So I was driving along on this 4-lane divided street (240sx), and all of a sudden, the road start turning right rapidly. I am not sure what the speed limit was, but it was raining like crazy and really slick so I was going 35. I am following follow it and all of a sudden I am heading right into a curb, so I swerve to the right, sliding a lot and correct, then almost immediatly I am heading right at another curb, so I swerve left, slide again, correct again, but now I am heading at a 3rd curb, wheels lock up and I slide into the curb at less than 10 mph. SON OF A B****. Later I look it up and find out it was a traffic circle. Normally, I don't mind traffic circles, but neither I or the passenger in my car saw any signs or warnings for this circle that was just randomly in the middle of nowhere until the sharp turn chevrons right at the entrace to the circle. Here is a diagram...
So now my front right wheel is bent pretty bad, but still rolls ok and holds air, and apparently something bent and the wheel is sitting a little farther back now, it rubs the back of the well on sharp turns. Also pulls to the right pretty bad. This is kinda fortunate that it happened rather than other damage that could have been done, because I was planning to replace a lot of the front suspension parts anyway, but it advances my timetable a lot, lol.
So my main questions are: What probably needs to be replaced (this will be done for both sides with aftermarket parts as an unplanned upgrade.) I am thinking the control arm, and probably the tie rod and/or TC rod. I am gonna look at it tomorrow when it gets light and may take some pictures if I can borrow someone digital camera. And do you think it would be OK to drive it to home? It's about 60 miles, about half interstate. Driving around didn't seem too bad at all, just the rubbing and a little pull. I know the tires are shot after this (and an older curb rash incident and a tire popping before that) so I am not concerned about uneven wear or anything. Thanks guys!
O S..., must fix suspension!
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continental_drift
- Posts: 3292
- Joined: Fri Oct 21, 2005 6:47 pm
- Car: 1991 Nissan 240SX coupe - in progress - zeal function V6, ssr formula reverse, trust SP. more to come.
Re: O S..., must fix suspension! (bcar240)
impact at 10 mph its not the control arm. replace the tie rod inner (shaft)because it is likely bent which is altering the caster and makes it pull,If you do it yourself make sure you count the threads to put the new onein as close to spec as you can. inspect the tie rod's end for play (don't want the joint to be too loose), inspect ball joint, replace the wheel/tire(borrow something if you gotta) and you're cool to drive 60 miles on it (you could probably drive 60 miles with a bent tie rod, that is, if its gonna be an issue to replace it where it sits, but put another wheel/tire on there for sure!).
after tie rod, reset alignment, especially caster and toe...caster is thewheels relative position front to back in the wheel well, toe is the angle(inwards or outwards) that the tire faces at a standstill.
believe me, I've been there. you aren't bad off. If after all that it still pulls,then consider control arm. the only way to really check for control arm twist if there is none visible, is find a point on either side of the framenear the front of the car that you know for sure is the same on both sides.then measure from that point on either side to the same point on eachcontrol arm and this should tell you if its off even by a couple mm.
Curb King
after tie rod, reset alignment, especially caster and toe...caster is thewheels relative position front to back in the wheel well, toe is the angle(inwards or outwards) that the tire faces at a standstill.
believe me, I've been there. you aren't bad off. If after all that it still pulls,then consider control arm. the only way to really check for control arm twist if there is none visible, is find a point on either side of the framenear the front of the car that you know for sure is the same on both sides.then measure from that point on either side to the same point on eachcontrol arm and this should tell you if its off even by a couple mm.
Curb King
Re: O S..., must fix suspension! (continental_drift)
O man, thanks!
I was worried about that tie rod anyway, because there has been some popping from down there after I hit a large pot hole a while back. I will start off with replacing that, and anything else visibly bent when I take a look at it. If there is something else wrong, getting an alignment will probably let me know right? (either they won't be able to get it to spec or they will notice from having more experience with that stuff.) I will have to decide if I will try to make the trip, I am hoping so, because I only have 2 more weeks until my holiday break, and working on your car in the parking lot is not allowed here (it's in the lease agreement, WTF?!?!?!) I may have problems coming up with a wheel (other than that doughnut) unless I can find a junkyard around here. That is what suprised me, the metal on the inside of the wheel got stressed so much it started to buckle, I am afraid it would go all the way though if I hit a big pothole or something. Thanks again!
I was worried about that tie rod anyway, because there has been some popping from down there after I hit a large pot hole a while back. I will start off with replacing that, and anything else visibly bent when I take a look at it. If there is something else wrong, getting an alignment will probably let me know right? (either they won't be able to get it to spec or they will notice from having more experience with that stuff.) I will have to decide if I will try to make the trip, I am hoping so, because I only have 2 more weeks until my holiday break, and working on your car in the parking lot is not allowed here (it's in the lease agreement, WTF?!?!?!) I may have problems coming up with a wheel (other than that doughnut) unless I can find a junkyard around here. That is what suprised me, the metal on the inside of the wheel got stressed so much it started to buckle, I am afraid it would go all the way though if I hit a big pothole or something. Thanks again!