Ok guys, basicaly I had an accident. Deer went in front of me and a cut a corner sharp to miss it. Front end held the road, back end slipped out. I corrected, got aligned with the road, and ended up sliding off the road parralel in direction to the road. The front driverside took the majority of the damage as the car stopped abruptly in a dirt/mud drainage ditch. The tire broke the bead seal which was easily fixed by filling the tire with air, the beads resealed.

Other mechanical damage:
* Brakes dragged the entire way home, very little brake pressure, have to put the pedal almost to the floor.
* Tire bottomed out on the fenderwell a couple times on the way home.

Pictures:

This is the rotor. As you can see, the caliper got pushed onto the rotor. Rotor-vs-Caliper: Caliper wins. I need the rotor milled and new brakepads. The caliper looks ok per visual inspection, though it may be warped/bent somehow-- not sure. Picture: http://www.rerev.com/temp6/accident/PICT0004.JPG

I had a hard time turning the front wheel hub. I decided to dismantle it to see if i could find the problem. I took it down to the spindle. And found what might be a problem.

It looks almost like the spindle isn't pointing the right direction. On the straight down picture, it appears to be pointing towards the back of the car. Is this normal?
http://www.rerev.com/temp6/accident/PICT0010.JPG

Heres the biggie that scares me though. When you look at the spindle from the front of the car, it appears as though the spindle is pointed slightly downward. Is this normal?
http://www.rerev.com/temp6/accident/PICT0013.JPG
http://www.rerev.com/temp6/accident/PICT0016.JPG
http://www.rerev.com/temp6/accident/PICT0014.JPG
http://www.rerev.com/temp6/accident/PICT0015.JPG

Finaly, I removed the hub and removed the bearing from the hub. The bearing seems fine and spins as freely as it can being smushed with wheelbearing grease. The hub on the other hand I have a HUGE question.

On the reverse side (side faces the engine) of the hub, there is a raise that is freely movable inside the hub. Is this normal, or is it supposed to be set and not moveable? This video better explains: http://www.rerev.com/temp6/accident/fronthub.avi


There was some slight body damage. The front nose cone cracked, and the DS Front fender doesn't align with the DS Door correctly.
http://www.rerev.com/temp6/accident/PICT0012.JPG
http://www.rerev.com/temp6/accident/PICT0020.JPG
http://www.rerev.com/temp6/accident/PICT0019.JPG


Thanks for your help guys, this is my DD and I need to get it back running ok ASAP!

 

I got a second opinion, the spindle is deffinately bent downwards. I need to replace this, it looks pretty routine to change-- compress spring, unbolt from the strut and tie rod end.

BUT: Where the hell do I find one of these at?

 

mazdatrix maybe?? Sorry to hear about the car man hopefully not to hard to fix! Good luck!

oh or you could find someone that is parting out thier car in the forsale section.

 

I'd go to the Ol' salvage yard, or just check the for sale section. The board user Surfmon probably has a whole bunch, I'd PM him. He's quick with prices and shipping. Good guy too.

 

yes that bend on your spindle indicates that the bottom of the tire/rim hit and uneven surface forcing the bottom of the tire inwards and the top out.. ( been there done that too )..actually after u find the part its a very easy fix.. tie rod end and both upper and lower ball joints need taken off.. spindle drops out new 1 goes in walla all better =D

 

I'm about 600 miles from a salvage yard with an FC... Also mazdatrix sells the hubs but not the spindles

 

I've got some spare spindles. PM me..

 

Ok guys, well I just ordered a spindle from exfindparts.com. Should be here next week, and it wasn't greatly expensive-- about what I expected $68 including shipping.

 

Do i need to compress the sping?

 

Why would you, the strut does that for you?

 

Isn't the strut held on by the spindle mount thingie

 

it comes out as a whole....the spring AND the shock.......

 

Kenteth, sorry to hear you broke your car. i hope you fix her up better than before.

Matt

 

What do you think, I dont know what Im doing after parting out and repairing HUNDREDS of these cars over a period of years? Fine then, don't take my advice.

"Dont question mah athoritah!"

 

LOL, ok ok Kevin... You know I respect your authoratizmal. So I just unbolt it the tie rod, A frame thingie, and the strut mount? Guess I'm just confused about how it comes apart.

 

I'd advise you jack up the entire front end, so there is no stress on the LCA/swaybar from the other side. Remove brake caliper. Take loose the tierod end (loosen nut and whack spindle with a hammer until the tierod loosens), the strut bolts at the spindle, and finally seperate the balljoint from the spindle. Sometimes I find that removing the clamp bolt altogether, then hammering in a thick flat screwdriver or prybar as a wedge helps get the spindle off the joint without damage (seperators usually bust the boot). It'll come right off. You might have to apply some pressure during reinstallation to realign the strut to the spindle, because it will expand a little bit without it all being bolted together...no big deal, usually your weight pushing down on the LCA is enough to get the bolts started in the strut. IF you can get the joints apart without damage, it's really a very easy job.

 

http://my.ohio.voyager.net/~shoemake...man-listen.mp3

 

LMFAO!!!!!!!