Skip to main content

Closed19 replies

Crash, Bang, Oops

FM Former Member
Well.... I was driving the other day... the car was running GREAT, went to make a turn at about 25 mph.... usually no problem.. but! there was sand and water in my path and SLIP - right into the curb.... here is my right tie-rod. also bent was my spindle so i just upgraded to discs....

im getting some pull to the right, should i attempt to adjust the tie rod or take it back to the shop for a quick fix? also, my spedo doesnt work now? again, quick fix for me or them. total was 650 with 75dollar tow.45bucks an hour for labor, cant beat it.

if you wanna play, you gotta pay - or so im told. I've kept the tie-rod to hang on the wall as a reminder, I am fragile, and so is the car.... o, btw, there is also a pic of where it hit the curb, off by a few more feet and the car would have been totalled (and i'd doubt i'd have walked away without injury). also go to my pics and see a pic of more of the intersection... i didnt even get a pic of the bigger sand patch... i'd already had the front brakes pretty well locked before i hit that little one in the pic not shown on this post. I need to make sure the rear brakes are a little tighter now too, i had the shop adjust the front end up a notch and now i actually have some front end suspension travel. The nose dives about an inch and a half when i hit the brakes now, the springs are pretty soft i think. a bit more body roll up front should help turning right?
Original Post

Replies sorted oldest to newest

FM Former Member
Well.... I was driving the other day... the car was running GREAT, went to make a turn at about 25 mph.... usually no problem.. but! there was sand and water in my path and SLIP - right into the curb.... here is my right tie-rod. also bent was my spindle so i just upgraded to discs....

im getting some pull to the right, should i attempt to adjust the tie rod or take it back to the shop for a quick fix? also, my spedo doesnt work now? again, quick fix for me or them. total was 650 with 75dollar tow.45bucks an hour for labor, cant beat it.

if you wanna play, you gotta pay - or so im told. I've kept the tie-rod to hang on the wall as a reminder, I am fragile, and so is the car.... o, btw, there is also a pic of where it hit the curb, off by a few more feet and the car would have been totalled (and i'd doubt i'd have walked away without injury). also go to my pics and see a pic of more of the intersection... i didnt even get a pic of the bigger sand patch... i'd already had the front brakes pretty well locked before i hit that little one in the pic not shown on this post. I need to make sure the rear brakes are a little tighter now too, i had the shop adjust the front end up a notch and now i actually have some front end suspension travel. The nose dives about an inch and a half when i hit the brakes now, the springs are pretty soft i think. a bit more body roll up front should help turning right?

Attachments

Hide
Images (3)
  • 124_2468small
  • 124_2469small
  • curb-rock
FM Former Member
no no no, the beercans are NOT part of the story.... I will not drink and drive, at least, not in this car. Rarely am I known to have a few drinks and drive 2 blocks home in my truck... but never more than 2 drinks per hour, and I always stop drinking at midnight (bars close at 1).

Btw, there are well over 2000 cans on the 3 walls in my dining area at my apartment... Took over a year, but was a fun engineering project for me to figure out how to keep em up and straight.

about 25mph is what I estimate I was going when I hit the curb.

so should i fix myself, or take back to the shop... if its really simple, ill do it.

Attachments

Hide
Images (1)
  • curbintersection
FM Former Member
another thing, im getting some wicked squeel from the front tires on even light braking... could it be that my directional tires were supposedly installed on the wrong sides? i was told this was the case, did they wear wrong and will now take a while to correct the squeel...

also, I tried to adjust out my rear brakes to no avail... my pedal still goes in a bit before i get solid braking... i tried e-brakin it from 15 mph, just slowed the car down, couldnt lock the tires up...?

sugggestions. i think i need to convert now to rear discs to be done with the brakes. engine done, suspension done, brakes dont after rear discs, interior next, body last.... then the quirks will be over with right :) LOL
FM Former Member
Nic,

First, "Take an "Earlier Apex" and go FASTER!(25 Miles Per Hour)

Anyway, the tire noise is probably related to your Toe-In being "Knocked Out of alignment" from the curb.

Look at the Side of the Tread and look how much the tire is rolling over (Low Air Pressure?)

Buy another Tie Rod and check the rest of the Suspension (Wheel Rotor, Shock and Torsion Bar Arms Etc.

The Speedo Cable connects on the L/F so if you impacted on the Right Front - ?

Directional Tires usually have Directional Arrow's or Markings indicating the correct mounting/direction.

As for Rear Brakes; if you can't adjust them, pull a Brake Drum and inspect the Brake Shoes.

Good Luck,

Jack Blake
FM Former Member
Jake,

i did replace the front tie rod :) see it in the pics, the old one... i couldnt drive the car. I had it towed to the shop, replaced the tie rod and since the right spindle was bent too, i converted to a disc setup.

the speedo cable didnt get re-hooked up i think to the new disc setup....

