There was a turn I was supposed to make but it was hidden by trees and I almost missed it... and tried to make it, locked up the brakes, kicked myself in the arse and cursed myself up and down as my car hit the curb really hard. The car ended up halfway in the grass with a tore up transmission pan, which I've replaced, and the tire and rim has seen better days too. I was going the speed limit. Judging by the look of the curb, this happens a lot there. (and judging by the damage to a couple of the trees there, my arse got lucky I didn't hit them)
The driver's front wheel took the bulk of the impact. It's pushed back now as you can see in the picture.
This is my biggest concern. Does anyone have an idea what the weakest parts are there that I likely damaged? I've got new wheels and tires ready to go on... just gotta fix this first. I'm looking it over but the damage isn't obvious. If anyone has experience with this, it would help a lot to have an idea what kind of damage to look for. Thanks to everyone in advance.
Just measured... it's 3/4" further back than the wheel on the passenger side. Not good. Anyone have an idea what I might need to replace?
Maybe inner and outer Tie rod, Lower control arm and check out the sub frame.
the front suspension is toast replace it all, but first check the cradle it it just bent that half a days work and all is new anytime you do suspension work you want to do it to both sides.
I would check the A-arms and tie rod. I wouldn't replace both A-arms though if the one were messed up. Also check the strut where it mounts on the spindle and check out the mount up top. Its possible that you messed up the sub-frame, but I seriously doubt it.
CybrStrm wrote:the front suspension is toast replace it all, but first check the cradle it it just bent that half a days work and all is new anytime you do suspension work you want to do it to both sides.
Yeah thats about the most uneducated response I've heard in a while.
Could actually be several things, jack up that side of the car and take the wheel off. You will probably see what is bent for the most part. It could be the lower control arm or steering knuckle. If you can't see whats damaged take it to an aligment shop and they will be able to tell you what is out of specs.
If parts do need to be replaced you can find recycled (used) parts for cavaliers at almost any salvage yard for a very cheap price. Take the first step and find out what exactly
was damamged and then go from there.
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i think the sub frame would bend before the knuckle. but take to a alignment shop for a front-end alignment and let them tell you what is wrong and replace parts as needed. what year did subframes change?
see ya!
Probably the strut or tweaked subframe. could be the control arm also.
And i believe the steering knuckle is made out of cast iron, so that will be pretty tough to bend.
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Thanks everyone for your help. I figured out what's wrong. I was able to take some measurements to compare from under an '04 Cavalier. Seems the front part of the subframe where the front of the control arm connects to is bent 1.5 - 1.8cm outwards which is throwing everything off.
The two possible ways that I can think to fix this are to bang it back or to replace the subframe.
I'm not sure if banging it back is the best idea? ...but replacing it has got to be an itch as I've heard everyone talking about the front sway bar job... At the end of the day I just want the job done right no matter what I do. What do you all think of banging it back? ...would a good collision shop have better tools to handle that or would they decide it's safer to replace it? I'd rather avoid paying a shop, but I want the job done right so I'll pay what I have to. Thanks for the help everyone.
