What's wrong with the suspension here? Have a look

[OSiRiS]

What's wrong with the suspension here? Have a look

Just picked up a Legnum VR4 for very cheap, but have noticed this.

Driver side vs. passenger side.

Didn't touch steering wheel in between taking photos and the wheels are pointed straight.

When driving, it pulls to the left quite abit. I went to get a wheel alignment and when we got it on the machine they said the castor on that side was 0.0, where it's supposed to be 5.6? (driver side was ~5.6). Didn't go ahead with the wheel alignment as there was no point.

Looks like the passenger side wheel is sitting further back? Why?

Thanks :afro:

[Nutter_John]

looks like it has had a hard smack on that side of the car and is totally out of alignment , it get it on a car ramp and have it inspected cos it doin't look good

[Gly]

best case, bent upper/lower suspension arms,

worst case, bent chassis mounts/sub frame

[OSiRiS]

best case, bent upper/lower suspension arms,

worst case, bent chassis mounts/sub frame

There is a receipt for 1 brand new wheel in the receipt book which came with the car :thinking: the wheels in the photos didn't come on the car, these 19's just show the difference well because there is less gap between the wheel and the guards.

When it was on the hoist today didn't look like anything obvious, except the lower arm(?) on the driver side was straight, and the passenger side was bent slightly.

Might go down to Pick-A-Part and get all of the suspension bits in that area, hopefully it's just a bent arm :speechles

[Nutter_John]

well to bend one of those arms would take a serious amount of force , i would be concerned about the transfer of that force through the arms to the chasis mounting points so may be worth as gly says checking the chasis

[MPBVr4]

Had similar situation wih a Vauxhall once. I hit a bank and the wheel moved
back in a similar way. Had to replace front sub-frame plus suspension parts.

[OSiRiS]

Hmmm car cost me $4500, only 100km, cambelt and all that stuff just been done. Massive sunroof. FMIC and hardpiping kit. Mint inside. This seems to be the only problem.

Knew there had to be a catch :P

[bradc]

manual, auto?

[OSiRiS]

manual, auto?

Auto.

[Subaru ETA]

had one come into work with the EXACT same problem. of the 2 lower arms theres the "straight" one and the "bent" one. compare the arc of the "bent" arm left to right. the one i had if you measured the arc it was quite bent. hard to tell just by looking at it tho

[OSiRiS]

had one come into work with the EXACT same problem. of the 2 lower arms theres the "straight" one and the "bent" one. compare the arc of the "bent" arm left to right. the one i had if you measured the arc it was quite bent. hard to tell just by looking at it tho

I know which ones you are talking about. The "straight" one is bent definately, and I have a feeling the "bent" one is bent even more than it should be. Measuring it by eye (lol) it's a definate but by how much, not sure.

Will definately try P-A-P on the weekend, there are sooo many Legnums at Mangere.

Anyone need anything while I'm there? :afro:

[OSiRiS]

Looking at CAPS, doesn't seem to be much down there.

Hopefully it's the two bottom arms, otherwise I'm looking at a major :inquisiti

[Davezj]

best result will be the lower need replacing and possibly the upper wishbone.

worst case chassis leg, but you should be able to measure that if it is bent.

can't you check if it an insureane write off.

a bang that hard you would expect bumper damage, wheel arch, wheel arch liner and possibly the back of the wheel arch as well.

but if none of that looks brand new and shiney then it may well just be the arms, which would be a bowness.

[OSiRiS]

best result will be the lower need replacing and possibly the upper wishbone.

worst case chassis leg, but you should be able to measure that if it is bent.

can't you check if it an insureane write off.

a bang that hard you would expect bumper damage, wheel arch, wheel arch liner and possibly the back of the wheel arch as well.

but if none of that looks brand new and shiney then it may well just be the arms, which would be a bowness.

No other evidence of a crash.

Nooo don't want to write it off LOL other than this issue the rest of the car is perfect for me as a work hack / daily drive.

Bumper is standard, guard lining still intact (was, before I removed it to roll the guards) everything else down there looks fine. Like I posted previously, previous owner has a receipt for new wheel. Perhaps he hit the pothole from hell?

[dickytim]

the lower ball joints are relatively cheap. I would recomend that you get new ones as they are really a disposible part.

We have had a couple of members have ball joints go and it is not pretty.

[OSiRiS]

Will do :)

[OSiRiS]

Fixed it, in the photo attached the top arm is a standard (replacement) unit, whereas the bottom one is the bent one that was on the car, causing the wheel to be out by 50mm :inquisiti

[Subaru ETA]

yup i have seen a few of those arms do that now... maybe the 'bent' design is a weak point?

[Physician]

Very interesting thread. Tell me though ........ those parts are castings aren't they? How come a casting can 'bend' or 'warp' in any way ......... surely it won't do that, it will simply snap, break etc as it is not malleable?

[Subaru ETA]

thats what i thought....i would have throught that the bushes would have been ripped out first...as i say - maybe just a weak point?

[Fully]

I good whack to a kerb at speed would bend them.
The bush, it is most likly to be damaged on the inside.

[elnevio]

Maybe it's a design trait - so that this sort of impact results in minimal damage - i.e. one part bears the brunt of the impact energy?

[Nick Mann]

A steel casting does not mean that the steel grade is cast iron. Cast iron as a grade is brittle, casting from steel not necessarily so.

Nev could be right in the design theory? Just as likely a previous owner didn't really give a sh!t....