Im going to convert the rear to discs now too.

no change in turn radius would have helped at that intersection.... except maybe a stop then 90 degree :(
Gordon NicholsGordon NicholsMassachusetts 1993 CMC Supporting Member
In my experience of trying to adjust front end geometry by myself, the answer is; take it to a good wheel alignment place and have them set it up right. The squeal may simply be that they're mis-aligned (which we know is the case as you say it pulls to the right, right?), and that might include camber, toed in or out, all that sort of thing. Let somebody who knows what they're doing and has the proper tools do it right the first time.

Don't know what to tell you about the Speedo. The speedo cable connects, as Jack mentioned, to the center dust cap of the left front wheel, and the other end into the back of the Speedo. Make sure they're both connected.

You should be able to adjust the rear brake shoes in quite close - as Jack mentioned, if you can't get them close enough to rub with gentle turning of the wheel (and then back off a 1/4 turn or so), then pull a brake drum (you'll need a 36mm socket) and see what's wrong. Don't forget - there are two separate shoes on each side and BOTH must be adjusted separately. You probably won't be able to get the rear wheels to lock up by pulling on the e-brake - sorry, but it just won't happen. Adjusting them close should give you a pedal that moves 1.5 - 2 inches or so before it gets hard. Mine's a bit farther as I like it that way.......

Hope this helps.......gn

P.S: Why in hell is there a big rock there in the middle of no-where?
FM Former Member
I think they put those rocks in intersection corners so dumbasses in their pickups (which i do happen to own one) dont drive over the corners in winter time when there is snow on the ground... or go tearing around in the grass when there isnt... also i think it keeps semi's from being careless in turning corners... and ruining the grass with their trailer wheels...

speedo: went back to the shop... they looked at it, said well both are hooked up it must have snapped, here's a new one. 35 bucks. I went home pulled it out, wiggled it etc,, then put it back in and put the e clip back on it, worked fine, i think the end had pulled out of the gauge itself and was not realigned and fully inserted back into there. even though that was never taken apart. i think the cable just came out too far from the tube on the wheel end and there for came out of the gauge. all fixed. took back the new cable today.

alignment, ill take it to the shop tomorrow. I think the squeel is from not having rear brakes working well enough, so all the braking is on the front. that and i think the front right wheel is out of alignment still. the tech set it up as best as he could by measuring.

on braking it pulls to the right as well... probably pointing a bit more to the left than straight?
FM Former Member
o. and yes the bars close at 1am in Nebraska. a very conservative state. iowa they close at 2. missouri 3am i think. ks is 2am. but KS still has dry counties..

We sometimes just head over to IA after the bars close since Omaha is right on the border/river.

otherwise, you just have to go to the bar sooner in the night is all. Instead of going out at 10, you leave to go to the bar at 9. etc...

it does suck sometimes, but it sure helps arrange a kickass after hours party! :) usually at my place. So instead of having really drunk girls at the bar hitting on you, they're already at my place trying to drag me into my own bed. LOL :)
FM Former Member
Nic,
Learned early on in my motorcycle riding life (35+ years now) that fast entry into unknown corner = excitement (mechanical repairs to machine, skin removed from body, explanation to wife, physical therapy, general lower sex drive for next few days, justification for repair costs, etc). All this "experience" somehow evaporates when I have the top down and all four wheels are investigating the limit of traction. Does this mean I'm forever young?
FM Former Member
called on an alignment.... 89 dollars!! =wtf!, thats crazy. I think they just didnt want to do it. The tire squeel is leaving... I think it was from having the directional tires going the wrong way for at least a 1000 miles. scuffed em the wrong way? The car will go in a straight line fine, but if it hits a bump or groove in the road it will then head right.

im waiting on the rear discs. I'll convert those, then see if having better equalization of brakes helps. what are your opinions on going with rear discs without ebrake and setting up with a line lock or whatever that alternative is...

should i get a proportioning valve so i can adjust front/rear braking? i'd kind of like to have a lot more rear braking power, still with bias to the front though.


Post Content
Remove This Ad

Membership Required

We're sorry. You must be signed in to continue. Sign In or Register
×
Are you sure you want to remove from your Block List?
×
Loading...
×
When you block a person, they can no longer invite you to a private message or post to your profile wall. Replies and comments they make will be collapsed/hidden by default. Finally, you'll never receive email notifications about content they create or likes they designate for your content.
Note: if you proceed, you will no longer be following .
×
Link copied to your clipboard.
×

Access to this requires a premium membership.

Supporting Member

Please help keep us running!

Supporting members have donated about $4.00 a month ($49.00 US per year) paid annually.

  • Priority support
  • Removal of inter-page (between thread) advertisements.
  • Access to Build Manuals
  • Access to Knowledge Base
  • Access to Supporting Members events.
  • Access to Leveraged Group Buying from site Merchants.

AUTO RENEW: You membership will auto-renew after 12 months. If you prefer not to auto-renew, you can cancel your premium membership at any time and it will remain in effect until the end of the 12 months. To cancel, sign in at SpeedsterOwners.com and navigate to: (Your User Name)  > Premium Membership.

PLEASE NOTE: Your credit card will receive a charge from CROWDSTACK PAY, the payment processor, not SpeedsterOwners.com.

$49.00 per 12 Months (plus tax if applicable)
×