Ghost JK

If you hit it with enough force to bend the tie rod, you could've knocked the camber out also by twaqeking the c or the axle tube. This can also cause a pulling to one side. The alignment shee should have showed what it is againts the book specs for it.

karls10jk

Cam bolts are typically only used on the lower control arm mount at the axle. You won't have them from the factory but cheap lift kits and cheap alignment shops like to put them in as a quick fix for caster.

resharp001

I had figured cam bolts are what the alignment shop was trying to throw at the OP earlier when referring to "mopar shim kit", cuz they were probably seeing caster out of spec a bit. That may have been out of spec due to general boost in height, or out of spec on a side more due to deer accident. idk. Still haven't seen a good explanation of where the damage was. At this point, we're all still left guessing if the C could have taken a big hit. If it did, then that explains a lot.

Always save alignment specs. If shops don't hand em to you, ask for them. They are always a useful reference. I keep all of mine over time in a folder should I ever need to reference or compare vs. previous.

jkrubcon

I don't have a spec sheet sorry. The damage destroyed the bumper. Deer went under on the drivers side tire. Cut the deer in half. Pulled over and steering wheel was turned 45 deg to the right. Amazingly the Jeep still drove straight. Cop said drive it home. Obviously bent tie rod. Every else "looked" straight.

resharp001

Ugh, that sounds......grizzly. Well, I hate to say it, but I think the best course of action is to go back to an alignment shop, let them scan it, tell them you'd like to think about it, and take the print out. That is really the only way to see if something in caster or camber looks completely off on the driver's side relative to the passenger side.

Maybe, MAYBE it's just the toe isn't dialed in. I can't tell you how many times I tried to do that home alignment technique, but all be damned I'm like the only person that never had success with it in regards to getting my toe near perfect.

jkrubcon

So what are the odds or possibilities that when I smacked that deer I bent the lower or upper control arm(s) on the drivers side. They already have a factory kink in them. Could make it pull to to left(?). Effectively making them or it a tad shorter. How could I measure or check that?

resharp001

Depending on how hard you hit, anything is really a possibility. I know it's not appealing, but the only way to really tell much is to see current alignment readings. You can easily crawl under the jeep and measure from center of bolt on frame mount to center of bolt on axle mount on the passenger side lower and have a base line for what the driver's side should be. The upper is a straight bar.....that one is less likely to bend. Since it sounds like your wheel kinda went over the deer, I'd suspect it to be more C related if anything.

jkrubcon

So are thinking the C is bent?

resharp001

Without alignment specs, nobody is gonna be able to provide a good guess. I'm only trying to draw the most logical conclusion based on where the force was absorbed but without current specs, no real clue. Did you measure the distance on those lower control arm bolts?

jkrubcon

I'm not sure how I should do it. Should I measure the distance between the two bolts on both lower arms and then compare those dimensions? Or should I somehow measure The distance between the front and rear axles on both driver and passenger side and compare those dimensions?