Ok last nite i was driving to a part of all places, casually driving around waiting for some friends to show up at the party. Anyways I went to stop at a set of lights and heard a huge bang. The car went sorta rough and dipped to the left front. I thought i got a flat, so i pulled the car to a halt, put on my hazards walked out of the car and this is what i saw!!! look at the pics.

Is it very hard to get one of these off? i have access to a rattle gun, trolly jack and most tools i think id need, its currently sitting in a car park right now, is it possible as a road side job? any helpers in brisbane extremely appreciated.

http://www.blackfox.com.au//gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=51&g2_serialNumber=2

http://www.blackfox.com.au//gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=55&g2_serialNumber=2

http://www.blackfox.com.au//gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=61&g2_serialNumber=2

http://www.blackfox.com.au//gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=64&g2_serialNumber=2

Turning Circle mod ftw! how many meters has it improved by?

first of all good to hear everyones ok, that could of turned out alot worse if it was peak time and going at 80kph+

In this situation personally id get it towed too a mechanics straight from the car park, and id get the other side checked out at the same time.

Let them deal with this problem, like I said 'personally' I wouldnt attempt this myself unless someone with alot of experience could help out

haha it doesn't :P i can't even roll the think the cars sitting on the rubber :S this is what they call super super super low, totally dumped, brings a new meaning i think and here i thought the lovell super lows were cool:cool:

I'v done a hell of a lot of work on the second gens before. Changed ball joints, cv's, cv boots, struts and springs, changed engines and gearbox's, Don't worry i will be giving a look at the other side without a doubt. i know i can do it i just want to know ppls opinion of the practicality of doing it on the side of the road, i can get it towed to my mates workshop where it will be a hell of a lot easier, but thats another $100, i know it'll b a pain in the rear end doing it there but 2 hours more work is better than $100 in my books,

my opinion...strip it leave it on the side of the road and go buy yaself a 3rd...oh take ya rego plates off and scratch ya vin no's off...lol

thanks mate :P at least u got a sense of humour, i couldn't actually stop laughing at it last nite, such a shock out of the blue, thank god it didn't happen on any mm06 cruz's

at least its only 30km from my house, so towing won't be too bad if i have to.

There might be a number of things that will need to be changed in the course of time,

Seeing the CV shaft might be ruined, Didn't get to check cv boots, Strut or the bearings at the top, Ball joint, obviously the control arm, perhaps the tie rod ends for the steering and maybe the bushes for the sway bar, obviously my tire is, hopefully the wheel isn't damaged

A company by the name of Noltec does a replacement control arm set for the 2nd Gen, with new urethane bushes and ball joints. They set me back $363 from Repco, and about 2 hours labour to get them in.

I'v got a trade account with walkers auto one i'll be giving them a call tomorrow, i just wondered how hard, whats involved? like i know i will have to take pressure off the wheels, how many bolts hold it in, and i pressume a rattle gun is required as they can be a b!tch to get off

At least get it towed to your house, If its on the freeway or a busy road you wont last long without going unnoticed by the cops who will tell you its unsafe.

well right now its parked out the back on a service station so it doesn't look too unoticable, i'm going to go there tomorrow and see what can be done, i'll go and buy a new control arm and balljoint, see what else i'll need and get to working on it, if it proves to be a horrendeous job for the situation than it will be towed to the workshop.

You'll have to remove the wheel, unbolt the brake caliper, take the rotor off, unbolt the tie rod, unbolt the swaybar linkage, remove the steering knuckle, and then you'll be able to unbolt the bushing cages at each end of the control arm where it meets the subframe rails.

Have a good look at that brake caliper too, it looks like it copped a pretty serious whack fron the torn arm.

Its do-able but not by the side of the road.:rant:

Get her towed home or to the mates workshop then have a go at it.

Do you need the 2nd gen manual?:D

funny enough i have a 2nd gen manual around here somewhere on cd, hope i can find it, if not doesn't anyone know where i can download it i know for a while it was avaliable on here, if someone wants to get it to me i can put it on my own website hosting for the use of AMC members, i would be willing to host the other generation pdf manual documents aswel. I'v have everything off a control arm before, all except for the actualy control arm cage bolts which attach it to the chassis itself

funny enough i have a 2nd gen manual around here somewhere on cd, hope i can find it, if not doesn't anyone know where i can download it i know for a while it was avaliable on here, if someone wants to get it to me i can put it on my own website hosting for the use of AMC members, i would be willing to host the other generation pdf manual documents aswel. I'v have everything off a control arm before, all except for the actualy control arm cage bolts which attach it to the chassis itself

Oh yeah...:redface: :redface:

If ya need another copy or if ya want the TH/J one gimme a yell...mmkay:D

thanks old fart downloading the manual right now, i'm thinking of putting it up for download on my site aswel so to make it easier for people to get? i'll have it under my magna section.
Me doing the job at the car park or at my place would be about the same, lol thanks for your help. I will be doing the new control arm change over tomorrow, also i will take it to get a wheel alignment and new tire obviously, thinking a pedders $14 suspension check would be in order aswel, i need new struts anyways so might be a perfect time to by some new monroe gas struts (or perhaps throw extra money and get kyb?? wats ppls opinions on this)
thanks

sux 2 be you dude, id be cut, hope ya can fix it and it doesnt cost 2 much

i bent a control arm doing handbrakie and hitting a pothole... but to snap it, that's fair impressive.

cost me $10 for another control arm from the wreckers... i love having a **** car that parts are so cheap for.

