another pothole another wheel but lower control arms too?

M

meGrimlock

forever waiting
Contributor
:
DC
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03 Protege ES
a few weeks ago i hit a massively deep pothole. my car literally felt like it fell into depths of hell. only recently was i able to bring it to a shop to have it inspected. i was getting that thumping noise when you get a flat tire, except the tires werent flat and it was only really audible from around 40mph and up.

so i figured at least 1 wheel was bent, which it is. they said i needed a new wheel but they also said the lower control arm bushings were torn. they could not replace just the bushings, but had to do the entire control arm. both control arms installed would be $1150, and that is without a new wheel or alignment.

i didnt have the money and i called around other shops. their quotes were from $700-$800 without looking at the car yet.

my question is can i just replace the wheel? buy a used wheel off the forum or ebay and get away with not fixing the lower control arms? is this something that needs attention right away? i am talking to my insurance company and they wanted me to bring it to one of their shops first.
 
I would replace the control arms yourself, you can have replacement control arms for around $100 and a few hours of your labor. If they are bent you can surely get new wheels and tires, but the tires are jsut going to wear weird. Not too mention that the ball joint is not going to be happy if its in some weird postion with the arm bent. Also, along with added tire wear, a car that is heavilyout of alignment will be worse on gas mileage too.
 
i don't believe the control arms are damaged. just the bushings. i am bringing it to another shop this week and will get their opinion. i definitely do not have a few hours, only a handful of tools, and even less experience working on cars.
 
so after the shop installed the new bushings and replaced the wheel i got this pull/torque steer sensation. here is the thread i described it when someone else seemed to have a similar problem:
http://www.mazdas247.com/forum/show...alignment...&p=5618356&viewfull=1#post5618356

this would explain the pull...

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dont know which fluid that is. i assumed it was brake fluid but the resevoir is full and the pedal returns. my next guess is transmission fluid. couldnt move any more, no steering or forward/reverse gears.

my mom and dad were in the car when it happened. pretty loud noise from the wheel well and my mom totally freaked. my dad found this bolt a few meters behind the car. you can see the tire tracks on the street from when this occured and i managed to direct it towards the closest intersection and as far off the road as possible.

oh and the best part? i went to the shop later in the night to get my radio/misc stuff out of the car. the car was locked and alarm was activated. when i arrived at my car all the loose change in my cupholders were gone. i had taken out of the center console while working on it, and put the console back with only a couple screws and left the others in the cup holder to finish working on later. the screws and caps are gone too! the tow truck driver must've grabbed a handful of whatever was in my cup holders and stuffed it in his pocket.
 

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likely it is trans fluid and the axle was pulled from the transmission when the control arm cam disconnected. I know its not up everyones alley but this is the s*** I couldnt stand any longer and the reason i started to do ALL my own work with me and a friend if needed. Shops just because they have a name and maybe some "certifications" doesnt mean s*** most of them do shotty work at best with a few good shops scattered. sorry to hear this happened to u and good luck with getting it fixed
 
yea, i dont have technical knowledge, tools, or time to work on the car as much as i can. basically a few things that can be done with a socket wrench and a screw driver is the extend of my abilities.

i went there in the AM and showed them the bolt, they couldnt figure out why it happened. they also bring it to a 2nd shop for the wheel alignment and said anything out of the ordinary would've showed up then too. waiting to hear back from them. wondering if i should file an insurance claim at this point.
 
i wouldnt take responsibility for it by filing with your insurance. either them or the 2nd shop are responsible. likely going to be the 1st shop since that bolt had to be removed when putting the bushings in. Looks to me they either didnt thread it in, or the nut was not there and the bolt wiggled out. I highly doubt that either way would have been noticed by someone doing an alignment since they do not need to touch that area to do the alignment and they weren't looking for anything. I would definitely be up the 1st shops ass to repair the car how it sits, plus the cost of the trans fluid a new alignment and hopefully the tie rod/end didnt get ****** up from the added stress when that came out.
 
i got it back from the shop that did the work. they said they were sorry about the bolt, retorqued the bolt on both sides for good measure, reinstalled the right half shaft. they replaced a broken fender linder (albeit with the WRONG part #), and refilled the transmission fluid. they took responsibility and didnt charge me anything so i guess they tried to make it right. i'm never going back to that shop again though.

as i've driven it a couple days now, my steering wheel is cocked to the left but theres none of that pull i experienced before, so i assume there is still an alignment issue.

the car is a bit noisier too. this is over the increased NVH from the polyurethane bushings and def not engine noise. there is a bit more road noise, and there seems to be a bit more noise under the hood in general. its like a constant groan. not clicking, not a high pitched squeel, its not a creaking noise and there are no vibrations. one thing i noticed this morning was when i make a turn, the noise gets louder. when the wheel returns to center the noise goes away.
 
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does the noise get louder when accelerating and quieter when slowing down? If so it could be a wheel bearing. They are not uncommon to go on our cars. Glad to hear they did it all without charging you though. If the wheel is off center than an alignment is the way to resolve that.
 
thanks for taking the time to reply to my posts. the engine noise eventually overcomes the other new noises i hear so i don't believe it gets louder during acceleration.

i just took a few minutes during lunch to drive around the parking garage in circles. it also sounds like the power steering pump is working overtime when i turn left. i wonder if its the power steering or the half shaft that was put back in as well.
 
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bump and an update, the noise has gotten progressively louder since i've gotten the car back. i swapped my front and rear wheels to see if its a tire issue and the noise remains. it seriously sounds like a cessna propeller airplane is under my car. it was not this loud when i got it back.

the noise is most audible between 25mph and 45mph. 50mph+ and road noise/engine noise sort of covers it up but you can hear its still there.

update: shop test drove it with me. they could hear the noise when turning left. up on the lift they had the car in gear and the wheels in motion. with a stethoscope you can hear the grinding of the bearings. when they stopped the opposite wheel the load would be on the problem wheel and the grinding would be louder.

the bearing (originally they needed the whole hub assembly but later were able to do just the bearing) was replaced for the cost of parts. they are eating the labor as a gesture to accomodate what happened earlier.
 
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i've been getting the same groaning noise and today the shop replaced the left wheel bearing again. is there another part damaged (like the hub or knuckle) by this event that could cause premature bearing failure? what does a damaged hub or steering knuckle look like?
 
Wow, sorry to hear about the rough luck you've had. The bearing seems to have survived 3 years. Usually they last 8-10 years/100,000-125,000 miles, but maybe not if they used a cheap one? Yes, the hub and steering knuckles can be damaged and need replacing. This can be subtle--I recall one forum member was having trouble with one corner of his car and replaced several parts, which didn't help, until he replaced the knuckle, then all was better. Not sure what his symptoms were.
 
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