Hey folks,

Long story short, i rotated my tires recently and put some sleazy old junks at the back and one day to work had lots of rain+off-camber turn with decreasing radius and before I could blink the rear end lost traction. Hopefully there was a curb, and I was only doing 30mph - I guess things could have been a lot worse. The worst part is that I have two new tires in the basement, but thought I could get a few more miles out of the old ones - you usually pay dearly for all doollars that you try to save

Damage is nasty curb rash and yet to be fully assessed right rear axle damage. I inspected the wheel and there is no play top to bottom and side to side. I think, however that the right rear end is a bit noisier than before - sounds like a little bit of a wining noise. From what I read in the threads I searched sounds like this is the wheel bearing. Can this be the only thing that broke? I will take apart the wheel assembly to inspect it, can I expect to visually see if the axle is bent?

Also, should I be concerned about this:
http://picasaweb.google.com/zzpich/M...71513573102466
http://picasaweb.google.com/zzpich/M...71526458004370

not sure if that happened now or is old...


Thanks a bunch - any help is appreciated!

 

Are the old tires still on the car still? Try putting on the new tires and see if noise is still there.

 

good point - old tires are still on it cause I did not want to put the new ones yet in case I need to re-align the car first after I fix the issues. I guess I can quickly try to swap the left and right rears to see it it changes anything (they do not have a direction).

 

Well, i did not have a chance to swap the wheels yet, but noticed the wheening noise gets louder in left turns at speed, i.e. when the RR is the outside tire.
What does that mean folks?

Thanks,

 

You can put a flat spot on the inner of the sealed bearing when you have a impact like that. This will result in noise.

I would be concerned about that rear axle beam aswell. You should get your alignment checked to make sure you didn't mess up the rear toe angle or thrust angle. Usually if the thrust angle is out you will notice the steering wheel not being straight when going down the road. Most people wouldnt' think that a hit in rear will cause your steering wheel to be off but it will if the rearend is tracking wrong.

 

Thanks, 00SEMAX19!

I guess what I have narrowed it down to is I wonder whether to replace the bearing only(actually I am not sure if I can get only the bearing) or the whole hub assembly?

And as for the alignment, should I check that before or after I replace the bearing? Otherwise, so far the steer wheel does not seem to be off...

 

I would check the alignment before you replace anything. A good alignment tech should be able to tell you everything that is bent or damaged like a possible bent hub. I do believe the hub and bearing come as one on our cars but not completely sure. Also check and make sure the wheel isn't bent. Replacing the hub and bearing after an alignment will not effect the new alignment back there. Nothing is adjustable so all the alignment will tell you is what to replace.

 

Thanks, that is exactly what I was looking for!

Now, if the thrust angle is off, what are my options - is the beam repearble, or would it have to be replaced?

 

Only I hit the front!

My $300 rim broke, but the tire seems ok. Luckily I was able to find another one of the same rims, but it costed me dearly : (

I have the same noise though. Car pulling slightly to the left too. Going for allignment this weekend and will look in more detail there. I HOPE it's only a bearing, as have just a stupid liability insurance..

Maan.. I am SO pissed off.. Every time I make an effort to be good and save some money something like this happens.

I hit the curb with 15-20 mph but the curb was really high and just stopped me cold : ) THat was the first snow (ice actually) in chicago and I was with my summer performace Tires, that have no snow capability. BELIEVE ME they do not have snow capability. It was like driving with nylon wrapped around ur tires. I cant believe I slid while driving with 15 mph...

 

sorry to hear
My wheel is not pretty anymore, but it looks straight - I will have it checked...
Keep us posted as to the results from the alignment.

 

If your steering wheel is straight then I probly wouldn't be to concerned about the rear beam unless the toe angle is out of wack. I would probly just replace the hub/bearing and recheck the alignment if it is confermed that it is bad. If the rear beam is bent bad enough to mess the alignment up then it should be replaced. I don't know of any shops that repair or straighten those.



I had a similar thing happen to me and most likely you have a bent steering knuckle on the front and a bad bearing. When I had the problem I purchased a used knuckle that came with a hub and bearing. Unfortunately the knuckle I purchased had a bad bearing in it. I ended up just replacing the bearing and throwing a camber kit in to fix my alignment problem.

If you are interested I believe I still have that knuckle laying around and will sale it for cheap ($40.00) but it's fairly heavy and I'm sure shipping would be like $30.00.

 

Did this during the past summer jus past...ran up on a curb at a mcdonalds and it bent my rim barely and tore some of my tire rubber off....didnt think anything of it, one day bent down and looked at my 2 back tires and seen the wire on the inside.....wen to the tire shop and ordered 2 new tires and they told me i had bent my axle....took it to a body shop=nothing, took it to the race car shop who works on chassis=nothin, solution=used axle hit me for $1000

 

Go get an alignment from a reputable shop. Theres no way one can guess/know if it's the hub, bearing, or axel without seeing the car.

Let us know the results.

 

I can guess Just going off experience but yes havea good alignment tech look at it. I would check with quality body shops and see who they use to do there alignments.

