During the test & tune at VIR, I sideswiped the Armco on the left side of the car. The hit was at a pretty shallow angle, almost flat, as evidenced by the stripes from one end of the car to the other, and most of the real impact was on the wheels, not the body.

When I got back to the pits and checked things out, there was nothing obviously bent, but the front toe-in was now about 3/4". Getting it back to a little toe-out took all the adjustment the outer tie rod ends had to offer. When the car was going straight the steering wheel was at 90 deg left, and it'd pull the wheel right when I accelerated. Made for interesting racing.

Got time to check things out today and there's nothing obviously bent. The tie-rod ends are OK, and the control arm mounting points on the unibody don't seem to have moved. When I loosened the radius rod bolts on the LCA there didn't seem to be any unusual displacement or movement on the left hand side, as would seem to happen if the control arms or mounting points were out of spec. The wheels and hubs run true.

What's weird to me is that I can think of ways I could have gotten extra toe-<u>out</u>, like a bent tierod, but not toe-<u>in</u>. Only thing I can think of is a bent steering arm, but I'm hoping for something easier. As to the steering wheel off center issue, can the rack jump a tooth in a tire-armco impact?

Also wondering about the pull to the right on accel. At speed or under braking the car runs dead straight, but get on the gas and it trys to pull the wheel right. More obvious at lower speeds. The LSD seems OK. Maybe I just need to get the left front straightened out and then see.

Any help?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Geezer &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">... I can think of ways I could have gotten extra toe-<u>out</u>, like a bent tierod, but not toe-<u>in</u>... </TD></TR></TABLE>

I assume the car is rear-steer? If so, you could get toe-in if the wheel was shoved inward, and not the steering arm. That is, if the lower control arm inboard pivot point got shoved inward, that would certainly do it. Or if the arm got bent.... Anything that made the lower ball joint get closer to the center of the car would do it.

If it's front steer, perhaps the entire rack shifted right. That seems likely actually...

 

When Renee punched the armco at Barber 3 weeks ago (high speed grazing shot on the left front) it shifted the lower crossmember over to the right about 3/4 of an inch. I raced the car the next day, and while the wheels were aligned, the car did drift to the right a little under accel. It darted to the right pretty hard under braking.

My guess is that it has to do with the radius rods. As I mentioned, the wheels were untouched in Renee's incident but I'm guessing the front got misplaced enough to screw up the geometry.

A dead giveaway... Check your lower front tranny mount, if its bent, go visit your local body shop and strap the car to the frame rack because the front aint square.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by kb58 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

I assume the car is rear-steer? If so, you could get toe-in if the wheel was shoved inward, and not the steering arm. That is, if the lower control arm inboard pivot point got shoved inward, that would certainly do it. Or if the arm got bent.... Anything that made the lower ball joint get closer to the center of the car would do it.

If it's front steer, perhaps the entire rack shifted right. That seems likely actually... </TD></TR></TABLE>

Hmmm. I did check the camber on both sides and it's the same, at least with the car in the air. Seems that if the LCA pivot was moved inward, the left side camber would be less.

And there was no impact apparent on the front crossmember. I pulled the bolts on the left end, and there was no movement like I'd expect if the chassis or crossmember was sprung.

Guess a trip to the body shop is in order to get the car jigged and see if it's actually bent.

 

What about a shifted steering rack?

 

Steering rack shifting from a left side impact would toe out the front of a CRX no? I would assume the only way to create a toe-in condition from a driver side impact would be damage in front of the axles - is the headlight bucket displaced at all? Did the radiator support move right at all? If that metal around that area was moved about, that could explain your toe in I would *think*. I don't know how much that front motor mount moves and when/why - mine ironically didn't appear funked after the impact but was displaced after the frame was pulled straight. As for the car pulling after something like this, there are probably a myriad possibilites - I don't remember any detriment to the drivability of my car and I ran a qualifying, a sprint race and a stint in a 1.5 hour enduro in it (and it drove fine).

I would presume your wheel being off 90° is because of your adjustment to the tie rod to get the front end back to toe out. I would wonder if your knocked the left rear toe out when you hit causing this on-throttle pull (if I am reading your "pulling the wheel right" correctly).

 

A-ha!!

Got farther under with better light and found that the rear beam (the one that holds the rear engine mount and steering rack) is bent inboard of the LCA pivot. Apparently the pivot assembly is stronger than the beam itself, so when it was pushed in it acted as a lever and bent the beam up.

Anybody know if it's worthwhile to try and get this straightened, or if it'd be better to find a replacement? A new one is $350.00 +- and used ones run from $200 down to $50.00.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Geezer &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">A-ha!!

Got farther under with better light and found that the rear beam (the one that holds the rear engine mount and steering rack) is bent inboard of the LCA pivot. Apparently the pivot assembly is stronger than the beam itself, so when it was pushed in it acted as a lever and bent the beam up.

Anybody know if it's worthwhile to try and get this straightened, or if it'd be better to find a replacement? A new one is $350.00 +- and used ones run from $200 down to $50.00. </TD></TR></TABLE>


i would say pick up a used one, i presume you are talking about the rear crossmember when you say "rear beam" no?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by temp &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">


i would say pick up a used one, i presume you are talking about the rear crossmember when you say "rear beam" no?</TD></TR></TABLE>

Yep.