Are there any basic frame/k member checks that can be done at home ?
11-17-2009, 07:20 AM
#1
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Join Date: Mar 2000
Location: HOUSTON TX USA
Posts: 835
Are there any basic frame/k member checks that can be done at home ?
I searched, and read through about 7 pages of alignment specs ( good stuff ! 
) , but never really found what I wanted.
About 5 years ago I got into a wreck that popped the passenger side front & rear.
I got cut off, and did a 180 ultimately sliding into a concrete tapered freeway divider.
The dealer body shop supposedly replaced the RH knuckle, and after the fact replaced the wheel bearing assembly when one of my co-workers noticed the right front wheel wobbling as I drove it !
They ( dealer ) also swore up & down that there was no frame damage.
In the last year or so, I have had the driver's side lower ball joint replaced, all bushings, and a new GM right front control arm installed - it came w/ the ball joint. Note that the old one was bent - another dealer "miss" !
I got it aligned late last year at another dealer - drove OK for a while, but ultimately it started pulling to the right. I took it last Saturday to NTB for a 3 yr alignment, and I actually got to see it on the rack, and talk to the guy who did it.
He got it close, but the passenger side control arm is all the way slid out on the bolt while the driver side is all the way in ( camber adjustment).
I could chunk parts at it - my 1st thought is a knuckle, but before I did that I would like to know if there are some basic measurements I could take that would allow me to get an idea if the K member is in the right spot - assuming, of course, that is what would get shifted in an impact like this ?
I can get the specs off the printout for the NTB alignment if it will help.
Any help/thoughts are appreciated !
Thanks !
Britt
) , but never really found what I wanted. About 5 years ago I got into a wreck that popped the passenger side front & rear.
I got cut off, and did a 180 ultimately sliding into a concrete tapered freeway divider.
The dealer body shop supposedly replaced the RH knuckle, and after the fact replaced the wheel bearing assembly when one of my co-workers noticed the right front wheel wobbling as I drove it !
They ( dealer ) also swore up & down that there was no frame damage.
In the last year or so, I have had the driver's side lower ball joint replaced, all bushings, and a new GM right front control arm installed - it came w/ the ball joint. Note that the old one was bent - another dealer "miss" !
I got it aligned late last year at another dealer - drove OK for a while, but ultimately it started pulling to the right. I took it last Saturday to NTB for a 3 yr alignment, and I actually got to see it on the rack, and talk to the guy who did it.
He got it close, but the passenger side control arm is all the way slid out on the bolt while the driver side is all the way in ( camber adjustment).
I could chunk parts at it - my 1st thought is a knuckle, but before I did that I would like to know if there are some basic measurements I could take that would allow me to get an idea if the K member is in the right spot - assuming, of course, that is what would get shifted in an impact like this ?
I can get the specs off the printout for the NTB alignment if it will help.
Any help/thoughts are appreciated !
Thanks !
Britt
11-17-2009, 07:33 AM
#2
Registered User
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: SLC, UT
Posts: 2,667
Your best bet... if you plan on keeping the car and want it fixed right... go call around to a couple collision shops and see how much they would want to throw your car on the rack. If they do this they can measure it down to .010 and tell you exactly what's wrong and if it's bent. It'll probably cost you $200-$300 to get it put onto the rack and measured; and then to fix it depends on how badly it's out of wack.
But... if it's out of wack you then have a measurement of how far to take back to the dealer through your lawyer of course and hopefully have some recourse.
But... if it's out of wack you then have a measurement of how far to take back to the dealer through your lawyer of course and hopefully have some recourse.
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