That's the sort of incident where your cars meant to end up wrapped around a post or something. You should go buy yourself a lottery ticket now man!! :bowdown:

Interesting thing I've noticed in your pics, the first pic where you can see the tread on the tyre, looks like you were having some inner scrubbing going on there. The inner shoulder of the tyre is shot which could have been a warning sign that there was a looming problem.

Thats unbeilveable!!!! Hope your stereo is fine :D

And KYB's ftw...great handling in the maggie

haha and to believe the control arm snapped while i was diving in a straight line and only casually braking :O

yeh i needed a bit of a wheel alignment it felt like for a day, i was going to take it in on monday to get a $14 pedders check and wheel alignment, now this happend, either i go out and buy a new one or i get one from the wreckers i havn't decided yet, i love this car and want to keep it for sometime, if i get one from wreckers might there be a high chance of this happening :S
thanks

You might have trouble replacing the bushes, or should I say removing the old ones and installing the new ones without a press.
Wud advise against trying this repair job at the side of the road

what if the ones on my car right now are the ones that i use, they seemed fine when i had a look at them, even if i get the arm in use all the other existing components just to get me home the 30km...
take it easy and drive nice and slow

30km is a fair distance with unknown damage, only you can make that decision and run the risk, if it wiz me i wid get it towed.
That said i once smashed ma car on a country road at midnight and drove to the nearest town (about 10 km) with the steering jumping out my hands, damage causing it was a bent stub axle, but at the time i didn't know how bad the damage was, except for visible damage down the right hand side.

thanks for your help mate, good to hear other ppls opinions. perhaps do the work and take it straight to a wheel alignment/suspension place haha!

early morning, roadside for the win, or did you say ou dragged it to a servo? Random

i got racq free first 10km they had to move it to safety anyways so a truck took it and moved it to a nearby servo out the back in a car park, its a good area with heaps of room around the car.

A mate of mine checked up on it this morning for me as he was going to work, everything seems ok, (he was with me when it happend) said it looks better than we first thought, which is somewhat a small relief. I will be getting the part today or tomorrow from a wreckers. I'll get as much as i can parts wise and change anything that looks to be suspect.

I found a car in brisbane which has had a full reconditioned engine a 94 v6 magna with gas, but had a left front accident (actually broke the same part that i did :O wat are the chances) and they are wrecking or sell complete if anyone wants to know.

I did a search on the manual. it was posted before somewhere. hope it helps

http://www.thehammer.net/magna/


Good luck with the repairs. Hope she won't be off the road for too long. Glad to hear you guys are all ok. Could have ended really nasty...

thankyou el3ment for your concern, yes if i was diving like i do sometimes through very windy mountain roads as on some of the mm06 cruz's then things could have gone very awry.

Your not going to believe it!! When i took it off and had a look at the ball joint, someone had welded the bottom to the control arm, and right where the breaks are are where the welds begin, some wanker has weakend it, i'm sure they thought ok i don't want the ball joint to be loose in the control arm, and it'll be easier to tighten (stop it from spinning around) if i weld it in place, who cares about the owners in the future, I can't believe it passed a road worthy. I will have some photos up in a minute in my website gallery for all to see. I will send a link to the actually album page of all the photos from this incident.

Anyways we and my mate dean (from one of the photos who was with me that nite) pulled a controll arm out of a magna at the wreckers, we didn't have time to pull the rotor, caliper or shock tower off so they sold it to me for $40 (after i explained that i have a Verada, with ABS, so the caliper, rotor or the shock tower are of absolute no use to me)
Now i found out at least the rotor is actually exacly the same, mine are a lil warped, perhaps off to get them refaced? I was thinking slotted rotors next. :D

anyways back to it, i pulled out the control arm got everything off, but i can't seem to get the ball joint out, it seems like i will need to have it pressed out, i'v changed a ball joint before and never had this much trouble, Ah well i'm sure it won't cost too much to have it pressed out of i just take in the control arm already dis assembeled. Anyone know of a place that can do it in brisbane?
Thanks joe

OUCH!!!
Bloody lucky it didn't happen while you were travelling at speed!

