by "shop-teacher" (shop-teacher)
Published 06/11/2017 at 23:46
by "shop-teacher" (shop-teacher)
Published 06/11/2017 at 23:46
Tags: RallyMetro
STARS: 3
I took this picture when I realized how FUBARed that tire standing up is (broken belt), but that’s not why I’m posting it. Note the distance between the back of the tire and the wheel well. It’s about 1-1/4", or 30mm for those of you communists who use the metric system (I kid, I kid!).
Tonight I was sitting on the patio with my wife, and I noticed the front wheels are more like 1/2-5/8" away from the wheel well. I wasn’t able to get a picture before it got dark, but I’m REALLY curious to look under the car now. I bet the axle shitting the bed is related.
UPDATE:
In the light of day, I realized it’s only the front left wheel that got pushed back. It’s 5/8" away from the wheel well, whereas the front right wheel is 1-1/2".
I decided to get on the ground, stick my phone under there, and take a bunch of pictures to see if I could find the problem.
Yep, there it is.
One of the bolts holding on the front of the lower control arm is missing, throwing the alignment WAY off.
Here’s how the tire looks after the 90 mile tow home.
"XJDano" (xjdano)
06/12/2017 at 00:11, STARS: 1
I’d guess the A arms are bent on that front bolt or the back ones.
The arms were newly installed some time, so they aren’t original but also less than 10 years old.
"Seat Safety Switch" (seat-safety-switch)
06/12/2017 at 00:55, STARS: 3
Eating axles on dirt:
If you have bent a suspension link badly enough to visibly affect caster to that degree you’re still probably not running the axles out of tolerance by that much. CVs can tolerate more angle than you’d think, especially at the power levels you’re probably pushing.
Back in the day, Volkswagens (Golfs) used to blow front axles all the time because at the extremes of their steering range the joints would just get ruined. A lot of guys in the local crew used to weld spacers onto the steering system so that they would act as artificial locks and limit the available steering angle to prevent this.
Not shock loading the axles also helps; we would see guys go skating across some washboards, spinning one wheel to the moon because it was in the air, and then suddenly landing on that wheel and blowing the axle/trans to pieces when it finally loaded up that side of the diff. This happened a lot with Nissan FWD transmissions and Saturn diffs.
Blowing up the control arms:
You’re probably a bit in uncharted territory here, but I’d start by trying to understand what part of the link is failing. Just reinforcing the link with booger welds and plate might not be the best option here, because you’ll probably just send the force into the next most fragile thing on the car (strut body if you’re lucky, the notoriously difficult to access rearward control arm mount captive nuts of the Metro if you’re not).
Might also want to check what your spindles and ball joints look like after you’ve wrapped part of the suspension around them like that.
"TheD0k_2many toys 2little time" (thed0ck)
06/12/2017 at 01:14, STARS: 1
dang son putting that learning all up in here
"shop-teacher" (shop-teacher)
06/12/2017 at 07:12, STARS: 0
Yeah, I bet that’s what’s going on. I’ll put it up on ramps Wednesday and take some pics.
"shop-teacher" (shop-teacher)
06/12/2017 at 07:16, STARS: 0
Good points. The axles have been shocked a lot ... like a lot a lot a lot. The course is rough, rocky, and rutted. I’ve shown it no mercy. I’ll be putting it up on ramps Wednesday and taking some pictures.
"Seat Safety Switch" (seat-safety-switch)
06/12/2017 at 12:57, STARS: 1
That’s an impressive failure. The best one I ever had was the back of my transmission crossmember falling out on the highway and hitting the tailgating BMW behind me.
"shop-teacher" (shop-teacher)
06/12/2017 at 14:20, STARS: 0
Haha! 10 points!!