So, last night in the rain I lost traction and skidded into the curb, now the steering feels loose and the wheels seem able to turn further to either side than they should. (Of course, as expected there is the balance and allignment issues as well, thats a given)

I jacked up the car this morning and had a look but couldn't see anything obviously snapped or bent, so I assume the main problem is closer to the centre of the car.

I'm going to take it to the mechanic on monday, but I was just wondering if anyone could tell me what part in particular is likely to be broken and causing these problems.

Thanks

We get people coming in all the time at work with similar problems, usually the first things to go are the toe adjustment rods that are located at end of the steering rack as they are the weakest part and very prone to bending. And measure the gaps between the tyre and the strut as they love to bend really easy.

Other issue is the lower control arm and ball joint, I would advise against driving until you get it properly checekd

"Thars yah problem"
http://img39.imageshack.us/img39/7621/photo022o.jpg

Was $60 for the new one and labour so I'm pretty happy
Now to get an allignment

"Thars yah problem"


Was $60 for the new one and labour so I'm pretty happy
Now to get an allignment


Jeeze...must have been a hard bump! Glad you're okay and the fix was reasonably cheap.

So everything is supposedly 'fixed' and alligned according to the mechanics, but it doesnt feel right...

What is the component that makes the steering wheel return to centre when you take your hands off it?

Because it doesn't seem to be returning completely to centre, particularly after turning left. I tried today and was able to keep the car turning gradually around a slight bend without my hands on the wheel.
Its not like bad alignment where the steering wheel is centred and the car doesnt go straight, the wheel stays turned.

Probably bent the strut shaft, throwing out the camber/castor. Take it to a wheel aligner to check, not just the toe in on the front wheels.

Worth a read.
http://www.ozebiz.com.au/racetech/theory/align.html

Probably bent the strut shaft, throwing out the camber/castor. Take it to a wheel aligner to check, not just the toe in on the front wheels.

Okay, so there isn't a component which pushes the steering back to centre?


I already took the car straight to Bridgestone for an alignment after I got it back from the mechanic, do they just do the toe or do they do the camber and castor too?

Okay, so there isn't a component which pushes the steering back to centre?


I already took the car straight to Bridgestone for an alignment after I got it back from the mechanic, do they just do the toe or do they do the camber and castor too?

Caster is what self centres the steering.
A basic wheel alignment just does the toe in, because that is all the adjustment possible on a Magna, tell them it was in an accident and to check the caster - explain what the car is doing, and a good wheel aligner can suggest which bits are bent.

Dropped by bridgestone this afternoon, the mechanic there reckons it would be a bent steering rack.

Opinions?

Ah the age old tradition of buck passing, I just want my bloody car fixed.

Wheel aligners say mechanical,
Mechanics say wheel alignment...

ok i am new to owning a magna (never thought id be saying that) easy way jack the car up so u can get under and then do a comparison does the left side of the steering look like the right and vice versa

Ah the age old tradition of buck passing, I just want my bloody car fixed.

Wheel aligners say mechanical,
Mechanics say wheel alignment...

It's all in the detail.
Get the current steering angles from the wheel aligner. They will be off, comparing the two sides.
Take them to the mechanic, who can use them to work out what is bent.

Post the angles for toe in, camber and caster here and some of us will be able to tell you what else is bent.

Sorry if this SEEMS like thread mining, but I finally have my car possibly fixed...

For those of you who were wondering, apparently both sides of a car need to be the same length... Not have 20mm difference...

I would've thought/expected a tyre place would've picked up on that while doing a wheel alignment ... grrr

Just wondering if anyone knows if a wheel aligner, with all their fancy equipment, should have been able to tell that a car was bent by 20mm,
I just cannot understand how they can even do a proper alignment without the car being close to straight.

There is no reason for a wheel aligner to measure distances from front to back and compare sides, only a crash repairer fixing major accident damage would find this out using a body jig.

I'd be more concerned about working out where the 20 mm difference is, in the front or rear suspension, or in the bodywork? How do you know it's 20 mm anyway?
Assuming panel fit is still normal - which it wouldn't be if the whole car is bent - which only leaves suspension components.
You could take it to a competent crash repairer for some accurate analysis.


(Mal will chime in if I'm off track here, he usually does. lol)

We have a laser wheel aligner here at work, it automatically corrects for any chassis de-alignment.

straightening the body on a monocoque vehicle is usually dumped in the too hard basket and either compensated for in alignment or just flat written off.


I've just checked the settings on the aligner, if you ask it real nicely, it can produce information on body alignment issues, but it's so far down in settings and options I can't belive any workshop that uses this machine would even bother looking at it. Either it's bad enough to be obvious (panel deformation) or small enough that wheel alignment will take the bite out of it.

It should be really simple to check the wheelbase on each side.
Level ground, wheels straight ahead, measure from the centre of the rear wheel to the centre of the front.... compare one side with the other.
From what I can see, the likely suspects (if it's not the monocoque) are the pivot points on the lower arm, or the saddles that secure them.
Given the force that the gutter was hit with, it's entirely possible that you've also bent those.
That (in my opinion) would also affect the caster to some degree.
Of course, this is just my opinion and observations, I'm certainly no expert.

It has been fixed now, thing was that the damage didn't push one front wheel back, it pushed both to the side... In hindsight we should have noticed the body panel problems but we assumed they were just due to the impact and loose panels.

Edit: In hindsight x 2 I should have never done any repairs and gotten the insurance company to give me a pittance to get rid of it.