I was just told that you can buy a ball joint remover from most good auto tool companies, anyone know what i'm looking for? a photo would be excellent, hey also as ppl in brisbane will know once i get one i will always have it so if a ball joint is needed to be changed i'm sure you can borrow (as long as its returned of course) saves everyone buying the tools they might use once or twice ever.

theres a couple of different types of ball joint breakers.
1 that looks like a bearing puller (works pretty good)
1 that looks like a big fork you belt in to seperate the ball joint.

I usually just undo the nut and put it on upside down (stops the thread getting stuffed), give the side of the arm where the joint goes thru a coupla good raps then hit the top of the nut.

I tried that, as thats how i normally get them out too, leave the nut on give it a few solid hits then a knock to the top and it normally pops out, not this time, it won't budge, i'll be off to walkers auto one tomorrow to purchase a new ball joint (thats where i got my last one for my old TR) and they were great price and good quality joint. I'll have a look what they have to offer. and as i'll have the parts in the car i'll purchase it and give it a go then and there.

Man that's hectic.
That's the last thing you'd want to happen at that time of night and be stranded.
Hope it all goes good.

Got me all paranoid now :sook:
Was there any warning signs of this before it happened?

no nothing at all my car was driving beautifully, must of just been the right time for it to just not be able to handle any more pressure and gave way. it will all be fixed this afternoon i hope

no nothing at all my car was driving beautifully, must of just been the right time for it to just not be able to handle any more pressure and gave way. it will all be fixed this afternoon i hope
I hope it all gets fixed well.

Let us know how much you were charged when it's done.

Similar thing happened on my 1st gen, the front of the wishbone where the bush connects to the chassis only half of the factory weld had taken. Same thing I was pulling up at the lights, 5 minuets before that I was doing 160kmh with a concrete wall one side and a commy the other. the wheel went back in the guard and snapped the break hose and bent the shock.

a mechanic said my ball joints are getting close to be replaced. what happens if you dont replace them. ie its a bit loose when they jacked it up. ie could wobble the wheel. when i jacked it up my self it wouldnt budge so dunno. whats the consequence of just leaving it.

Well when you driving and you hear constant clunking noises that can be your ball joints, they get loose, i'v actually bent a ball joint by hitting a gutter but no idea what happends over time, think it affects ride quality and steering quality, as parts get loose they don't function as designed. The steering will be sloppy, shake and vibrate at speed, Could become dangerous, Ball jounts are very easy to change if you got the right tools, i'm getting the hang of doing ball joints, tie rod ends, cv boots and shocks/springs on the 2nd gens so if anyone needs some help give me a yell hehe, after 5 2nd gens u should hope i know something

Well the good news is finally here, the magma is back on the road, a little worse for wear but livable, got few lil aesthetic things to fix up but driving is a dream, i'm contemplating changing the ball joint and tie rod end, (and any cv boots) this weekend to make both sides even, the ball joints and tie rod ends were extremely worn, u could move them with your pinky....:doubt: which is totally cr@p
also next will be some new struts :)

well who ever did ur lower ball joints broke the law and put u in a dangerous possion. if u look at the control arm and ball joint u can see where the ball joint was weilded into the arm and thats where it has broken. under the new road laws ur not allowed the weild ANY steering or suspenion part even if it's only to repair it. i got my ball joints done a few months back and the doggy mechanic bent mine then weilded the ball joints in so they wouldn't fall out. so im doing 60klm in a straight line with my tyres howling.
now old fart pointed out the weilding was ilegal and i took it back got a refund and went to fulcrums suspenion and they fixed it all.

so if i was you id print out a copy of the moddifying and repair rules then i would have the car taken back to who did the repairs and show them that it's ilegal to weild it and if they don't fix it straight away u'll take them to court for putting ur life in there hands with a doggy repair like that. seeing as it broke while u were driving.
just looks like it's been done doggy and has broken because of it.

I will be, i bought the car from a dealership about 2-3 months ago, they also said tat the mechanic changed the cv boots.....but when i got to it 2 of them were gone and had been longer than i owned it. Another question, is a wheel bearing whirring a Road worthy issue that should have been fixed as i heard it from day one when i bought it. If not i'll just have to get that fixed myself. I'v already gone and repaired the damage except for a few things like my guard and mud flap and so forth.

should they be accountable for the parts and labor to repair this whole job (including all the work i'v done to get it back on the road?)

if your looking for parts i may have some

looks just like what happened 2 me the other day. i'll post pics once i get them off my phone. i got it fixed for $145.

i'v already fixed it, new ball joint $32, control arm $20, cv boots $40, tie rod end $18, and man hours cursing at the son of a b!tch for not coming apart as it should. now all i need is a wheel alignment and things will be sweet again, thinking of changing ball joint and tie rod end on the other side before wheel alignment to make sure its all safe