UstaB-GS549

Background: Master cylinder seal blew out and I hit tire wall mostly flat on left side with some forward momentum.

After the accident, the steering wheel was turned 30 degrees or so when driving in a straight line, so I checked toe and camber. Both fronts were -1.9 degrees so that had not changed, but I had 1.5" of toe out!!!!!!!

With both front wheels off and checking from side to side I could not see any obvious damage in control arms, frame, tie rods, ball joints or knuckles. About the only difference was where the upper left control arm is bolted to the frame. Is it possible the trunnion pin bent?

How do you check the upper control arm to see if it is bent?

I lost track of how many turns of the left tie rod that I rotated to get back to zero toe. Maybe 6 or 8 revolutions. The steering wheel is pretty much centered now, but I need to find out what is bent.

fatbillybob

What vette? C5? I would also check the rack. The passenger side of rack on C5 is a badly welded metal ear mount. The drivers side is cast into the aluminum body of the rack and has a hole larger than what is needed. So all the pressure is on the passenger locating side. I have broken those and the rack shifts.

UstaB-GS549

Sorry its a C5 Zo6.

But if the rack shifted wouldn't is just affect steering wheel position and not toe in?

froggy47

I would take off both sides & carefully measure not hit to hit. Also agree with FBB,

naschmitz

I'd check to see if the knuckle broke at the hub bolt holes. I had a glancing blow to a front wheel that messed up toe without bending the tie rod. The knuckle will look fine, but one of the holes will have a crack from the hole to the edge.

fatbillybob

Yes but you did not specify how you measured toe. Any number of things could be broken. You will have to start taking things apart and have a close look. Also, even if things are not broken you can effect reliability. For example that rack ear I mentioned my not be broken but could be stressed or cracked and fail in the future. That's why a C5 with 100k miles converted to a racecar is typically less reliable than a 10k mile C5 converted to a racecar. There are a lot of parts in there and it is difficult to maintain 100% of them.

mgarfias

Something _IS_ bent. Your first clue is the steering wheel is off 30deg. Second is all the toe out. That is, assuming you measured the toe out with the wheels straight, if not, redo that with the front wheels straight, and ignore the steering wheel.

First step is to get it up in the air and pull the wheels off, disconnect the shocks/springs. Second is to start measuring everything.

With that kind of hit (as evidence by stuff moving), I'd replace the tie rods, the spindles, and probably the hubs, just as a matter of precaution. Give the rack a good hard look - look for cracks, leaks, check the passenger side mounting ears, etc. Put a straight edge on the rack, the steering rods, etc. Hell, check the steering column too, its conceivable that it twisted on you.

Also, don't stop when you find the first thing wrong, keep looking.

Might be a good time to pull the rack and send it to turn1 for a rebuild?

UstaB-GS549

Lots of good feedback
45,000 miles on car.
I used toe plates & camber gauge to reset toe. Since my only change was adjusting tie rod on left side and it corrected both toe and steering wheel position, I think something is bent on that side. As FBB and Froggy suggested, I'm going to take everything apart on left side and start comparing to right side.

Thanks to to everyone for great ideas!

froggy47

Post back your results please.

UstaB-GS549

I found some time to investigate last night. The distance from the inside rotor surface to the centerline of the tie rod stud on the left side is about 1 1/2" on the left and 1 5/16" on right knuckle, so I would say that the tie rod "arm" on the left knuckle is bent.

I'm going to replace both knuckles with 88965637 & 88965638 as the upgraded pair is only $40 more than just the original left 10332530.

mgarfias

Crazy. I'd look the wheel bearing over REALLY well too. the flange can split from the hub with the OE gm units.

froggy47

I tend to agree, if I understand what you are measuring correctly. I would not measure there. A brake rotor or the stud itself are more likely IMO to be weak points that would bend, not so much a knuckle.

In any event, a rotor surface is a wear surface, not a place to measure from.



You could replace both knuckles & still be needing a rod end or rotor.

mgarfias

Yep. As a quick sanity check, sure, the rotor is fine. But if you really want to check it, pull the knuckle off, lay it on a flat surface (the bearing mount side down), and measure the height of the steering arm. You'd also likely see signs on the steering arm where the metal stretched or compressed when it bent.

UstaB-GS549

I have SKF race bearings on all 4 corners. The flanges are substantially thicker than OEM Timken.