Well, the other night I hit a curb goin a good 30 mph (don't ask, long story) Anywhom, I blew both passenger side tires, my front passenger strut and the control arm is broke/cracked or whatever term is used for it being damaged. I got the new tires on rotated and all, I'm going to be installing my Illuminas/S-Techs tomorrow and getting an alignment.

My question is about how long can I ride with a cracked control arm before it's dangerous, even though it probably isn't great to be riding with it like this in the first place? I'm hoping my friend will fix it Friday night, if not then Saturday morning...

 

No one can answer that question. Needless to say, it is most likely not safe at all. I would avoid driving it at all if I were in your position.

 

Just buy one ... I mean you paid who knows how much for S-techs and Illuminas, what's another $140? And even cheaper on e

 

http://search.ebay.com/maxima-contro...fkrZ1QQfromZR8

$75 each side, with ball joints/bushings.

 

a broken/cracked control arm can lead to a tragic event at any given point, beter to replace it rather than see how long you can ride it out. Evetually it will need replacing why not sooner than later?

 

the shop won't be able to align your car with a messed up control arm anyway ...

 

With a hit that hard you should also replace the hub and bearing. It will only save you the trouble later on. Hits that damage the control arm usually also leave a small flat spot on the bearing from the impact. Over time that will cause the bearing to fail.

It's normal practice at our shop to always repalce the hub and bearing when an impact to the wheel that damages suspension components occurs.

 

Thank you guys. I didn't think it would be good to drive it at all, but I had to a little to get to work. Now, I'm goin to wait until 5pm tomorrow to get it installed along with my rims and suspension. I was gonna give you a call Tom, but this guy said he'd be able to get a new arm in by tomorrow along with the Zenettis I have ordered and ready to be installed with him @ 5 so I figured why bounce around from shop to shop. Also, do shops normally carry extra/spare hubs and bearings or no? If not I suppose I will have to get them on my own sometime tomorrow.

Once again, thanks guys for the thoughts and info.