Wheel directions & track rods

[SLR69]

I had an off at a trackday on Monday and went over a curb/rumblestrip and ended up on the grass and when I came to a stop both wheels were splayed and were pointing in different directions. I feared the worst and thought that I have done some serious damage.

 

I gingerly tried to drive the car off the grass and back onto the track and both wheels came back in line albeit I suspect that the tracking is now slightly out as they do not quite appear to be as they were and the steering perhaps appears to be a little vague compared to the precise nature before.

 

I took the car back to the pits and tried everything but could not find anything bent or loose. I then did another slow lap of the track and could not find anything amiss.

 

I then drive home some 60 miles and other than wheel wobble at about 60-70 mph which I had before anyway which might be that the wheels need balancing or that the wheel bearings need replacing, the only noticeable difference other than the vague steering was that the steering pulls to the right.

 

What I cannot work out is how that the two wheels were pointing in different directions and then came back to what looks like normal. Could I have popped a track rod end out of the ball joint and it then popped back in ?

 

Would it be worth while replacing both front track rods and wheel bearings to be on the safe side ?

 

Any assistance appreciated.

 

Stuart

 

 

 

Edited by - SLR69 on 21 Jun 2008 18:46:39

[Stationary M25 Traveller]

Could I have popped a track rod end out of the ball joint and it then popped back in ?

No !!

 

Sounds very odd. Definitely worth getting it checked very carefully. Jack wheels off the ground and check for play in all rod ends - top wishbone, steering arms, etc.

 

Have you busted the lower swivel joint ? Maybe it's just the weight of the car holding it in place ???? 😳

 

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[Paul Richards]

When you have toe out after a bump like that, it's usually that you have bent something - possibly the steering arm - check the gap between the arm and the disc - compare the gap one side of the car to the other. More likely and less obvious is a bent track rod end. Not easy to spot, but can restrict the movement. Best way to check is to remove track rod end from steering arm and move from side to side. You may find it moved more one way than the other as they usually bend where it narrows down just before the ball.

Very strange that it should 'cure' itself - It could be a bent track rod end, or bottom of stub axle where it goes through spherical bearing but may suggest something is loose.

As SM25 suggests - check it very carefully.

 

Paul Richards

Area Representative - L.A.D.S. (Lancashire and District Sevens)

LADS Website

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[Rowland Cook]

Just going over a rumble strip is not sufficient to bend anything let alone splay the wheels.

 

You don't give any details of the age or type of the car, they can have different front suspensions.

 

Jacking up the front of the car (onto axle stands) and carefully going over the front suspension in its entirety is never a bad idea. Give it a good pulling and tugging and see what happens.

 

 

 

Regards

Rowland

[SLR69]

Jacked the car up today and could not find anything loose or bent.

 

Got an engineer friend to have a look and taking measurements from one side to the other between the arm and the disc and there is about 1/16th of an inch difference in the gap between one side and the other which is probably not enough to worry about and resetting the tracking will probably cure it.

 

However, to be on the safe side I am going to get my friendly mechanic to check the steering rack and the track rods ends.

 

Edited by - SLR69 on 22 Jun 2008 22:49:25

[CharlesElliott]

The steering arms (the thing that the track rod end goes into) are basically sacrificial and bend before the upright arm bends. In 99% of cases that's what happens when there is a heavy front wheel impact - although hitting a curb is not really heavy enough.

 

 

 

Charles

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