Help - Steering Damage

[Joe_Hartley]

Hi guys,

Been a fan of PistonHeads for a while but never joined until now.

Had a run in with some ice on a corner today and the car ran into a high curb and it has messed up my front near side wheel. The wheel seemed to be pushed back into the wheel arch (see photos) but managed to get it home with terrible steering and got the wheel off. From getting it home I also found that it really really does not want to turn left. Also when the wheels are straight the steering wheel is off centre by about 45 degrees but I’m putting that down to the tie rod.

I’m hoping that those that have dealt with this area of the car before can tell me if I’ve missed something else that’s broken (see photos)

Things I can see broken:

Tie rod is more of a boomerang than a straight rod
Drop link support arm is completely snapped
Tie rod boot slightly damaged

Can someone also tell me if that CV joint/axle can be that far back or is that bent and the cause of the wheel being pushed back into the car arch?

Can any of your keen-eyed mechanics see anything else, know what else I should check, or general tips when fixing this area of the car.

Thanks,

Joe

PS this will go to an actual mechanic at some point due to it being steering related but I’m all about learning so I want to at try and do what I can myself first.

[paintman]

In addition to your list looks like the rear curved arm of the bottom wishbone is crumpled rearwards & in towards the chassis rail - look at the bit to the rear of the hole in that item in pics 2 & 3.

As the bottom ball joint is in the end of it that will hold the suspension rearwards.

As a minimum from what's visible the inner track rod & the track rod end, perhaps plus the bellows on that end of the rack as it looks like the wingshield has cut it, the bottom wishbone*, the drop arm link.
Possibly anti roll bar as well - I'm not sure what that should look like normally on your car.

Needs checking to see if there's any damage to the chassis & body mounting points incl the suspension top.

ETA The wishbone is a service item & a new one will come with the rubber bushes and the bottom balljoint already fitted. They aren't particularly expensive & available from motor factors, ebay etc.

Edited by paintman on Thursday 15th December 10:25

[VanDiesel99]

Check the wheel itself, see if you can find any cracks in the Spokes and where they join to the Rim

Do you know how to remove a Tie Rod? You bash the rear face of the arm into which it locates with a Hammer, I like to use a little home made 'shield' (a square of thin metal with a little cut out half way down one side) coz its easy to miss and damage the Boot (not that it matters in this case)

If you're able to find a suitable vehicle in a scrap yard where you can remove the parts yourself, do this as a 'Dummy Run', better to make mistakes on a scrapper if possible. Some parts you might feel you're happy to use second-hand too.

Check the chassis rail where the affected suspension fittings locate, especially if the car is old. Rust can be hiding and it might be irrevocably bent. If in doubt, take measurements from the other side & compare.

The CV looks like its probably OK, compare it with its opposite number.

It shouldn't be expensive: price the job using a popular auction site and take comfort in the fact that its unlikely to break the bank and while its undoubtedly inconvenient, you've largely 'got away with it'

If you don't already have a Haynes manual, buy one; they get a bad rap, but they're worth a tenner secondhand. Also find YouTube vids from peeps who've done similar work

...oh and finally, safety! It wouldn't be a pretty way to die. Be completely sure it can't fall on you with you under it

[Pando99]

Check out changing the tie tod into the steering rack as that will be trickier than expected. See youtube
I looked at doing the same on a mates polo and needed a special tool to get it unscrewed due to lack of room

[E-bmw]

I really cannot believe you actually even considered driving that home!

[GreenV8S]

Based on your questions, you should not attempt to fix this yourself. Get it repaired professionally. The damage you've already pointed out is quite substantial and may require more than just bolting a few parts on. An impact hard enough to cause that sort of damage could have done all sorts of further damage which you are not experienced enough to recognise and which if unfixed could leave the car in a dangerous state.

Driving it home in that condition was also highly reckless and you would have been in a huge amount of trouble if you'd caused an accident.

[TwinKam]

I'd be concerned about the shock loading that the rack received...

[Thats What She Said]

Get yourself a new

Inner & Outer tie rod
Droplink
Lower control arm

Easy enough to do if you can wield a spanner. Just make sure you have some decent axle stands if going under it.

If doing it yourself make sure you take it to get the tracking done afterwards.

[Joe_Hartley]

GreenV8S said:

Based on your questions, you should not attempt to fix this yourself. Get it repaired professionally. The damage you've already pointed out is quite substantial and may require more than just bolting a few parts on. An impact hard enough to cause that sort of damage could have done all sorts of further damage which you are not experienced enough to recognise and which if unfixed could leave the car in a dangerous state.

