Front Wheel Bent

[FightTheFuture]

This morning I had a little mishap, very slow wheel to bumper collision coming around a blind bend (Bloody tall corn in fields!). It threw the front wheel out of alignment, and I'm not sure quite what I need to do to fix it. Any help/advice would be hugely appreciated. So, then:





(1) is where a bolt has sheared off. I'm hoping that there's another end to it inside the brake assembly, so I can get it out. (2) is pretty badly bent, as is the short arm that joins (1) and (2) together.

Everything else still looks spot on, as near as I can tell.

Questions:

What new bits do I need to buy?

Is there any other likely damage I should have a look for?

I would ask about putting it back together, but I'll cross that bridge when I come to it

Thanks.

[Sam_68]

You need to get the remains of the bolt out of the upright (Google 'stud extractor' if you're not familiar with how to do this), and a new steering arm (and a bolt to replace the brocken one, obviously).

I'd be inclined to replace the track rod end after a clonk like that, too, just to be on the safe side.

Check carefully for distortion/damage to other components, though, and get the alignment checked and re-set once it's all gone back together.

[minimoss]

hi, you will need to get the disc off to ge to the other nut and bolt, but the sheared off bolt may not be a prob, as its only tight against the steering arm, if you take that off you should see the bolt then tap with a screwdriver and undo it. using the screwdriver.

[FightTheFuture]

Great, thanks- I'll get on with that tomorrow. The track rod end is definitely a bit out, so that'll be replaced as well.

Does anyone know where I can get a steering arm and bolt from without having to buy a whole new front upright? Is it worth giving Westfield a ring?

ETA: Not even entirely sure if they're Westfield uprights!

[minimoss]

hi, its not a special bolt westfield will send you one pretty standard just long, have done mine. one is a long nut and bolt. the other just a bolt poss an m8 about 25mm long

Edited by minimoss on Tuesday 14th June 19:12

[downsman]

I would be inclined to swap the steering rack as well, and check the mounts haven't been bent. It took a lot of force to bend that steering arm on the hub, and the rack is the bit that was trying to stop it moving.

It's also a good idea to check if the brake disc is running true, and put a good wheel on and check that doesn't wobble. I've had a stub axle bend during an accident once

Duncan

[FightTheFuture]

Thanks for all the advice so far- I've made progress, but now I've hit another couple of little problems (or maybe quite big problems, depending!)

First off, I noticed that the seal around the lower balljoint was badly perished, and I didn't really have faith in the stub axle, so I decided to replace the whole upright. I've got that done, but suddenly realised that the new balljoints are a slightly different design to the originals. Also, I can't seem to get the lower balljoint seated far enough into the upright (4 threads showing on the new joint as opposed to 7 on the old). I don't really want to apply much more torque for fear of stripping the threads.

The net result is that the new side of the car rides something like 5mm higher than the old (as well as the camber being way out, and but at least that's fixable).

Any advice on where to go from here? Cheers!

[Comadis]

where you bought the upright? i mean is it the same brand/suplier as the one fitted on the other side?

was it expensive? if not you may change the one on the other side too?

[thescamper]

When you say you cant get the ball joints far enough into the upright is it on a taper?

The 5mm difference in ride height may just be down to the suspension needing to settle, the camber difference on the other hand is a bit more worrying, are you sure that you have got a matching upright.