Spenser309

I had a wreck. I broke my front left A-arm. more or less its bent. I looked under the car and my welded in sfc on the driver side is gone. Can i drive with just one sfc and will it hurt over time. also will 98 a-arms work on a 2000 z-28. (Im replacing both a-arms.) Is it likely that my k-member is bent. Its the BMR one. Rear suspension doesnt look affected but id like to know what to look for just in case. My parents are not allowing me to report this to the insurance. However im not a poor kid so i would much rather have it all fixed right. But im not paying no shop.

trackbird

iTrader: (4)

If you hit something hard enough to rip off a welded in sub frame connector, I'd be concerned about other damage (that sounds like a hard hit).

You should be able to swap front A arms between those years with no issues.

You can drive with one SFC, it is not the end of the world, but I'd still be concerned about frame damage (what else did it rip off when it was torn off of there, etc). I'd find someone to take a look at it (do you have any friends with body shops, or friends of friends who might look it over for a case of beer and a pizza?, the universal payment).

mitchntx

iTrader: (14)

If the hit was hard enough to bend an A-Arm, your knuckle and hub are probably toast. The shock may be bent and the sway bar mounts, if not the actual sway bar, are also done.

Check your barke lines, rotors and caliper for any damge.

I would also suspect a bent rim.

silver02ss

what did you hit, and at what angle and speed? the reason i'm asking is b/c i've wrecked mine twice, both times right front rims destroyed along with misc. components. just wondering if similar parts would have been damaged.

Spenser309

Trackbird - lol i found out what happened to the SFC. Previous owner had an STS kit on the car and he took it out so that he could run the turbo piping.

MitchinTX - Im feeling that the sway bar is toast and i went to get it aligned today. They said that the steering knuckle is bad. How Exactly can you tell if the sway bar is toast?

silver02ss - I was goin down a three lane highway with curbs on both sides. It slowly banked to the left but for some reason there were sprinklers on in the right hand side and they drained across the highway. I had Drag Radials on. So i start off about a 1/4 before the water. I was trying to impress a friend and so i was racing preatty much. I approached the water pushed in the clutch and braked a little. Thought i was home free. FORGOT I WAS STILL IN 3RD let off the clutch and the back end went around me. We did a 360 and hit a curb at about 40 mph. Front left rim broke. and lower A-Arm broke. we hit the curb almost dead on straight.

qwikz28

iTrader: (12)

dont forget to check the steering rack for leaks, the hub assembly for broken bearings and of course the tie rod ends.

mitchntx

iTrader: (14)

The knuckles on these cars is very weak. Any kind of impact will tweak them.

An alignment can bring the static camber back into spec, but the camber sweep will show that it's bent. A lot of shops over-look this indication because there is no adjustment for it.

Set the sway bar down on a flat surface. It should be symetrical. Did the endlinks get bent? If yes, I would be very suspect.

An OEM A-Arm will run you about $140 with a new ball joint
A knuckle will run about $150
A hub will cost about about $110

qwikz28

iTrader: (12)

spenser, not to jack your thread, but this may help as well if your having the same problem... my car whenever i turn the steering wheel too hard or too fast gets very stiff suddenly and makes a very strange whining noise that stays with the car until i leave it a while that loudens when i turn the car. its about loud enough to overpower the exhaust and increases with engine speed. im assuming i broke the power steering pump/belt. any ideas?

mitchntx

iTrader: (14)

the pump

qwikz28

iTrader: (12)

damn, i was hopin for a belt. thanks mitchntx

Spenser309

lol its the pump already replaced that. what happened to me was i found a rack for $100 bucks put it in and didnt bleed the system.

mitchintx - racks been replaced. im confused what is the hub?

Xsta Z 28

iTrader: (2)

The thing that make the wheel go round and round . . .

qwikz28

iTrader: (12)

yeah when i hit my curb i broke the bearings in my hub. picked one up on ebay with my rack for like 150. check the hub for play and you'll see if its broken or not.

Spenser309

ohh the wheel bearings? I think they were saved by the broken rim.

qwikz28

iTrader: (12)

damn spenser, your having some luck with your car huh?

Spenser309

yea its really working out well. I actually got some lower A-Arms for $25 bucks. I now need to find some steering knuckles. After that i should be good. The wheel isnt squealing at all so i dont believe the hub is bad. I realize it could take some time for the grease in the bearing to leave and then metal to metal to happen but its been about a month no squealing yet.(1000 miles).

lol im getting of preatty cheap for how crazy this wreck was.
$100 for towing.
$25 for A-Arms
$100 for 2 alignments.
$100 + $50 for the steering rack.(blew the pump from not bleeding the rack so actually thats $50 more)
$300 for wheel.(had to re-powdercoat and buy the wheel)
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$700 havent reached my deductible yet. that leaves.
$100 for steering knuckles
$120 for upper a-arms.
$200 for sway bar(1LE)
$50 crack in fiberglass. small.
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$1170 and no rise in insurance and no driving record.