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'96 C280 (W202) Front left suspension disallocation

HI There,

I have a '96 C280 (right hand drive) that had an accident a couple of nights ago that crashed into the pavement while turning into a corner and was avoiding a dog that refused to went away from the road at about 40kms per hour, at the time the left front wheel hit the pavement, with no or very little body work damaged.

The crashed was a bit serious, as the mechanic told me that the lower control arm of the front left is bended, the drag link is dislocated and the torsion bar (which linked to the steering) is also bended. I also damaged the alloy wheel even some of the alloy is dropped off at the scene. The other parts are look (only by visual inspection) okay so far, especially the suspension, the shocks and the other arms that link to the suspension. It was the spring that bended a little to the rear because of the dislocation of the wheel hub. I turned manually the wheel hub myself, but it seems smooth, with little fraction. It seems the only big problem is to replace all the joining sections which hold the front left wheel.

I have the following questions:

1: Is it true that we have to replace the lower control arm first, and re-do the wheel alignment before we can check if there's further problem(s) with the front left wheel?

2: Will the incident damaged the whole suspension of the front-left wheel (or even the right front)?

3: Will the incident affect the driving performance (in terms of the steering, the size of the turning circle, turning stability at both low speed and high speed, steering response, etc) after the replacement and the repairment?

Any reply will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks and Regards, Joe.

Reply to
Joe
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The wishbone is almost certian to be bent (202 suspension is very bendy compared to some other models), and the console brackets to which it attaches may also have moved a little.

The other side should be ok, and the hub and upright may be ok as they're the strong parts of the suspension, the only way to find out is to replace the bottom wishbone, and go from there.

Not if it's repaired properly.

Reply to
the guvnor

Hi,

Thank you very much for the reply. But I wonder if the wishbone is the equivalent to the lower control arm, or is it something else, such as the torsion bar, or the drag link??

Thank you once again, I really appreciate it.

Regards, Joe.

"the guvnor" ¦b¶l¥ó news:PE_0d.317$ snipped-for-privacy@newsfe1-win.ntli.net ¤¤¼¶¼g...

The wishbone is almost certian to be bent (202 suspension is very bendy compared to some other models), and the console brackets to which it attaches may also have moved a little.

The other side should be ok, and the hub and upright may be ok as they're the strong parts of the suspension, the only way to find out is to replace the bottom wishbone, and go from there.

Not if it's repaired properly.

Reply to
Joe

Wishbone = lower arm.

Reply to
the guvnor

I suggest you have a body shop look at it. The reasoning is because physically we can see what is bent... but in reality... we don't see the frame bent or not... where the lower control arm is attached to.

The body shop that has a laser frame machine can tell you where is bent in the frame and what needs to be corrected properly... after all, they repair cars and truch that has been in worse condition than yours.

Mechanic can tell you oh... your lower control arm is bent... but when they put it back together, they will see in alignment that they can't true it... then they will tell you that a body shop is needed to further correct the problem... so it is easier to skip the middleman.

If you have full coverage insurance, get them involved. You paid the premium for it.

Reply to
Tiger

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