I broke my 1le

[eblanchette]

Hey everybody. While being distracted by the bluetooth voice recognition not working on mylink, I accidentally hit the sidewalk with my driver side wheel. The wheel is a mess, and I removed it to see the damage on other parts. on the drive back home after the accident, the tire rubbed against the strut plate, and the car was obviously totally misaligned due to the bent ctrl arm.


here are some pictures :

Bent Control Arm

Broken Wheel

So my question would be, besides ordering a new contrl arm, what else should I look into? Will I need an alignment? other parts?

I will also need a new 1le splitter :'(

Thanks in advance!

[ST1LE]

Sorry to hear that, but sounds like to could have been worse and good to see it wasnt your black 10-spoke that was damaged.

Alignment I would think is a must, and obviously a new control arm. For me, I would take it to a trusted suspension shop as I am no expert and dont have a lift to get a good look. Good time for some upgrades maybe.

[Norm Peterson]

Originally Posted by eblanchette

Hey everybody. While being distracted by the bluetooth voice recognition not working on mylink, I accidentally hit the sidewalk with my driver side wheel. The wheel is a mess, and I removed it to see the damage on other parts. on the drive back home after the accident, the tire rubbed against the strut plate, and the car was obviously totally misaligned due to the bent ctrl arm.


here are some pictures :

Bent Control Arm

Broken Wheel

So my question would be, besides ordering a new contrl arm, what else should I look into? Will I need an alignment? other parts?

You'll want the knuckle inspected ("spindle"), because the steering arm (what the tierod connects to) may also be bent. I'd check the tierods as well, and the bracket that the bent control arm bolts up to on the frame side. I don't know if the wheel can be saved or not, but if you tend to drive the corners harder than average traffic I'd add that to the list.

There is no way you're going to get out of this without an alignment, done by a good shop.


Don't know if it'll make you feel any better, but I suppose it could have been worse. having some tech feature start nagging at you over the speaker because you accidentally hit some steering wheel button on the way to hitting the horn because of what some other driver was doing comes to mind.


Norm

[eblanchette]

Okay Thanks guys.

I replaced the control arm... Car is still misaligned AND my stock ss wheel doesn't fit anymore (rubs on strut bottom plate) however I can drive it temporarily with my black wheel s.

I am thinking the strut needs to be replaced, it seems curved a bit. Is that possible?

[TheHorse13]

The picture isn't very clear but it looks like the tire took quite a good hit too. The sidewall looks damaged and possibly sliced. I would certainly have a look at the tire in addition to everything else suggested by the others in this thread.

[eblanchette]

I ended up replacing the strut(these springs are a pain to compress lol)

an alignment was also done, but the tech at the dealership aligned the car to an FE3 spec... I could not remember what the 1LE was :( They said they would re-align to FE6 specs.

I did not notice anything bent on the parts that were connecting to the bent ctrl arm; and neither did the alignment techs.

yesterday I took the car out for a drive and noticed a very weird and random pull to the left, it's like the car suddenly decides to pull left for whatever reason, then gets back to position

Considering this incident I am wondering if something else that wasn't seen by the techs or myself could be damaged?

Ideas are welcome

[R19]

What's your deductible?

[eblanchette]

Originally Posted by R19

What's your deductible?

I prefer to deal with this myself and not get insurance involved.

[R19]

Originally Posted by eblanchette

I prefer to deal with this myself and not get insurance involved.

It's been a long time since I have attempted to do any work on a car. This is in line with the #$%^ification of America, but I do recall Chilton, Bentley, etc. repair manual guides. I think you should acquire one of those to start.

I think you'll find detailed system and component lists and diagrams.

[SSCamaro1LE]

My question is why is this titled 1LE? Not even a 1LE wheel. I bought my 1LE and got a tire and wheel warranty.

[Norm Peterson]

Originally Posted by eblanchette

an alignment was also done, but the tech at the dealership aligned the car to an FE3 spec... I could not remember what the 1LE was :( They said they would re-align to FE6 specs.

I did not notice anything bent on the parts that were connecting to the bent ctrl arm; and neither did the alignment techs.

yesterday I took the car out for a drive and noticed a very weird and random pull to the left, it's like the car suddenly decides to pull left for whatever reason, then gets back to position

My first suspicion is that the steering wheel position sensor wasn't properly reset as part of the alignment. Not doing that can make stability control systems do odd things.

You might be able to determine whether or not this is the case by turning the stabilitrak off completely and seeing if the problem goes away.


Norm

[eblanchette]

Originally Posted by Norm Peterson

My first suspicion is that the steering wheel position sensor wasn't properly reset as part of the alignment. Not doing that can make stability control systems do odd things.

You might be able to determine whether or not this is the case by turning the stabilitrak off completely and seeing if the problem goes away.


Norm

I do remember the stabilitrak lights going crazy after the curb hit. I will try turning it off asap and see if it's better.

[Norm Peterson]

Does your ABS lamp either stay lit or illuminate randomly while driving?


Norm

[eblanchette]

Originally Posted by Norm Peterson

Does your ABS lamp either stay lit or illuminate randomly while driving?


Norm

No lights come on while driving, not even when it starts pulling left randomly.