Sorry if something like this has been posted before. I did a search and did not find anything.

I have a 69 Camaro that I just purchased a few months ago. The first 3-400 miles the car drove perfectly other than the steering wheel being slightly off center. The car has brand new tires on the front and rear.

About 2 months ago the front alignment ended up pretty out of wack and the front tires started screeching really bad even while driving in a straight line.

I took it to an alignment shop and they said I had a bent tie rod. I replaced both front inner and outer tie rods as well as the sleeves and took it back to the alignment shop. They set the alignment, gave me a printout and I drove home 7 miles. The car drove perfectly for the first 5 miles and then it's like the alignment reset itself to worse than it was before I went to the shop. I pull into the driveway and now I have a ton of positive camber in both front tires.

I noticed that the springs have those knuckle shaped coil spring boosters in them but they don't appear to be moving. Can someone PLEASE help me figure out what's loose or bent/broken here? Thanks in advance for any and all help/suggestions.

 

Considering the age of the car there is always the possibility that rust may have taken its toll. Check the front sub-frame for cracks and rust, especially around where the suspension parts are anchored to it.

 

Thanks Pete. I checked for that when I replaced the tie rods. While I was under there I checked and it doesn't appear to be any rust. I will check again this evening.

 

Jack one front wheel off the ground (block the car safely) and have someone pry up and down between the tire and ground with a long bar, pipe or a 2x4 while you watch below. See if there is any play in the upper or lower ball joints. Then check the other side. If there's play there, it can cause alignment issues, but the shop should have checked for/found that. Also, while a wheel is up, grab the tire at the 6 and 12 o'clock position and try to rock the tire (push top in-pull bottom out, pull top out-push bottom in) and look/feel for any movement. If so, look to find where the slop is coming from.

 

Adding to 69's comments, check control arm bushings.
If cracked, may need replacing - dry rotted.
By design, there will be some positive camber adjusting the tires for the road crown.

 

A good alignment shop should be able to tell you exactly what's wrong... Find a new shop.

 

Thanks Everett. Just picked her up from the shop today and they said it was the upper control arm bushings. Ordering a control arm bushing kit from PST as we speak for the upper and lower control arms and I'm having someone install them for me next week. I'm also having the upper and lower ball joints replaced at the same time. Hopefully this resolves the issue. I'll keep everyone posted and thanks again everyone for the help!

 

Super late update but the bushings fixed the problem. Thanks for everyone's help.