question about suspension damage 04 sti

nitro700

New member
hello, this is my 1st post here, looks like a great forum. I know suspension problems are almost impossible to diagnose without having the vehicle butI figured i'd ask anyways. what happened was 6 days ago my dad was driving my car home for me..I think he was nervous or not paying attention..I was with him and he managed to ram a 3 inch curb pulling into the gas station..stupid me 2 days later i didnt realize the tire was damaged ad was going around a corner at 30-40mph the tire blew out and sent me sideways to the curb hard enuf to bounce me to the other side of the street and took out the driver side front wheel and tire. the car still drives but very poorly, I have to hold the wheel at almost 90 degrees to keep it straight and if i let go of the wheel while in motion it will pull to the left so fast i'll be off the edge of the street i less then a second at 25 mph or above. the driver wheel is pushed back enough that its dragging off the rear of the fender well and eating the tire. the passenger front tire is the one wearing out though..2 days of just to and from work and the inside edge of the tire is down to the belt. comparitivley neither of the lower control arms appear damaged but I know it doesn't take much. While doing tire rotation i took a bunch of pics and a couple videos of walkarounds which I can send to anyone willing to lend me their time. I'm unable to register my older car until tuesday and can't get the sti to my prefered alignment shop until the 22nd and if possible I would like to get an idea of what parts I am going to need before hand so I don't have to have my baby off the road longer then necessary. thanks for reading. I am usually online once or twice a day, my aim is n1tro700 email [email protected] or reply here I will post a couple pics which have been shrunk to save size, I have may more full res & more angles. any1 that would like full res please let me know, thanks. JaredView attachment 2762View attachment 2760View attachment 2759View attachment 2758

control arm vertical.jpg

control arm connect bushing.jpg

tierod.jpg

pass tire angle full rear.jpg

pass control arm full front.jpg

 
http://pbckt.com/sk.KbO photobucket link with more detailed picsView attachment 2763

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Bent control arm and possible endlinks. you are hosed man. time to make a trip to Evergreen Subie.

that is crazy how you bent it. must have been a hard freakin wack. I am sure you hosed your rim also.

edit: forgot being a member of the forums give you a 10% discount at the Evergreen Subarus part dept also. So pretty sweet deal. welcome to the fourms and good luck fixing the ride.

 
quit being a gumby (no offense) and go get that car fixed, stat!

You have a badly bent driver side front control arm at the very least. car it's bent, get over it and repair the damage. as much as you might want, cars don't "heal themselves" ...the longer you wait the worse things will get. you've already trashed a couple tires by waiting and driving it. is obviously it's driving so bad now you'll be lucky not to crash it again. park the STI and rent a daily driver if need be.

on the good side, the control arms are designed to bend in an impact without (hopefully) transferring damaging loads to other parts like the front subframe and suspension hard mounts.

 
unfortunatly thanks to my ex gf I can no longer rent cars aywhere or I would have already..its torture and nerve racking driving the true love of my life as it is..working 2nd shift I don't have much choice until i can get my montecarlo re registered and insured tuesday. I'll have a chance to get under the car and get measurements and a close shot of everything..I think & hope it is the control arms, I'll keep you all posted. Its going to be hard for me to put my car up for the time..1st time I won't have it at my side for 2 weeks or more in the 6.5 years i've owned it. Thanks again all.I appreciate your time. Jared

 
why can you not rent cars? you must have done something pretty bad. I rent cars like almost everyweek. I don't know what I would do if I couldn't.

 
well the verdict is in and it looks like all I need is the left side lower control arm..does anyone know where I can find one at a decent price used or new..and of course 1 new wheel..I managed to get my old 87 montecarlo fired up to drive in the meantime..a good summertime car but i def miss the subaru..thanks again for the help

 
source the OEM suspension parts needed thru Evergreen Subaru, they offer discount to MS members.

find a used wheel on craigslist, nasioc.com, ebay etc

sometimes trying to save a couple bucks will add weeks of downtime and make repairs problematic when the el cheapo used part you bought online turns out to be bent or worn out. a brand new control arm is not that expensive. and if your body/repair shop says you need additional stuff, don't nickel and dime them, you have a nice car, fix it right.

 
The guy I have doing the work does really nice work I told him I want it done right..dont want to be eating tires up or replaceing my differential prematurely..what about getting the parts new..Ive never had to replace anything on the subaru before so I dont really know where to look besides the dealership..is there any sites that sell parts new for any cheaper then the dealership? thanks again for your time every1

 
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