Driving it home in that condition was also highly reckless and you would have been in a huge amount of trouble if you'd caused an accident.

I understand your concerns and usually I would 100% agree that it is very dangerous to continue to drive a car in that state, however since it happened 300 metres from my house on a road that is rarely used (thus the ice), I was willing to take the risk.

The car will be going to a professional however I do like to at least have a look at my own issues beforehand for learning purposes.

[chrisch77]

Joe_Hartley said:

.....
however since it happened 300 metres from my house on a road that is rarely used (thus the ice), I was willing to take the risk.

....

And yet still a road you managed to crash on when all four wheels were pointing in the right direction....(?)

As above, all the parts are likely easy enough to replace as a DIY job, if you are so inclined and have the necessary tools at home. If not, this is probably not the best time of year to be learning on the job on a cold driveway!!

[donkmeister]

Pando99 said:

Check out changing the tie tod into the steering rack as that will be trickier than expected. See youtube
I looked at doing the same on a mates polo and needed a special tool to get it unscrewed due to lack of room

This - I had to replace a bent inner tie rod once and without a ramp it's a pig of a job even with a special tool (it's like some hardened u bolts that clamp down and bite into the steel) you struggle for clearance. I would not want to be clambering around in these temperatures.

If you need the car in the next few months I would say get it done by a garage and suck up the cost. There's nothing specialist there, any backstreet mechanic can do it. As others have said, inner tie rod, outer tie rod, control arm. Plus an alignment. Save the spannering for jobs that can wait until warmer weather.

OP if it's any consolation, I did very similar damage, to an Astra, in similar circumstances (albeit my skid was deliberate, over exuberance on my first time on snow). I got away with just a bent control arm, but later had to do the wheel bearing on that corner too.

[donkmeister]

GreenV8S said:

Driving it home in that condition was also highly reckless and you would have been in a huge amount of trouble if you'd caused an accident.

Bit harsh.

Driving for miles at any sort of speed would have been reckless. But with this level of damage you wouldn't expect someone to abandon the car where it lay, at minimum you would want them to move it somewhere it won't be causing an obstruction. I don't think a short low speed crawl to a safe resting place is unreasonable with that degree of damage, after all the wheel is still located, it's just located incorrectly. What we have here is essentially a really, really bad wheel alignment due to some bits being bent.

Even if you do just leave it, the recovery driver would have driven it on to a narrow ramp no problem. This isn't "drag it on" levels of damage.

[E-bmw]

All very well, but "what if" the extremely badly bent steering arm end has sheared when turning the steering?

The upright will have been barely located & that wheel could have gone in pretty much any direction.

Nobody is saying that it is "drag on" level of damage, but it should not have been driven like that.

[andrebar]

donkmeister said:

Pando99 said:

Check out changing the tie tod into the steering rack as that will be trickier than expected. See youtube
I looked at doing the same on a mates polo and needed a special tool to get it unscrewed due to lack of room

This - I had to replace a bent inner tie rod once and without a ramp it's a pig of a job even with a special tool (it's like some hardened u bolts that clamp down and bite into the steel) you struggle for clearance. I would not want to be clambering around in these temperatures.

If you need the car in the next few months I would say get it done by a garage and suck up the cost. There's nothing specialist there, any backstreet mechanic can do it. As others have said, inner tie rod, outer tie rod, control arm. Plus an alignment. Save the spannering for jobs that can wait until warmer weather.

OP if it's any consolation, I did very similar damage, to an Astra, in similar circumstances (albeit my skid was deliberate, over exuberance on my first time on snow). I got away with just a bent control arm, but later had to do the wheel bearing on that corner too.

I’ve used one of these tools for inner tie rods, found it considerably more user friendly than the U bolt style one.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/265456827067?mkcid=16&a...

[GreenV8S]

donkmeister said:

Bit harsh.

Driving for miles at any sort of speed would have been reckless. But with this level of damage you wouldn't expect someone to abandon the car where it lay, at minimum you would want them to move it somewhere it won't be causing an obstruction. I don't think a short low speed crawl to a safe resting place is unreasonable with that degree of damage, after all the wheel is still located,

True enough. I'd be OK coaxing it a few yards at walking space but it's definitely not roadworthy in that condition and for all you could have known from the outside it could potentially lose steering/brakes/have the wheel physically detach at any time. Some of the worst case scenarios could be life-altering.