manuelparedes73

Hello All,






Ok So I have a dealer who is telling me a bent tie rod was due to a small gouge I have on my wheel. Here is what happened. I heard a small rubbing-oscilating noise coming out of the right side of my suspension. Sounded like a flat tire. Drove the car just fine for about half a day. Later that night parked the car at a friends house (who lives on a slight hill). Came back to drive the car and the steering wheel started shaking violently. I thought the car set itself in "safe mode" due to the noise I heard earlier. Went to pick up the car the next day and noticed the passenger front tire was tilted in a bit as the driver side tire was straight. This happened on a Friday. The gouge or curb rash on the edge of the wheel was done a week before any of this happened. Now call me crazy but I don't see how the two are even slightly related. Not only that but to me the aluminum wheel should have been destroyed in order to bend a steel tie rod bar if in fact the cause is the small gouge in the wheel. Any feedback on this is greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Jasonoff

You smashed a curb pretty good to do that...

manuelparedes73

Not really. That's from parallel parking. I wish I had smashed a curb. Would make things much easier.

Jasonoff

Original owner? Maybe someone else damaged it and you made it worse?

Mikegpr03

+1

roadtalontsi

this is clearly a matter of perspective. I wasnt drunk occifer, i've only had a 12 pack.

Critter

Looks like parallel parking issue, also the steering would be messed and the car should not travel in a straight line with the tie rod bent like that. If the rim was up against the curb and you turn the wheel aggressively into the curb, you may have just the right amount of force to bend the rod, or here in Canada if you slide during a turn on ice or snow and hit the curb this will surely be the result, the alignment shops love this kind of weather, lol


Just wondering, did someone drive your car, smack the curb then return it when you were at the friends house, tie rod bent that bad would surely be noticed immediately so it must have just happened.

shades

Not to say you done this, but I've seen the same type of issue on a c63 in our shop just the other day. His wheel was bent on the inside so bad that it was actually hitting the tie rod. It was weird to because he really wasn't having any steering issues, but noticed a slight scraping sound coming from the wheel. When I actually looked at it, it should have been making much more noise and the vibration would only come and go.

m a x i m u s

maybe a valet did it?

Ingenieur

the scapes look like they were made at a high speed, not the typical 'curb rash'
like you (or someone) barely clipped a curb on a turn

4000 lb + inertia+ turned wheel = bent tie rod


I knew a guy who did the exact same thing in an e46 M3 with the 19" forged wheels
making a right, 30-40 mph, barely clipped the curb
when he checked the rim had a chunk ripped off and the tie rod was bent (under compression and bending)
wheel turned right
hit a curb at 5 oclock from the outside, low and forward
this will put the rod under compression and bending as the connection is forced back, and an impulse force to boot


are the C63 solid 5 spoke wheels forged?

Merc63

I think I have a tie rod at home if you need it.

rage2

Tie rods are surprisingly easy to bend. Back in the day when I ran autox and drifting events in my SLK, I bent a tie rod twice while hitting a bump hard under opposite lock. It's all about the steering angle and the velocity of the bump, everything lines up, and a simple pothole can bend it. Looked exactly like yours.

2012C63AMG

F= MA. Our car has a lot of mass (M), it takes very little forward movement (A) to create a crap ton of force. And based on that rim picture it hit hard on a curb.

Quadcammer

no freaking way that wheel damage is from parallel parking.

nope.

solekeeper

i find this hard to believe as well^

Jasonoff

Hummm, easy to bend by hitting a bump hard under opposite lock?

That no maka any sense... You sure it wasn't from parallel parking?

Critter

Jason, Just what do you believe caused the tie rod to bend like that?