Son's 850 and Ford Taurus Totaled by drunk driver last night

[PeteB]

I let it roll from about 3 ft back at idle and it makes a lot of noise, seems to
move the wheel a lot but it bounces back. Tried about 10 times and we are
not making any progress. Friend says give it some gas but I'm too worried
about setting something off.

[scot850]

If the car is new enough to had front seat air bags, if you remove the side plates on the side of the seat (where the power adjustment switches are mounted you should find a red plastic tag mounted near the front side panel mount. That is to be fitted into the space at the side of the airbag impact sensor to prevent accidental set off when removing the seats. If you look at the shape of it, the little handle portion faces upward and there is a small tab that aligns with a slot in the metal bracket.

The steering wheel air bag can be removed fairly easily from the steering wheel, and I would need to see if I still have a passenger airbag for an 850 but I think they have an electrical connection to activate that one. It is accessed by removing the glove box liner and then it can be seen from above.

Unless you are pounding on the vehicle with sledge hammers I doubt you would set one off, but check Roberts video.

Neil.

[rspi]

That video was for the seat air bag.

I'm surprised that FCP replaced a accident damaged strut. That is awesome!

[PeteB]

Seems the new strut gained about .5" clearance in the wheel well so that we
can drive it. I have two local shops that just want to replace the subframe.
They say look around and find one cheap.
Not sure how many hours are involved to change it, have to look it up.

I was able to look at the subframe on a lift and the rail is straight, but the
box frame is crushed a bit at the front LCA mount. Probably pushed in about
1/8" to 1/4" aluminum LCAs probably would have saved the sub frame.

I found doors on ebay for $50 each and we will get those if we can resolve the
frame problem.

[scot850]

I just had the 4 sub-frame bushes replaced on my 2000 V70R. It is a fairly big job as you have to suspend the engine/trans and suspension and drop the sub-frame. Including the price of 3/4 new bushes (about $180 CDN) cost me $1000 CDN (about $800 US) at the dealer, but I know I didn't pay full whack for the job as they put a 4th year apprentice on it to learn under supervision and he did a good job.

Hardest part is to find a good sub-frame as it is a hard part to pull at a junkyard unless there is a way to suspend the engine and trans.safely.

Again, think of the time/effort to find an pull one, and then again as suggested before try Erie Vo-Vo and see what they are asking.

Neil.

[PeteB]

Thanks Neil all great advice.
Put in the new LCA today, did not improve the position of the wheel at all.
Looks like either a frame machine or new sub-frame.

Thinking of just asking an alignment shop to see if they can make it good
enough to drive straight and not wear out tires.

[PeteB]

Alignment shop did the work and says they did the best they could - it drives straight.
I don't think it even needed the new LCA but it is in.
I had the tire to get it going again, $15 to mount and balance it, strut was free from
FCP (THANKS!), and LCA was about $100. They will drive it for a while and I'll try to
get the doors for the $50 each price that I saw. Finding some black doors would be
the best.

Thanks for all the tips!

[PeteB]

The cheap doors are about 2 hrs away and I can try to haul them home in a Sonata
or DTS Cadillac (parents car) thinking of stacking them in the trunk of the DTS even
if I have to tie the trunk down with lots of padding.
Would this be a dumb move?

[scot850]

I have seen way worse things done when moving stuff. I don't think it is daft at all, you have to work with what you have available. Can you fit one in the rear of the car and one in the trunk? I have some moving blankets for this type of move to try to limit any damage to the doors and keep the car clean. If you have access to bungee ropes or tie-down straps they would be worth taking along too. I wish you gook luck!

Neil.

[PeteB]

I might remove the back seat cushion before I leave and yes plenty of moving
blankets. Will bring lots of rope and bungee cords.
I'll make 2 trips if I have to.

Thanks again Neil