Bent Strut Tower and Camber Plate
 

Yesterday I set out to adjust my ride height on my Feal 441 coilovers. I purchased them used 2 years ago and the rears were rebuilt last year. The fronts were also rebuilt right before I purchased them (buyer sent me a copy of the paid invoice). I have hit some big bumps and potholes on drives but never noticed any issues after any of them.

The locking collars on the rear were kind of stuck but we eventually broke them loose. The front driver side was easy. Then we got to the front passenger. The locking collar was very difficult to break loose and once we did the strut body would not turn at all. It was sprayed with degreaser and wd40 to no avail. We decided to try and take it off to work with more space when we found a problem. The strut would not easily pull from the strut tower as the 3 studs were pushed out against the mounting holes holding them in place. I had to hammer them out with decent force (used a dead blow) and they would not reinstall when we tried. The camber plate itself appears bent. The replacement OEM shock and top hat we installed fit fine but the nut does not sit flush with the strut tower itself leading me to believe the shock tower itself is bent/warped up in the center.

The question is what kind of problem is this and is it something that can be/needs to be repaired? Would I risk bending other top hats in the same manner should the shock tower remain as is?

Bent camber plate - notice the gap on the ends to the straight edge
http://i.imgur.com/rwsrTrY.jpg

Straight camber plate for reference
http://i.imgur.com/P3cyUym.jpg

Crappy drawing illustrating how the nut sat since I didnt get a good picture
http://i.imgur.com/mbOJgPB.jpg

TL;DR - camber plate was stuck. When removed it looks bent and the shock tower itself appears warped as well. Wtf do I do now

Dam? That would be hard to do?? I would like to think other parts would fail first

That's what I would think. Like even a bent wheel or something. I am gong to take it in to see if any other suspension parts are damaged but I couldn't tell myself. Everything appeared to be in place and all bolted up fine when installing the OEM strut besides what is mentioned in my post

:thumbup: for the D.A.R.E. ruler. I remember mine, haven't seen that thing in well over a decade probably. haha

Yeah no looks like shitty top hats just used a poor quality metal and failed?? your basically hammering it everytime you hit a bump

Can you replace the camber plate then adjust the alignment to compensate for the bent parts? You'll be able to fix the static alignment issues. It all really depends on how the caster has changed as a result of the damage. The camber can be adjusted easily enough and the toe too. There are camber + caster plates you can buy.

It looks to me like you're too low and too stiff. Use softer springs and a higher ride height to soften the bumps. I don't know what to do about the strut tower except the alignment. And in bump you may get unexpected geometry changes- again it depends on what the alignment says. But if you don't race or track the car, I'm sure it'll be fine.

I was about 2" drop, guess I went to raise the car too late. Thats how I discovered all this. I have also been looking at new coils but honestly people run higher rates at the same drop without issue (or known issues) so who knows if that will help. I mean Im only running 7k and looking to go to a 6k probably (Tien Flex A or Z). If my camber isnt hella off i could go to a KW or something with oem top hats

Im going to replace the plate and get an alignment. I recently started to track but not for trophies or anything. Also been doing canyon runs lately and the car felt the same as always so hopefully it isnt too much.

don't you need stiffer springs or more ride height or larger bump stops? Isn't this what happens when you bottom out a lot? lighter springs without a raise will be more bottoming out.

"people run higher rates at the same drop without issue" not really an argument. "People" live all around the world, and drive heck of a different roads everyone. (or almost don't drive, with overlowered car being more of hardpark showcar). There are people that don't lower at all or refuse to go for camplates because on roads they drive they sometimes see issues even on stock height :).
"I have hit some big bumps and potholes on drives" may differ a lot vs someone driving on much better on average roads, thus their experience might be inapplicable.

Im not as concerned about how it happened. Im sure it was from a big hit, not really any other possible cause. Am just more concerned about fixing it, especially if the strut tower was damaged like I believe.

My current coils adjust height independently without compromising stroke though so ride height shouldnt play a factor in bottoming out unless Im misunderstanding how that works.

how about checking the strut tower? you've not shown how badly the strut tower is misshapen. It might not even be all that bad.

Press the undamaged flat camber top against the 'damaged' shock tower and check for gaps with some short of feeler or feeler gauge. If there isn't too big a gap, then you've been worried about nothing. Just replace that POS camber plate.

Common with e36's. Might need reinforcement plates.

that's in the rear and that car is from the 90s

Also Feal, just like BC, Stance, etc have their top hats made in Taiwan.