bends. That is definitely something to check, though.

I see the sawzall now. Excellent.