So yesterday when I was leaving the 512 stanceworks meet in Austin, I don't see this phantom curb and end up hitting it pretty bad at around 15-20mph.

My tire sidewall bubbled up pretty badly, and the car was veering off to the left. Not only this, to keep the car going straight the steering wheel had to be tilted to the right at about 15-20 degrees relative to the y-plane. This is why I think I bent something down there and its not just an alignment issue. Not only that, any time I try to drive the car now after moving for about 15 seconds the slip and traction control lights go on and won't go off, but there isn't any CEL

I ended up almost getting home on it until I hit a bumpy road the tire blew and I was stranded for about 3 hours until 5AM when AAA finally showed up, but thats another story.

Anyways the car is at home now, I'm getting the tire replaced for that one wheel that blew tomorrow, but I decided to take off the spare in my parking garage and take pictures of the tie rods/control arms so that one of you guys with greater mechanical ability could judge whether or not something is bent and needs to be replaced.

Here are a few pictures:














Once again if anyone can tell from the pictures if anything is bent and needs to be replaced and if that would do the trick for resolving the constantly on slip/vdc off issue im having right now. Thanks

 

Damn that sucks dude.

How badly was the wheel damaged and did you try to drive home on it?

 

A similar thing happened to me about a year ago when I jerked into a median to avoid a ****ing deer. I think your control arm is bent. Hopefully it's just one. If it is just one, you should be able to get it fixed for around 200 bucks. If you can do it yourself (and have access to a lift), it's not terribly hard to do.

Then get your car aligned, of course.

Good luck...

 

And check to make sure your rims aren't bent, either. And then make sure your tires aren't damaged as well. If you take your car to a tire place then to a mechanic you could figure this stuff out pretty easily... it just won't be cheap.

 

The tire is gone, it blew up on the way home. I'm going to a tire place today to get it replaced. I'm hoping the rim isn't bent, but just by judging on physical appearance it doesn't appear to be so.

I was thinking it was the control arm as well which I feared because thats the most expensive out of all the possible things to fix . The reason being is that if you look at the last picture, on the other side of my car everything is at an angle as well, but they are all in plane. Whereas the one pictured has the bottom piece at an angle, and then the top part of the a-arm to the right relative to the bolt, but I'm not entirely sure.

Anyone else that can indeed confirm this is is it, before I throw cash out the window on new control arms?

 

Be sure you're using the correct terminology for the parts in question.



54400M 350Z MEMBER COMPL-FRONT SUSPENSION
54468N 350Z ROD COMPL-COMPRESSION,FR SUSPENSION RH
54469 350Z ROD COMPL-TENSION,FRONT SUSPENSION LH
54500 350Z RIGHT LOWER CONTROL ARM
54501 350Z LEFT LOWER CONTROL ARM
54520 350Z BRACKET-STEERING STOPPER,RH
54521 350Z BRACKET-STEERING STOPPER,LH
54524N 350Z LINK COMPL-FRONT SUSPENSION,UPPER RH
54525N 350Z LINK COMPL-FRONT SUSPENSION,UPPER LH
54550A 350Z BOLT
54580 350Z PIN-TRANSVERSE LINK

More info here:
http://www.courtesyparts.com/350z-pa...5_800_802.html

I think you're probably talking about PN 54469. (I don't know why the part has a different name (tension) on the left side, but I suspect the name given for the right side part (compression) is correct. Other sites call it a compression rod.) It's the most likely part to be damaged in your situation.

 

I see, so it is 54469 and not 54524? I was hoping it would be the latter so I could just replace it with a non-stock part like a cusco or spl, which would allow further camber/caster adjustments when I drop the car

 

Where are you in Houston?

 

I live in Austin now, but I visit Houston quite often like this upcoming weekend. I stay in the southwestern part though, in Sugar Land

 

Damn, that sucks! I'd also say something is bent as the alignment isnt very adjustable, and maybe the shock from the hit may have damaged a wheel abs sensor as well.

 

Just replaced the wheel, and did some work on the car in general. One of the bolts to which you attach the lug nuts was really really rusted. I tried the who step on the wrench to provide some extra torque and it snapped and is stuck inside the lugnut. Just my luck Should still be ok to drive with the wheel attached to 4 lugs and have it replaced when I get back to Houston

Going to take her out for a spin to grab a cup of coffee and see how it drives. Will let you guys know if there is any difference.

Also, I put up a lot of pictures in hopes of getting some kind of definitive answer from one of the techs here. The reason being is I am going to Houston this weekend to get it checked out fixed, but was hoping one of you guys could spot what the issue is so I could go ahead and put in an order for the parts before I got there so they would be ready and I could get it done over the weekend as I have to be back in Austin on Sunday. I've just been hearing a lot of different things, thats all