mugenrsx

BUMP: Just wanted to bump the thread to get more input so I finally get her back 100%!

Car drives, but the suspension makes popping noises from the front right when reversing and taking off.
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After putting the car back together with new parts, I put the car back on the alignment rack.

History:
The car had a collision on the front right passenger side causing the alignment to go out of whack so following components were replaced:
Pictures of the damage are posted below.

FR Upper Control Arm (used)
FR Lower Control Arm (used)
FR Outer Tie Rod (new)
FR Strut (used)
FR Passenger Side Sway Bar End Link (new)
FR Radiator Mount
Radiator
A/C Condensor
Radiator Bracket
Hood latch


After the alignment, the car is posting:

Front Left Caster: +5.5
Front Right Caster: -3.1

The only components left to replace are the knuckle and sway bar. The car drives fine, minus pulling to the right side due to the caster. Also, the right wheel is easily seen to be off centered in the wheel well due to the excessive negative caster. Where should I go from here? Should I just go ahead and order a new knuckle and sway, then see what comes up on the alignment?





OLD DAMAGE
Had a mishap earlier today which left my car looking like this. From what I've gathered, I'll be needing:

Radiator (bent, no leaks)
AC Condenser (bent, no leaks)
Passenger Fender Mount (bent)
Passenger Headlight Bracket (bent)
Fender Liners (trashed)
Lower Splash Shields (trashed)
Passenger Front Sway Bar Endlink (broken)

Does anyone have the part numbers for the radiator supports that must be welded to the car? Also, I'm unsure of what the part numbers for the lower radiator brackets are (not sure if this is correct term or not), but is it parts 9-11 on the diagram below?





















Broken Passenger Front Sway Bar Endlink




The car drives, no coolant is leaking, no codes are being thrown by the ECU, but the alignment is way off (due to the endlink I presume). The wheel must be pointed between 10 and 11 o clock to keep the car straight. I've sourced most of the parts via S2Ki, but I'm not sure whether or not any suspension components have been damaged other than the endlink.

What else should I check for damage wise? How much would it cost me to re-weld a new radiator support?

Thanks in advance S2Ki.

99SH

Endlinks disconnected do not misalign the car. Check your control arms to see if they're bent (preferably on a frame machine). The impact looks pretty hard, make sure you check all suspension components.

S2K Medic

Do not drive the car in this condition. Check your control arms, a arms,shocks and struts, front sway is obviously done but check the rear, its going to need a alignment for sure as well. At this point all I would do is start the car momentarally to see if any fluid is leaking then turn it off until its totally fixed.

mugenrsx

No fluid leaks at all, the car drives, but will not be driven until it is fixed. I noticed when I was driving left turns were fine, but right turns were quite sloppy. Gonna have it looked at by an S2K mechanic soon. Another observation, when looking at the car dead on with the wheel at 12, the left wheel "looks" fine, but the right wheel is obviously pointing away from the car.

What is typically bent in these situations? How likely is it that I will need a new steering rack?

The following parts are pending:
Radiator & supporting frames/brackets
AC Condensor
Fender Bracket
Headlight Bracket
Hood Latch

Few more Q's if the Radiator and Condenser are bent, but are still fully functional and do not leak, would it be better for me to just bend these back? I've sourced them for relatively cheap, but I figured I'd ask first.

marcucci

What exactly happened? If you curbed it or hit another stationary (or moving) object bad enough to cause this damage, and also struck one of the wheels, I can guarantee that there is upper or lower a-arm damage. As mentioned, you're going to have to have them checked out. They aren't that stout or over-designed and bend easily on impact.

I'd also check where the control arms mount to the body to make sure the body side mounts weren't bent.

What usually gets bent depends on what and where the car was hit. What direction was the wheel pointing when hit?

The rack can be checked easily, it usually doesn't get damaged but the tie-rods can be. I'd suggest doing the major/obvious body work first, then checking alignment and the rack for play and tie-rods/rod ends for damage.

If the rad/condenser are bent but do not leak, they can usually be reused. Sometimes they will be fatigued to the extent that they will still fail prematurely, but you may be able to get a little more life out of them until then.

#22 and #28, "frame L fr side" and "frame R fr side" are the "welded" pieces you are looking for to be replaced, that are totally bent on yours. They are assemblies that contain the parts you need, I'm not sure you need all of them but a few of them aren't available separately (that you need).

Brace yourself. They are like $500 apiece before shipping. A good bodyshop can probably repair yours by bending them back and rewelding/reinforcing them.

mugenrsx

What happened?

An SUV swerved into the lane and my friend took the car into ditch or else it would have been a head-on collision. The fender clipped something on the way into the ditch, (30mph collision), but the wheel didn't hit anything.

I'll go ahead and replace the radiator and condenser for the sake of everything lining up and giving my mind some peace. Thanks for all of the responses so far though guys, it's been quite helpful.

S2K Medic

The reason you right wheel is pointing away from the car because your alighnment is way off from your sway bar end link snapping and the collision. Its called toe, and you probobly have +3 degrees or more if its that noticeable. Good luck with a hopefully speedy repair.

marcucci

The sway bar end link should have no effect on the alignment. It will have a minor affect from one end being attached and the other not, but this shouldn't be visible.

That wheel hit something- it may have just been the ditch, going from 30mph to zero in a matter of inches, but it hit something hard enough to tweak something on that end.

Once you can make sure the hood shuts OK, you may find further damage on the front end at that shock tower or where the control arms meet the body. A good body shop can check the dimensions and tell you. I'm not sure if you're looking to go the DIY route or what, but if you replace what's obviously bent, the rest of it should be relatively easy to sort out visibly.

Based on the impact I'm guessing both control arms are also shot, and maybe even the arm mounts need to be "adjusted" back into their proper positions on the body. That sounds like it was a pretty rough collision.

mugenrsx

The hood has trouble shutting, but I think it may have something to do with the locking mechanism acting up after the collision. Everything lines up as it should, and with some tinkering with the locking mechanism, the hood shuts just fine. Should I be worried about anything in this scenario? I plan on ordering a new hood latch to remedy this.

So far this will be a DIY project with me and one of my other friends who has rebuilt a totalled S2000 (fadis2k). I'm just trying to gather as much information as I can before sending the car in for repairs.

Any idea on how much it would be if the arm mounts are to be readjusted?

s2kc's

I know this is a bit old but this is exactly what happened to me. I can't find the diagram you have up there anywhere..Im looking at majestic honda but dont know what section this is under. Can you help me with the link to where you found it? Thanks!

also, any tips on how to go about this? Someone on here said it might be better to get the supports straightened out by a body shop. Wondering if thats what you did after all.