armeN

ok guys I was excersizing some spirited driving a few weeks back and I spun out. Now let me describe the direction of impact. My passanger side impacted a curb pretty much parallel to it. The front hit first then the rear. Majority of the impact seemed to be the rear. No damage to body. What I had replaced so far:

FRONT
rack and pinion (steering gear box)
tie rods inner and outer

REAR
passanger knuckle (everything from rotor to axle)

I also replaced all four wheels with aftermarket since my passanger side wheels were damaged.

Upon impact I noticed my rear rotor was cracked and my wheel was pushed inward. The front wheel was completely inoperable and the rack and pinion was cracked. After replacing everything I took the car to get an alignment. The rear was aligned perfectly fine but I was told the front is off by 0.3 degrees. The car is operable and runs fine. Handling does not feel as it should however I was assured that the vehicle can be driven in this state. The alignment is not off by enough to cauase any damage however something is wrong. I was told it could possibly be a damaged sub frame. My question to you guys is what do you guys think this could be? I mean prior to the subframe being damaged I would imagine a control arm or something else woudl bend? If anybody is in socal and can help me out with this free of charge I woudl really appreciate it. I have spent a lot of money repairing this privately. I want my car back perform like it should and I want this issue resolved. Any input is appreciated.

Stratocaster

I would be you did not replace enough of the damaged parts. I have seen a number of cars with damaged lower front control arm. The bends are too minor to see, but enough to stop the car from getting properly aligned.

Becasue you replaced everything in the rear corner that was damaged, that end of the car aligns fine. Since you did not do the lower front control arm, the front will not align.

armeN

well my whole delima is that I dont want to go replacing parts I dont need to replace as they are costly. I want to know how I can pin point this out and repair the necessary parts. The work on the vehicle was done at a Honda dealership as well and they were unable to tell what is causing the misalignment. My guess is the control arm as well but how can I determine this without replacing the parts? Also my other concern is could the struts be affected in any way?

Stratocaster

We don't have struts. But yes they could.

The alignment guy should have been able to tell what side of the front could not align. In the case I am talking about, the amount of adjustment was less on one side. The owner had spun off the track. He had also driven it this way for some time. He always felt the car "push" more to the right than the left. The alignment guy could tell. But then again, he is an expert on S2000 and track cars.

If you hit that side hard enough to trash the rack, you surely damaged the control arm. It clearly it took a big hit. It is damaged.

armeN

another question.... could anything from the driver side be damaged?

Stratocaster

You would be a better judge of that.

armeN

well the driver side of the vehicle had no impact. Like I said picture the car hitting the curb pretty much parallel to it on the passanger side

Stratocaster

The car I referanced before, spun off the track onto a dry grass. That was enough to bend his front lower control arm.

armeN

ouch very disapointing to hear that..... any procedures so I can check everything out or am I just doomed to trial and error?

Stratocaster

Not really something you or I could do. Since the Honda tech aligning the car could not tell what side of the car was giving him problems, I doubt he could either. I am lucky to have a local shop that can spot this type of problem on the alignment machine. He knew that something was bent when the amount of adjustments was limited on one side or the other. Normally each side of the car has the same amount of adjustment. He could not say for sure what was bad. But he made a logic guess based on the owner off-roading.

Just replace the lower control arm, It has got to be out of wack after the damage to the steering rack. It just makes sense.