Hey Guys,

2002 Civic EX 1.7, all stock.

I slid into a curb laterally @ a ~30 degree angle @ 20 mph. Front pass. wheel hit.

With a break in the weather here, I'm going to pull the wheel and look into it to see if I can find out what's wrong. I was hoping I could get some information from people here that would tell me what to look for to diagnose / asses the damage.

Here's some info. of the damage:
The steel wheel is scuffed around 1/3 of the wheel. It doesn't appear to be bent.
To drive in a straight line, the steering wheel must be turned 1/4 turn to the left, as it pulls hard to the right.
Both both wheels pointed straight, the pass. side wheel toes out noticeably - like 2-5 degrees.
I can't visually tell if any other wheel alignment angles are off.

So now, I'm going to pull the wheel off and look around to see what the fix will be. What should I be looking for? Bent control arm, etc? Please let me know what ideas you have that will help me inspect it.

I do not have much experience with suspension stuff, beside changing shocks, replacing wheel bearings, etc on older cars. I haven't had to mess with control arms, struts, stabilizers, knuckles, etc on modern cars.

Any information is appreciated.

Thanks so much!

-D

 

LCA is bent. Check your tie rod also. Also, your ball joints. They might be ripped. Id get it checked asap and not drive at a high speed, or low speed. After all, the LCA is the only thing holding your wheel to the car...

 

Had some bad weather and nasty illness going on so it delayed my progress.

Anyhow, I took the wheel off and it doesn't appear to be bent.

The only visual indicator I see of damage is the front-most LCA bushing, which appears to be smashed / ripped. I should have the LCA off as soon as weather permits. I can check the back bushing then.

The tie rod in the steering linkage seems ok.. Going to also check rotor for out-of-round and will also do some bearing inspections / measurements.

Need to replace the stab. bar link (like $10) - damm thing's allen wrench hole rounded out on me.

Thx for the info.

 

i ran into the same problem and hit the curb cuz the snow, and i thought an alignment would fix it but nope! lol

 

Here's the resolution:

Replaced LCA, lower ball joint, stab link.

New tires on front - got an alignment and all is good now. Rides great.

Toe was out - caster & camber were fine.

Thanks for the help.

Took a lot to get it apart because of frozen and stuck parts, but I got it back together in an hour. Rebuilt the calipers while I was @ it.

Thanks for the help. Wasn't too bad after all. $120 in parts / $70 for alignment. Litlle bit of my own labor, but that's the fun part.

 

np