Hit a curb last night , what should i expect to replace / inspect ?

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moparjon

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I hit a curb in the dart last night , in the rain . Spun out 180+ degrees , hit a curb . Not real hard , but definitely not soft . The rear passenger wheel took most of the impact , but the front hit as well . In the rear , it bent the rim . In the front , the wheel is pushed inward slightly , but where the steering wheel was normally centered is quite a bit off now . What should i check front and rear , and how do i check those for damage , bends , relocation etc. ? i am working in the driveway , shadetree style . 73 dart , stock slant 6 . I might be way in over my head here .





rear passenger side first - just missed the wheel cover

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front passenger side - below -

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Get some straight wheels on it and find an alignment shop that is familiar with Mopars to check and align the front end.
 
Get it on an alignment machine with rear heads. Have them measure the thrust angles.
 
TMM, I didn't want to confuse the OP. That's why I suggested he find someone familiar with Mopar alignment.
 
Maybe take a look at the UC eccentrics for obvious signs of shifting.
The control arm brackets tend to rust and weaken where they attach to the frame. Make sure that's all intact before seeing your alignment Dr.
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If it has 9 inch brakes probably bent the spindle that would be the weak link with that little spindle.
 
I've replaced a lot of sector shafts in this type of situation. Never on an old Mopar but it doesn't take much of a twist if the splines to get the steering wheel out of whack. It could be a lot of things but just saying this is remotely possible and easy to NOT see.
 
Probably just knocked the cam bolts out of alignment in the front. I think you should be able to re-align it and replace that wheel and you'll be fine. Obviously you should check everything.
 
This is what I see according to the pictures:
The rear tire looks like the whole carcass shifted. It is junk.
The front has excessive positive camber. Lower ball joint shafts will bend if the impact is great enough. Sometimes it is the tie rod ends or sleeves that get bent. I've had upper ball joints bend but the lowers bend first.
In 1998-99, I made a home movie with stunts and jumps. I bent a few parts on the stunt cars. The aforementioned lower ball joint studs, the tie rods and sleeves were the first to bend. The UCAs held up fine, as did the strut rods. I bent a few K members but never a steering knuckle. I did 4 jumps with a 75 Dart 4 door and later pulled those knuckles to use on my '70 Charger, a car that I still own. The Charger aligns better than any other classic car that I've owned, in fact with stock UCAs and offset bushings, I was able to get 6 degrees of caster from both sides.
Yes, the UCA alignment cam bolts can and do loosen and shift from their positions. It is worth it to check.
 
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Lord Sparky said:
These cars were never designed to be driven in the rain or to be exposed to the slightest dampness.
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Yeah it’s not like they were ever intended to be a regular old daily driver, especially A-bodies :poke:

Definitely never drive them in the snow

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Kern Dog said:
This is what I see according to the pictures:
The rear tire looks like the whole carcass shifted. It is junk.
The front has excessive positive camber. Lower ball joint shafts will bend if the impact is great enough. Sometimes it is the tie rod ends or sleeves that get bent. I've had upper ball joints bend but the lowers bend first.
In 1998-99, I made a home movie with stunts and jumps. I bent a few parts on the stunt cars. The aforementioned lower ball joint studs, the tie rods and sleeves were the first to bend. The UCAs held up fine, as did the strut rods. I bent a few K members but never a steering knuckle. I did 4 jumps with a 75 Dart 4 door and later pulled those knuckles to use on my '70 Charger, a car that I still own. The Charger aligns better than any other classic car that I've owned, in fact with stock UCAs and offset bushings, I was able to get 6 degrees of caster from both sides.
Yes, the UCA alignment cam bolts van and do loosen and shift from their positions. It is worth it to check.
Click to expand...

Not that I’ve ever intentionally jumped anything, but I agree in the front I’d be looking at tie rods and ends, lower ball joints and the cam bolts. But a visual check on everything is necessary.

In the back I’d look to see if the rear end shifted at all in the u-bolts, take a look at the shackles and mounts and then give the axle a spin to see if it looked true. If I wasn’t sure just eyeballing it I’d check the axle flange runout. I wouldn’t really expect the axle or flange to be bent, but I’d still check at least visually while it was apart.
 
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Another often missed issue is the unrolling of the leaf spring thus changing the thrust angle.
 
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