HI guys,

So i accidently drove over a curb trying to avvoid a massive pothle and now the back right wheel sits in on one side like the toe is way in our out.

The wheel sits like this: \\

What damage have i done and what needs to be replaced?

Isn't the Tie rod responsible for how the toe is for that wheel? could the tie rod be bent? could the control arm be bent?

Please help. the car is drivable but i dont want to drive it and possibly cause more damage.

Thanks.

 

i do not think u should drive it like that....
probably the control arm is broken. driving like that will most likely snap it.

 

sounds like the control arm may be bent and maybe some other parts. But I'd remove the wheel and look. Take some pics and post them up.

 

Hrmm... I took the back wheel off and everything seems fine. Nothing is snapped or broken. Im sure something is bent obviously but im not sure what it could be?

I'l take some pics shortly and upload jsut waiting for the battery to charge on my camera.

 

Here are some pics:

this is the damages side, as you can see the wheel offset is sticking out on the rear:

http://img25.imageshack.us/img25/9818/p1201489.jpg

Here is nother view:

http://img688.imageshack.us/img688/7560/p1201490.jpg

Here you can see from bird eye view how the wheel stays crooked:

http://img121.imageshack.us/img121/8288/p1201491.jpg


And here you can the the left side which is the normal un-damaged side.

http://img808.imageshack.us/img808/7904/p1201492.jpg

What do you think?

 

you have any pics of the wheel off so we can see the parts like the control arms, tie rods, sway bar link. You can try to get an alignment to see if they can fix the toe-in. Heres a pic of the rear suspension

 

does any of these parts look bent or out shape?

 

Also look to see if any of the mounting points on the rear sub frame are bent.



You really need to get the car onto an alignment rig & have a good look at whats required to get her back to spec.

 

Thanks for that diagram,

I have taken out what i think is the tie rod, it looks like number 9 in that diagram, now the disc has losened up and i can straighten it back again.

Now does that mean the tie rod is bent? or just dislocted itself?

Im going to take it and compare it with a new tie rod and see if its slighly bent.

It doesnt really look bent from what i can see with my eye.

Is there a special way to bolt the tie rod back in?

Thanks.

 

it can also be a combination of 2 or more things bent.....remember if in impact multiple components share the impact rather then only one taking the hit..........could be that the sub frame, knuckle and and tie rod all could be off but a small amount........

just my 2cents

 

please post pictures without jacking the car up cause we need to see how it looks when sitting on the ground......from what you have posted it looks like nothing is off.........

if it is just a slight bend then may be an alignment adjustment could take care of it.......but still to be super satisfied as others said take it in for an alignment without telling them any thing and see what they come up with......if you will mention the incident then they will definately come up with major repairs.......

thankx
javvy

 

I will take some pics while its on the ground, but you can still see in the birds eye image that the right side is toed in and the left side is sticking out.

How do they allign the rear? what do they do? What do they adjust?

I deffinatley need to get an allignment as the frint right wheel hit first, the car drives straight but the steering wheel is not centred and sits on an angel when the wheels are straight and also the ESP mesage ahs come on, ive read on other posts that it comes on when the steering wheel isnt centred.

 

My guess is you lucked out.........an alignment would fix this easy............I dont know exactly what they tweek but there is a lot of leeway on adjustments that can be made to balance the straightness of all 4 wheels to sit square..........

goodluck.........and please report back you experience...........

 

Benz have adjustable toe on the rear & ride height pads etc. You need to get the car onto a wheel alignment rig first to see what is out of spec. They will tell you what they can still adjust & what needs to be replaced to get the car in spec. e.g various suspension components that are bent or a new sub frame. On the front you have numerous adjustments plus 3 way bushes and bolts on castor & camber to increase adjustment parameters.

If all this cannot get the car straight within spec then it has a bent body & requires to go onto a chassis alignment rig to have the body realigned.

Good luck!

 

Thanks for all the replies guys, I am taking it to a suspension specialist tomorrow. He advised that most likely an allignment wil fix it so hopefully its something as small as that.

I will let you know how it goes.

 

You can always compare the bent parts to the other side of the car which hopefully is not bent.

 

Looks like some sideways camber. Does the car drive straight?

 

Just got a call from suspension place.

Diagnosis: Cracked and Bent hub/stub axle.

I found a good condition used hub and having it fitted as we speak. And a 4 wheel allignment and hopefully it should be alright.

 

good you found out the problem.

 

Wow - bent AND cracked stub - you hit hard! - that's dangerous & bearing would have failed shortly. Good you had the pros give it a lookover.

Good luck - hope the rubbers & bushing damped the rest of the knock. We'll see when they align her.

 

install new bushings...............all round.........