broken control arm and what else? curb 1, Malibu 0

I made a left turn in my 1999 Malibu today on a snow-and-ice covered street at around 5-10mph. This was a little too fast as I slid into the curb with my right front wheel. I probably should have turned into the curb, and went up on it, maybe I would have been fine. Instead, my wheel hit parallel to the curb and broke almost completely off.

Here are some pictures. Image sizes range from 52 KB to 114 KB. Your comments on exactly what I damaged would be appreciated.

Inside of the wheel. Brake rotor at bottom of screen. Fractured metal in foreground. This is the point of failure.

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broken MacPherson strut? Notice bottom rim (back) underneath the spring.
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top view
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looking down into wheel well
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mangled CV boot. What is this green gel/grease/liquid?
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front view
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Reply to
Joe Blow
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You may find damage throughout the steering linkages.

This seems like more damage than 5MPH to 10MPH impact would have done.

Reply to
James C. Reeves

Looks like pretty typical damage that I see in our shop when a Malibu gets "curbed". The aluminum spindles just snap in half. Should be good for a fair bit of money.

Ian

Reply to
shiden_kai

Being a 99 its time anway to have both front Struts, Springs, Strut Bearings, Strut Mounts replaced, Replace the busted Control Arm ( I think Ian called it a spindle in his post), check the CV Boot & Axle assembly ( if needed, replace it ). There is where your green grease is coming from.

Inspect tire for sidewall damage. Check rim for being straight. Front end alignment required when replacing struts.

The 5-10 mph impact isn't what did the damage, it was 3,050 pounds of steel & the force of hitting unmovable concrete that did the damage.

Good Luck.

========= Harryface =========

1991 Pontiac Bonneville LE 3800 V6 ( C ), Black/Slate Grey _~_~_~297,626 miles_~_~_

~_~_~_~_U.S.A._~_~_~_~_~_

~~~The Former Fleet ~~~

89 Cavalier Z 24 convertible 78 Holiday 88 coupe 68 LeSabre convertible 73 Impala sedan
Reply to
Harry Face

Thanks. Yeah it was the unmovable curb that did it. The fact that it was an old straight stone curb helped. If it had been a newer, rounded/sloped curb, the wheel may have climbed it successfully.

snipped-for-privacy@webtv.net (Harry Face) wrote in news:15091-41EAFC9A-100

Reply to
Joe Blow

Wow. I wacked a curb at about 30 MPH in my 84 T/A about 5 years ago. Only thing it did was chew up the rim, pop the center cap of, tweak the A-arm or strut and throw the front out of alignment. The strut is slotted for adjustment so I moved the strut until the wheel was strait up and down, adjusted the tie rod on that side and everything has been fine since. No worse than it was before wacking the curb.

They sure make cars cheap these days .......

Reply to
Dennis Smith

Harry, I'd bet he's going to need an alignment wherther he replaces the struts or not Looks like that brake hose went through a rough ride too.

Happened to me a few years back. Got off lucky, just bent a tie rod end. That was before GM started using aluminum castings for steering knuckles.

Regards, Al.

Reply to
Al Haunts

Replace the busted Control Arm ( I

My mistake...I think it was the steering knuckle that was broken.

Ian

Reply to
shiden_kai

I've bounced off a few curbs at higher speeds than 5-10MPG before as well...it never did this much damage (realignments only). The only damage is when the daughter slid on the ice and nailed the right front tire into a curb (about 25MPH) and cracked the pittman arm (and popped off the hubcap). That was in a Dodge Dakota. I still say that that much damage is very surprising, based on the description of events.

Reply to
James C. Reeves

back from GM Goodwrench today. The parts they replaced include

1) knuckle 2) hub kit 3) strut 4) "HF SHFT" and the wheel itself.

"shiden_kai" wrote in

Reply to
Joe Blow

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