So we're trying to replace some bent suspension components on my friend's CRX that had a little accident. He had the frame pulled and the frame guy said that all it needed was a new knee. I assumed that he meant knuckle so we go to the junkyard and pull an LCA and a knuckle. These didn't really fix the problem. If you look at the the car with the wheel on, the edge of the tire is closer to the back of the fender well than it is to the bumper by about an inch. This is castor, right? The tie rod is adjusted all the way in and the radius rod is also adjusted all the way up. So, I guess my question is this: is the front subframe/radius rod assembly the same thing as a "knee"? Thanks fellas.

 

jk jk found out. In case anyone ever has this question, the knee assembly is the knuckle and lower control arm and MAAAYBE upper control arm assembled. So we pretty much did replace the knee to no avail. My suspicion is the subframe.

 

Never heard it called a knee before.

 

x2 must be the new jdm slang or muscle car guy slang IONO LOL

 

 

Rear crossmember, especially where the LCA's bolt on are paper thin, very easy to bend / crack it and still drive on it with the only indication being the wheel being pushed back in the well.

 

you think that's what it is? there's no good way to really measure it. i'll check it out though.

 

did the sasme thing to my sedan a while back. rear subframe was the culprit. good luck finding one intact and as an easy replacement. I ended up scrapping the car after i stripped it.

 

A Knee Assembly is commonly used in the Salvage, Bodyshop area. Quick way of telling somebody you need the entire corners worth of suspension.

 

Same thing happened in my accord and the body shop guys told me I needed the frame pulled. It didn't change anything and my wheel was still almost touching the rear of the fender. Turned out to be the subframe which is what I told the body shop guys I thought it was in the first place. I still had to pay 500 for the frame being "pulled" and them not fixing the problem. I replaced it myself. I hate dumb dishonest shops! I bet it's definitly your subframe.

 

I had the exact same problem after I slid into a curb while making a right turn on a rainy day. The left front wheel was pushed back in the fender well, the steering wheel was crooked and the car pulled hard to one side while driving.
I initially took the car to a local alignment shop and spent about 500 bucks for them to replace control arms, radius rods, some other stuff and an alignment.
I went to pick up the car and it still pulled hard and the tire was still not centered. The guy said I needed a rear subframe and wanted an additional 600 bucks.

I then took the car to a local frame/alignment shop that came highly recommended. This old guy put it up on a rack and just by eyeballing it could tell me that the unibody was bent and needed to be pulled. He said the rear subframe was not damaged. Anyway, 250 bucks later the car drove straight and the wheel was centered in the fenderwell again.

It is still very possible the rear subframe is damaged on your car. Put it on a rack and perform a detailed visual inspection of the front end.

 

The "knee" term has been around for quite sometime.

 

I have heard of spindle and knee before.

 

We think the front subframe is bent. I measured some things relative to the rear subframe and it's all really close +- 1/8", which could very well be my measurement error. The front crossmember was notched to clear a beast-mode RMF header and I can see where the gusset has broken off the crossmember. The radius rod has been adjusted all the way up on that side too. He's thinking about getting an aftermarket cross member with more adjustability and we'll use that to compensate for any bends in the frame, which I'm sure are still going to be around forever.