Excessive rear wheel tilt

[Abbey Normal]

Hi, I'm a n00b here. I looked around at other threads for info on my wheel tilt problem, and have'nt found anything. If I just was not looking in the right place, sorry for the creation of this thread.

Anyway, can anyone share their experience with excessive rear wheel tilt? The drivers side on my 85' 325e is visibly tilting in more than it should, naturally causing fast wear on the inside tread of the tire. I understand that both rear wheels should tilt in to some degree. The solution that I believe I'm looking at is replacing the springs. Is that a highly probable cause or is there any other possiblities?

 

[jrt67ss350]

Could be sagging springs, could also be a bent trailing arm.

 

[xLibelle]

your wheel "tilt" is called camber. yes, there will be some on tuned cars or ones that have been slammed but

you are talking about one wheel obviously - front, back?
i wouldnt pin it on sagging springs, what ever that is, but like justin said, its a bent trailing arm if its in the rear. in the front it could be something with the strut being bent OR you could have frame damage... which could be the case to your rear sub frame as well.

 

[jrt67ss350]

The rear suspension on these cars is designed so that as the suspension compresses, negative camber increases. So, if you had a sagging spring on one side, that wheel could have more camber than the opposite wheel on that axle since the suspension would be more compressed on the sagging side.

 

[Abbey Normal]

Iv'e had the car for about 2 1/2 years now, and the condition seems to be getting progressively worse. That keeps me optomistic about the notion of a bent subframe, I'd be in way over my head with that one. Realistically, until I'm certain what the problem is I still have to keep it in mind as a possibility. With that, how do I determine if the subframe is bent? Take it to a body shop and have it checked with frame guages? As well with the other 2 scenarios, how do I determine a sagging spring? I would think it has somekind of measurment involved. Same with a trailing arm, if it's bent would I be able to see that just by looking at it? The Haynes Manual covers replacement procedures for both springs and trailing arms, but nothing in there about checking them. Is that information in the Bentley?

btw, thanks for the input!

 

[xLibelle]

ok, i knew i saw rear somewhere but forgot to look back at the thread title, rear, duh.

listen, if you want to suspect a "sagging" spring, that side of the car is going to be riding CONSIDERABLY lower. i mean, walk behind your car and just look. the issue you have and trying to reason that its a spring wouldnt be to the point where you have to break out a measuring tape.

so you can actaully SEE that the wheel is tilting in, right? more so than the other? if not, its your driving style and the open differential.
does your underside have rust or look damaged in anyway?