DivinDriver

iTrader: (15)

There's a somewhat confusing diagram in the FSM, suspension section... you have to stare at it for a bit to make sense of it.

Kentetsu

For maximum camber with stock strut tops, the arrow should point inward, and toward the windshield.

I can't recall off the top of my head whether the coilovers without camber plates still utilize the stock strut top. If so, then the adjustment for max camber would be the same.




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wankel=awesome

Ahhhh another Brother/FB nightmare.


Could be worse, my brother raced/totaled my car at Mid-Ohio while I was deployed in the air force.

He hit a "rut" in a sand pit sideways at 100+ miles per hour.

Sand slowed him to a crawl almost instantly, but the inertia bent the body to the point where the hoodline is no longer parallel with the roof. Oh and the monroof popped out on impact and doesnt fit anymore.

Could be MUCH MUCH worse. RIP '85 GSL.

airmenair

Finally here are some pics. I'll narrate as best I can but let me know if something jumps out at you.

Front left wheel damage:





Front left with wheel off. Nothing sticks out to me:



Front left tie rod, thought it looked funny at first but compared to the other side its the same.



Front left control arm. Couldn't see anything wrong with it:



Right front control arm to serve as comparison to the left. Looks the same to me.



Left front strut rod mount. Not totally clear in the picture but the bottom of the mount apparently scraped the curb although I couldn't see any damage actually done to the mount. The bushing appears "unflush" for lack of better term with the mount but that is just because I have that side of the car jacked up.





Another shot of the left front strut rod.



Only damage I could see on the front end appeared to be a steering stop screw. (Its the only thing I can fathom it being). The head of the bolt appears bent.

airmenair

Shot of the steering box. Yup the motor has an unrelated oil leak.



Shot underneath looking towards the right front wheel. Nothing to really look at unless you see something off.



Now to the rear....


This wheel incurred damage.



Left rear shock vs. Right rear shock. Not sure if you can tell but it looks like the right is leaning slightly to the right.





Here are some shots of the sway bar which I initially thought looked funky...

Left side:



Right side:





Looking left to right:



I thought the right side looked banana-ed as opposed to the left. Look fine to you guys?

The following will be some shots of the Watts link. I wasn't able to get great shots so these will have to do until I get it up on jack stands tomorrow.

Link on the diff:



Another view of that link I think directly below it:



I think this is the arm on the watts link that attaches to the left side:

airmenair

A few more of the link on the diff:







Next two are links on the left side to the frame.

Lower control arm. Like the front strut rod it was apparent that the frame rails underneath the mount had grinded on the concrete, although I could not see any damage to the actual mount itself:



This is the upper arm on the left side. I'm not positive on that nomenclature. Looked straight to me.

[IMG]http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y206/EEM/RX7/IMG02234-20111116-
1724.jpg[/IMG]

One other thing I thought looked a little odd though was how the coil springs were sitting in the axle on both sides. What do you think?


Left:



Right:








Both look as though the axle is sitting further back than it should be. What do you think?

orion84gsl

iTrader: (5)

Aside from the fact that it was not your car, you shouldn't feel too bad. I did the exact same thing the first year I had my car. That snap oversteer is a bitch. The only issue I had was the drivers side axle was bent right at the hub and the rear drivers rim was bent and cracked beyond repair. Jack up the rear and have someone spin the other wheel while you look or use a dial indicator to check for wobble. That's how I figured out the problem. I just ran the car in first gear while it was up on jackstands. Became pretty obvious what the problem was. Luckily because I was trying to correct the slide the front wheel just hopped the curb instead of broadsiding it. I'd also use a dial indicator to check the front hub. Could be you bent the spindle if you hit it right.

Good luck.

airmenair

Driving behind my brother I noticed the left rear wheel was wobbly. This was with the bent rim. It seemed pretty obvious.

Well today I put it up on jack stands and observed the wheel with the new rim. With the car idling I examined it really closely and did not see an appreciable wobble. Could have just been the tire. Tomorrow I'm going to mount a dial indicator and check to see if it's in spec or not. Either way though with the new wheel the wobble has decreased significantly.

I haven't really come across any damage yet, at least nothing obvious. What do you guys think, anything jump out in the pictures?

rx7lives

Is the Watts linkage bent? It's what keeps the rear end in place. It's actually a fancy panhard bar but it has a pivot in the middle of the rear end because with just a panhard bar, when the suspension goes up and down, the rear end will go side to side. A Watts linkage is supposed to prevent this.

