i was approaching a green light that beared right. i hit the light at about 80. what i didn't see or know was that there was loose gravel on the intersection. i lost traction and slammed into the left island after the light. it wasnt a big crash, more of a drifting-into-island sorta thing. i stopped the car afterwards and my skirts are scratched and the metal weights on my left hand rims are gone. after driving it for a while, i decided that there was no frame damage but the steering wheel has to be counterclockwised an inch or two to get into a straight line. how much does it cost to balance my wheels? can the change in steering be fixed by an alignment?

 

for alignmet anywhere range from $80 to $180
I remember front wheel alignments were $60 back in the days now is more like $100+

 

you may have actually pushed the wheel back - if your steering wheel is cocked now chances are somethign is bent.

I would recommend you do a ghetto tram on the car before you take it for an alingment.

get a long stick or board or something sturdy and (depending on what wheels your running) pop the caps off so you can see the ends of the spindles. take a pointer, or screwdriver or whatever and attach it to the board so that both the pointers are at the center of the spindles front and rear.

set it up on the side with no damage

then compare to the other side

you might find you wheel is back a fair distance....Id inspect your control arms, spindle and strut assembly very carefully

 

Check your front subframe. You'd be suprised how easy those things will bend. They'd bend before the control arms would. Check that to make sure your whole control arm and wheel didnt get pushed back. You can replace the front subframe just go to a junkyard.

 

my control arm bent before anything else did.

 

anybody have pictures? i'm kinda really confused.

any chance its the alignment? i'm going to lift the car up later this week, can i spot the problems then?

 

yes. look at the non hit side. then look at the hit side. with one wheel pointed straight forward. the other wheel should do the same, if not, you have some suspension issues.

 

Yes that is the problem - alignment

But you can only adjust the alignment so much in order to make things perfect.

For your case everything that is possibly (and more than likely) bent is throwing it so far out of whack that not a simple alignment will fix the problem

 

crap. lesson learned, dont go 80+ in streets you don't know.

 

um, can i lie down in front of the car and check out the frame that way or do i have to wait till i get it on a lift?

 

jack up the front of the car will work. you just need to see the parts. off the ground helps to normalize how the parts sit between the good and bad side.

 

took it to a shop, turns out the rear strut bar is bent on the left. fixes? places to get replacements?

 

i mean the lateral link. where can i get replacements?

ok i checked mazdatrix. ....143 dollars...wth...substitutions?

 

Junk yard...............There are a few fc's local to me in the yards.

 

banzairacing - 45 shipped (used). wow....nobody buy it, i gotta wait till friday for my check!!

 

hm, well after doing some searching and calling around, turns out that fc's lateral links are prone to bend if u slide up against a curb.