engine and drivetrain When your front end falls apart...

[mbaze]

...it look like this.

Was driving down the road, hit a moderate bump, accompanied by a loud bang from the front. While I contemplated what to do, I was forced to brake for slower traffic. Front wheel stopped, car body kept going. I don't know what caused this, but the ball joint bolts are long gone and the thing is split from the strut. I haven't had a chance to get under it yet to see the extent of the damage. The strut mount area in the engine compartment only has a slight, slight dimple. My biggest fear is that the steering box on up was bent out out of shape. But I think this all may be fixable without too much pain.

But the fender, how do you replace those? They look welded to the front piece.

More gruesome pics here: http://picasaweb.google.com/mbazeley/2002Wrecked?pli=1&gsessionid=kyTYcN-nNdFDeigm2U-9jQ#

Oh, and good luck getting AAA to tow you if this ever happens. They were at a loss.

[InkaSteve]

Wow, and I thought my ball joint breaking was bad. Mine just pulled out of the lower control arm, but stayed attached to the steering arm which kept it from pulling as far back as yours did. Sorry, no advice for fender replacement. I just tweaked mine back and hit it with some touch-up paint. Still pretty scary to think about what would have happened if I was driving any faster, or on the freeway, or a mountain road. Reminder to all to check these things for safety reasons.

My pics look good compared to yours..

[74tiiGolf]

The fender is reasonably easy. You can probably do a search for the removal but it's fairly painless. The filler is easily melted in between the front clip and the fender then you have a couple of welds to deal with if I recall correctly. Good luck!

Matthew

[jonjank]

ouch!! yeah literally the exact same thing happened to me once after a particularly deep pothole in Chicago.... The Cop thought my car was totaled... Tow truck wasn't thrilled either. Had her on the road the next day.

[Mike_R]

WOW....

I geuss that is a hint to check the front end once in while!!!

that is not good. As I looked at the photos you link to I can see that that is not the ball joint but the strut housing that sheared off. that may be much worse. Be extra carefull since the brake lines are obviously damaged as well.

[jgerry2002]

Looks like a ball joint failure to me... except he was going fast enough that after it came apart the braking action forced the strut under the car.

Check those ball joints!

[MikeinNC]

From your pics it looks like your lower strut nuts worked loose and were torn off when the rabbit fit joint became loose enough This is why those three nuts need to be safety wired back like design after strut replacement

I have seen so many 02s without the safety wire down there

All you FAQers should CHECK YOUR LOWER STRUT NUTS TODAY AND MAKE SURE THEY ARE SAFETY WIRED IF YOU ARE NOT SURE

[GrindGarage]

I drive like an ass... Fast and at the limit wherever i go in my 02.... but i def saftey check it every time i change the oil.... u gotta get a better mechanic or check list... i would never let a car leave my bay with ball joints as bad as ready to go any play = replacement!

cliff

72 02

91 vanagon vw luv

91 325i turbo megasquirt

82 honda nightahwlk

[TobyB]

Fender's not bad, really.

It is getting harder to get new ones, though...

Hey, all, if you have rivets holding your ball joints to the arms, it's

time to replace 'em! They're OLD! They do wear out,

especially if the boot's torn.

t

[c.d.iesel]

[mbaze]

Just to close to the loop on this, it's apparent now that the bolts at the base of the strut housing sheared off, probably due to age and rust (and the jolt of the bump I hit). One bolt is gone completely, the other two are sheared off and remain in the strut housing.

I don't see how a mechanic or anyone else could have foreseen this based on the visual evidence. It's not apparent looking at the bolt heads how decayed they are inside. So the lesson I'm taking away from this is that when you buy a vintage car, it's worthwhile to take the time to replace all the critical bolts, nuts, etc. that could lead to catastrophic failure if they fail. If parts like this look original on a 35-year-old car, replace them. It's a small price to pay for peace of mind.

[Mike_R]

You are the MAN!!!!

[blue7500]

All you FAQers should CHECK YOUR LOWER STRUT NUTS TODAY AND MAKE SURE THEY ARE SAFETY WIRED IF YOU ARE NOT SURE

Also check the nut on top of the strut body inside the cap to make sure it's still tight... I had a weird clunking in the left front suspension the day before the Brisbane show in May. Opened the hood and the whole top of the strut wasn't even sitting inside the bearing any more. I had Loctited the nuts onto the shaft but obviously it wasn't enough, I guess the threads were a little greasy so the Loctite just failed.

Cleaned up the threads with brake cleaner, put a nylok nut with blue Loctite and capped it all off with a grey strut cap just so that I wouldn't forget making such a stupid mistake.