I imagine one or both wheels are bent as well.

I would check both of the bars, their mountings, the pivot both bars connect to, and importantly, the pin that sticks out of the rear end that the pivot is on. If that's bent, if you can't straighten it, you'll need a new rear end housing.
The Watts linkage is on the drive shaft side of the rear end.

rwatson5651

iTrader: (5)

If your axle is not centered the damage is most likely here:



I would remove the watts linkage and check the pin to make sure it is pointed straight toward the front on the car. It is a weak link in our rear suspension and is easily damaged. Mazdatrix makes a brace for it because it is suscepticle to damage. I think its mazdatrix anyway.

airmenair

I'll remove the Watts link tomorrow and inspect it.

Jingkun

iTrader: (4)

Possibility being that it may have just been the rims then. Best case scenario anyhow.

orion84gsl

iTrader: (5)

With the bushings being 25+ years old they would be rather soft so when you hit the curb there would have been some play before the shock of the impact went into any of the metal components. Chances are it's just the wheel, maybe the axle. You could take it to an alignment shop and have them see if the rear axle is out of alignment with the stock specs. That might tell you more and it's usually fairly inexpensive.

RX-7 Chris

iTrader: (19)

I think the rear is most likely bent.

The front stay rod mount will need to be replaced. I would look at the front control arm really close because if the say rod mount bent and it is a heavy chunk of steel, the control are stamped steel. Also look at the stay rod itself.

orion84gsl

iTrader: (5)

^ The mount isn't bent, it only has a scrape on the bottom. The control looks fine in the pictures as well. It would be fairly is easy to see if it was bent and it looks fine.

airmenair

Could you clarify what you mean by rear is bent? Are you talking about the axle, the rear end or the Watt's link?

Stay rod=strut rod? If so why do you think the mount needs to be replaced? The only damage was some scraping on the bottom, didn't look like it took a direct hit.

I'll take a closer look at that control arm but at initial inspection it looked fine.

EDIT: Also, do you guys use different alignment specs for your cars than the factory settings. In my experience with classic cars the factory alignment is not particularly good and the recommended alignment spec is much different.

airmenair

Oh and any tips getting that 21mm nut off the watts link to the axle? I can't get my impact in there.

RX-7 Chris

iTrader: (19)

Maybe it is just the picture of the rear left shot but it almost doesn't look straight. You could take the car to a drivetrain shop and have them check the rear with their equipment.

Stay rod does = strut rod. The reason I think the mount should be replaced is the way that bushing isn't sitting flat.

The only reason I'm saying to check those things is because the car could be a real safety hazard if something snapped or a weld broke while driving. Also if the car doesn't drive straight, it could completely change the characteristics of the car and make it very unpredictable.

airmenair

I think the strut/stay rod looks like that because I had that part of the car jacked up when I took the picture. With the weight of the car on the wheels the bushing sit nice and flush. The car could certainly use having all the bushings replaced but I think the mount is fine.

In regards to the rear what picture are you referring to specifically?

The car doesn't drive bad. It does pull to the left slightly but I was able to drive it 70 miles a few days ago to get it to where I have all of my tools and equipment.

Jingkun

iTrader: (4)

So by pull to the left, do you mean it stopped crabbing?

airmenair

^ Can't say really. The crabbing is something I can't really feel while driving and I haven't had anyone drive behind me since I drove behind my brother the day afterwards.

When I say it pulls to the left what happens is if I hold the wheel straight and drive it drives straight. However if I let go of the wheel the car tends to the left slightly. Doesn't feel any worse than any other car I've driven that was out of alignment.

cshaw07

iTrader: (14)

id just replace the known bent wheels and take it to an alignment rack. go from there.

airmenair

Got some more pictures.

As part of this I'm having my brothers wheels redone and not the stockers. He has some pretty sleek 15" wheels that while nice need refinishing. How they are now:





Also got the Watts link off. Looks fine to me. What do you think?













Here is the stud. Looks straight to me

airmenair

More pics






















I think I'm going to take it to a local alignment shop first thing in the morning.

Also on that 21mm nut there is a lock washer that fell off the stud. I could have sworn it was between the watts link and that big convex washer but I'm not positive since usually the are right under nuts. Where does it go?

Thanks.

rwatson5651

iTrader: (5)

Yea, it should go next to the nut.

Take to the alignment shop and let them check it out, just from what I have read in your post I think you may be ok. Pretty lucky considering what might have been.

Those wheels will look good too. Do you have the centers?