Front end damage: is knuckle likely to be bent?

Post by **ogatrulle** » 30 Jun 2020, 08:32

06 V70.

Teenaged son had some kind of incident with either a pothole or a curb at speed that bent one side of the front suspension (camber went from correct -0.7 degrees to incorrect +1.6 degrees - top of wheel is now farther out). There is now a visible difference between the left and right side clearances from the wheel to the strut.

So before even trying to get it aligned I'm going to have to replace suspension parts. I expect to put in a new strut, hub, and ball joint. The big question is if the knuckle got bent (part is something like $400).

Anyone have experience with this situation? Should I expect the knuckle to be bent or would the strut absorb all the force of impact?

Thanks!

Post by **abscate** » 30 Jun 2020, 09:20

Junkyard price for a P2 knuckle will be under $50 and no reason not to go used on this part.

Ill bet the control arm took most of the stress and bent, too. Take a good luck at the subframe for damage, too - especially look for distortion at the control arm mounts.

Post by **oragex** » 30 Jun 2020, 10:05

As above, junkyards are there for this, even Ebay - it will come with the bearing and possibly with the ball joint as well. As for the question, the hub it's made out of alloy and all points that attach to other parts and very thick and reinforced. I know alloy control arms can also bend and even break, but I would doubt the hub can bend at places. However, when replacing parts I would like to turn the wheel bearing by hand to feel if it's rough at some place. Rather like you say the strut can bent, the outer and possibly the inner tie rod, the end link, the ball joint can also be weakened and must be replaced, tire&wheel need inspected. But before starting anything, I would have a careful look at the attachment points of the subframe - where the control arm is fixed. Try see if anything looks even slightly bent. Don't forget to get the good brands, a Sachs strut, perhaps Lemforder other parts - I would go with Meyle HD for the control arm.

Post by **amblerman** » 30 Jun 2020, 10:10

This happened to my car.

Front wheel encountered curb and snapped control arm. As Abscate says, look for damage at subframe.

Below is what my damaged frame looked like followed by a good replacement frame.

Bent frame
You can see that as the control arm twisted, it caused the mount to be twisted into frame. The depression highlighted by red arrows shouldn't be there.

: bentframe.png (723.77 KiB) Viewed 2436 times

Replacement frame
Same area but nice and flat

: goodframe.png (600.63 KiB) Viewed 2436 times

Post by **oragex** » 30 Jun 2020, 12:07

That kinda sucks. Replace the whole subframe just from an average curb hit. Hopefully it was more solid on P2

Post by **abscate** » 30 Jun 2020, 18:55

It sucks less than having to pay a frame straightener for a Unibody, which will total the car.

Post by **darrylrobert** » 30 Jun 2020, 21:38

Im currently in the same situation, except my shock leaked out oil not bent. My steering is wobblying, do you have any driving issues?

As i will be doing, check the upper mount to body, ive seen pics of these breaking/possible weak point. I have ordered struts from my Volvo dealership, ask them questions and get prices they were very much cheaper than online sellers. best of luck and remember "hope for the best, expect the worst"

Post by **jonesg** » 01 Jul 2020, 02:32

oragex wrote: ↑30 Jun 2020, 12:07 That kinda sucks. Replace the whole subframe just from an average curb hit. Hopefully it was more solid on P2

looks like a bit above average curb hit.
My wife uses the advanced acoustic parking method, without fancy electronics, but couldn't do that .

Post by **amblerman** » 01 Jul 2020, 06:21

jonesg wrote: ↑01 Jul 2020, 02:32
oragex wrote: ↑30 Jun 2020, 12:07 That kinda sucks. Replace the whole subframe just from an average curb hit. Hopefully it was more solid on P2
looks like a bit above average curb hit.
My wife uses the advanced acoustic parking method, without fancy electronics, but couldn't do that .

So in my case, someone other than me was driving and was distracted by map application on phone. She got too close to curb and got the front wheel essentially parallel and touching the curb. She tried to turn and that is what wedged the wheel against the curb.

The control arm bent and then snapped but not before taking out the frame. The outer CV joint ripped apart but amazingly no bearings were lost and I rebuilt the joint and it's been fine since. No body damage at all. Only thing on the body that was damaged was the mud flap. Easily replaced.

I found a donor car that also gave me new interior bits, mud flaps and a few other parts along with frame. The frame replacement was done in my driveway but took longer than I had anticipated (isn't that always the case). Car has been fine since.

Post by **ogatrulle** » 01 Jul 2020, 21:18

Lots of good information here. I'll have a chance to get it up on jack stands early next week and inspect the frame near the LCA attachments to see if there is any buckling.

Caster didn't change from previous alignment so I thought maybe LCAs would be OK, but may as well replace those.

Kills me because I put all new parts there a year ago (strut, hub, LCA, ball joint). Sigh.