 

I would not go to Sears. They seem to get all the mechanics right out of training. The ones who use vise grips and channel lock plyers on every nut and bolt. This is by no means a fact, but more of an observation on my part.

I did happen to notice that a local GoodYear tire shop had updated equipment, and a local tire shop too.

We can all guess but being correct is what counts. I would assume it's the bearing, or wheel and maybe the hub. I dought the axle is ruined.

 

As for the axle beam I was just going off the pictures he showed in his first post.

 

Thank you guys for the great inputs!

I know the right alignment shop - they do work for many of the local autocrossers and weekend racer guys, and have good equipment. Of course it all comes at a price - the alignment will set me back $100, vs. the 39.99 at the local NTB or something. It is probably worth it though.

I am real busy at work this week, but will try to get the alignment checked by Friday and will keep you posted.

Thanks a bunch folks!

 

I didn't realize those pictures were there, but I assume that the axle is bent. It may still be usable. It's pinched. The best solution after having it checked out may be to have a shop install an axle from a salvaged car. Gets you the axle, hub and bearings.

 

that is a nasty prospect, I sure had other plans for that $1000. Hopefully it is not going to come to that...

 

That 'pinch' in the rear beam looks exactly like the mark a jack would leave from jacking the rear end off of the beam.

You've probably got a bad bearing. Replace the bearing, then it'd be worth having someone hang a set of alignment heads on the car to check it out.

FWIW

Paul

 

I agree with blkrx7, it looks like a mark from a jack. If you did it on a curb it should have a scuff mark and the paint should be gone. It is unlikely you damaged your axle and if you did I would want to see the car that a used axle came off of, if you go that route. Chances are if it is from a junk yard(salvage) it may have had a worst hit then yours. Put the new tires on it and check your bearing. It is a bearing/hub assembly.

 

If you must install old worn tires, throw them on the front. Why?

The front tires YOU steer. The rear tires rely on grip and tread to follow. This was told to me by a tech at America's Tire.

 

Tires are your connection to the road. Why skimp on your only protection?

 

old tires on front is the new (5 years) recomandation.
That is because once the back end hydroplanes (oversteer, then there is nothing you can do. You will loose control. But if the fronts are worn out you can always steer in opposite direction and if you have weak steering due to worn tires you will drive more cautiously in bad weather as you will feel it. Rear end slide will give you no worning and no way to control it.
This comed from Michelin good year etc.

 

hey guys,

just an update on what is going on - I have been really busy at work, will continue to be in the next couple of weeks, so I have not yet gone to the alignment shop. I think I am going to order the the rear hub assembly and replace it one evening to see what will happen.
Will post more updates as I do stuff...

 

I wanted to say a thing about that but did not have time the other day, so will do so now

While that explanation makes perfect sense, there is one thing that it overlooks - braking. Specifically, the front tires (and brakes) do most of the braking and with worn tires braking distances increase significantly. Antilock brakes certainly help in the case of the Max, but ABS helps not to lock the wheels and skid off and when you have worn tires it does not per se decrease the braking distance. I had the bad tires in the front during the summer and after I thought the braking had gotten sloppy and I activated the ABS several times when it got colder and drizzled some, I put them in the back to NOT compromize braking. Given what happened, it is arguable whether my decision was smart, but I still think braking was more important and probably would have done this again if I had to choose where to put 2 worn tires, if I had to.

That said, since I had the good tires siting at home, I should have found the time to put them on the car and avoid all this. That is the decision I regret

 

Now back to the original topic, hope I did not bore you to death with my previous post.

I actually found a axle beam with one hub for about $300 at a local junk yard and am seriously considering whether to get it. It is from a 2003 max, but I think it is the same - need to double check that - anyone sure about that? I figure if it is in a good condition, it is probably not that bad of a setback.

What I wonder now is whether I can install the beam myself? I have a couple of jacks and good amount of tools, but I am not sure whether there is any alignment involved in the process. What are your thoughts people?

Thanks,

...And Merry Christmas!

 

What are your rear alignment numbers now? I want to know what the toe, camber and trust line is.

 

+1

Get the alignment checked.

It is possible that the rear beam is a problem but most likely it will be fine. And replacing the beam is a mutch larger job than just the hub

 

yeah, you guys are of course right. I thought about it more after I poste dthis and it just does not make sense to replace stuff without knowing what is wrong...

Only problem is that a couple of things annoy me:
- I do not have time to bring the car to the performance shop for alignment (and willnot have time for another 10 days, at least). I do not want to bring the car to a franchise lube shop, but I guess I should consider it now
- the wheenig noise annoys me and I want to replace the bearing. But, it does not make sense to buy the hub for 100 bucks and then find out I need to buy the beam, which will come with a hub.

So, smartest thing is to not rush into buying stuff without being sure, but I am not really happy with how the timing is working so far

Still, if I end up having to replace the beam, can I do that my self?

Thanks,

 

Just got back from the alignment shop. No alignment done, though
The guy said that both rear bearings need replacing - the one on the wheel that I hit, the mechanic said is barely hanging in place, the other one is just normally worn. He said he could not do the alignment before at least the worse one is replaced. So, I will order one hub assembly for now and see where that will take me.