jmkcc
08-11-2020, 01:47 PM
My son got hit by a swerving pickup truck which hit the left driver tire, quarter panel and bumper at about a 45 degree angle spinning the car around. The wheel was black from top to bottom from the truck's tire, the quarter panel was damaged and the bumper pushed to the rear causing it to bend. It was a $3k car so we had no collision and despite it being pretty obvious that the other driver was distracted the police and insurance companies are calling it a jump ball.
Initially we were going to junk it but it has a very good motor, pristine interior and the rest of the body is perfect. There was no obvious damage to the rear cross member or suspension. I looked closely and took pictures of each part of the suspension from each side to see if I could spot any defects. The tire did not seem damaged at all but I had already picked up a set of wheels with winter tires so swapped them on.
I banged out the quarter panel as much as I could so I could mount a used taillight assembly, bumper cover mount and secure the bumper in a secure albeit not visually perfect manner. I took a test drive and besides a slight pull to the right which feels like a regular alignment issue - there was no noise, vibration, feeling of crab walk, unusual tracking or other harbingers of major damage from the rear. I feel comfortable the axle, differential and drive line do not have any serious issues.
I set up a string alignment to see if it might highlight any other potential issues. I know this is far from precise - but hopefully close enough to flush out major issues. The driver side front looks to have a small amount of excessive toe while the front passenger was really close (using 17" rim measurements I was targeting toe of 3/32" for each front wheel and 1/16" each for the rears). The passenger rear was right on but the driver side was under by a good 1/4". I could not measure camber - but visually the left and right rears appear the same vertically.
My question relates to the driver rear suspension and in particular the cause of 1/4"ish negative toe. Is it more likely that one or more of the 5 suspension arms was slightly bent or do you think the rear cross member probably bent a bit? Is there any way to measure or check the cross member to see if it is out of spec without specialized equipment?
I am not interested in making this car look and run like new. I'm thinking about using it as an AWD winter beater so my Saab Viggen convertible can sit out the snow. I am fine investing in one of these options for the rear driver side - but would prefer not to do more than one.
Replace 5 suspension arms with salvage
Replace suspension assembly (with arms, hub, axle shaft) with salvage
Replace cross member with salavage
Appreciate your thoughts. thanks.
Initially we were going to junk it but it has a very good motor, pristine interior and the rest of the body is perfect. There was no obvious damage to the rear cross member or suspension. I looked closely and took pictures of each part of the suspension from each side to see if I could spot any defects. The tire did not seem damaged at all but I had already picked up a set of wheels with winter tires so swapped them on.
I banged out the quarter panel as much as I could so I could mount a used taillight assembly, bumper cover mount and secure the bumper in a secure albeit not visually perfect manner. I took a test drive and besides a slight pull to the right which feels like a regular alignment issue - there was no noise, vibration, feeling of crab walk, unusual tracking or other harbingers of major damage from the rear. I feel comfortable the axle, differential and drive line do not have any serious issues.
I set up a string alignment to see if it might highlight any other potential issues. I know this is far from precise - but hopefully close enough to flush out major issues. The driver side front looks to have a small amount of excessive toe while the front passenger was really close (using 17" rim measurements I was targeting toe of 3/32" for each front wheel and 1/16" each for the rears). The passenger rear was right on but the driver side was under by a good 1/4". I could not measure camber - but visually the left and right rears appear the same vertically.
My question relates to the driver rear suspension and in particular the cause of 1/4"ish negative toe. Is it more likely that one or more of the 5 suspension arms was slightly bent or do you think the rear cross member probably bent a bit? Is there any way to measure or check the cross member to see if it is out of spec without specialized equipment?
I am not interested in making this car look and run like new. I'm thinking about using it as an AWD winter beater so my Saab Viggen convertible can sit out the snow. I am fine investing in one of these options for the rear driver side - but would prefer not to do more than one.
Replace 5 suspension arms with salvage
Replace suspension assembly (with arms, hub, axle shaft) with salvage
Replace cross member with salavage
Appreciate your thoughts. thanks.