I have taken my car to pep boys and another mechanic and no one can give me an answer. I found my car with a flat and with one wheel on top of the curb one morning after allowing someone to borrow my car. I replaced the tire and i immediately noticed my steering wheel was off to the right about 30*
the car drove straight but the wheel was off. I took the car to pep boys where they told me my front passenger wheel was slotted forward a bit and that they could see no damage and i didnt need an alignment. another mechanic later and im still in the same place. i have been driving the car for a while now like that and it is beginning to pull to the right a little. also i have noticed that when i come to a sudden stop i hear a crack or two from the area. does anyone have any idea what this may be? i will post photos later
TIA

 

Take it to a real mechanic?
Seriously.

If the wheel is now suddenly off, something moved from hitting the curb. Its possible the rear control arm mount was torn off the subframe, as this can happen with this kind of accident. Something should be pretty obviously bent or out of alignment. If these guys say its fine, its pretty obvious they are not looking very hard.

Another possibility is a bent tie rod or idler arm, would affect the toe and move the wheel but may not cause it to pull to one sixe or the other.

 

check lower balljoint and lower control arm must put in on a alignment rack it will be easy to see

 

thanks, ill make sure to check those areas out tomorrow. Ive lifter the car and taken a look myself and didnt see anything bent or broken but im not too savvy when it comes to a cars suspension.

 

ill make sure to post some photos of what i find

 

sometimes hard to see with naked eye

 

Passenger side. rear part of the controll arm?











I noticed on the passenger side control arm? the rear side of it has got what looks to be newer welding? i noticed a small crack on it. maybe that could be the culprit.

 

whatever the problem is, make sure you make the inconsiderate idiot that you borrowed the car to pay to fix it.. then borrow their car and jump a few curbs with it..

 

loooong gone lol

 

That's sooooo wrong of that "so called friend"

 

Yep, another control arm is in order..... And DON'T take it back to either fool that couldn't spot that.

There's a lesson learned here, NEVER loan your vehicle to ANYONE !

 

Yep looks like you need another control / A arm.

I got a few used ones if your interested. $30 each + shipping

 

No longer a friend of mine thats for sure.

Most definitely? Im a tad mechanically inclined. Is this something i could possibly do myself? i was recently laid off work and cant spare too much $$$$

Nice, how much do you think itd cost to ship to the Los Angeles area?

 

Without doubt it needs replaced, I've been a mechanic my whole life (55) and found spring removal on these 3rd gens to be a bitch-kitty. It's a very dangerous job without the correct spring compression tools.....

 

Ill leave it to someone with the proper tools in that case
might as well replace some bushings no? mine look pretty dried out

 

Ex girlfriend borrow the car? It's happened to the best of us - one of mine chipped a gear in my 98 Audi A4 Quatro.

 

Shipping should be in range of $15-25.

Give me a zip code and I can get you a shipping quote

 

I got back under the car today to replace my brake pads and i noticed that the crack isnt actually on the control arm? do these cars come with upper control arms??? cause i believe it looks like the actual cross member is cracke. how much of a pain would THAT be?..... lol

 

OUCH haha
im in the process of teaching mine how to drive (correctly)

 

No, they have struts on the top, take another pic while pulling that rubber flap out of the way, in the pic you posted it sure looks like the control arm that's cracked....