Question for the suspension experts

One of my buddies was complaining to me that the suspension was squeaking/knocking on his C4S. I jacked the car up to take a look and found the problem pretty quickly. It looks like he hit a medium sized rock or something which bent the track rod enough to come in contact with the sway bar. You can also see that the sway bar has even worn into the track rod. The damage seems to be confined to the track rod which I plan to replace along with all associated hardware. I also plan to check the rear axle side section (where the track rod mounts) to make sure the bent rod hasn't worn the side section in any way. If everything checks out, I will go ahead and have the car aligned. My only question is that since the suspension on this car is a little more complex, are there any other areas that I should check for fatigue due to this arm being bent? Thanks for your help!!! Thanks

wow... I cant imagine how that would bend down like that... got a wider view of the whole suspension?

It's pretty tough to get a wide picture of the whole suspension in relation to this part. I have no idea how this happened. The owner is a nice guy and long time friend, but he's pretty clueless about driving and likely hit a large rock in the road or something. The road to both of our homes is along a river with a large rock wall on one side. It is not uncommon to see softball sized rocks in the road.

First off, I am NOT a suspension expert. However, I wonder if the car was ever jacked up by the sway bar which put stress on the track rod and bent it. It's hard to tell from the pic, but if you look closely at pic #2, there is a darker spot on the bottom of the sway bar that appears to be rubbed/flattened a little. I would also check the stabilizer mounting bracket (vertical bar in the pics) to which the sway bar is attached. The lower end of that bracket "could" be bent because it appears that the end of the bracket and the end of the sway bar are at slightly different angles. It could also be that the end of the stabilizer bar might be bent (probably less likely than the bracket end being bent). Please post back when you get it repaired. It will be interesting to see what other parts, it any, have been damaged.

Hummm...I'd bet the only way it's going to bend down like that is a side impact to the wheel...slid into a curb or something at some point? Does it drive funny, 'cause the rear toe should be off with a toe-out situation from that damage. Probablm makes the car a bit uneasy. Even if it's not a track car might be a good time to upgrade to aftermarket toe arms while he's in there. As long as everything checks out visually i'd venture a guess that there's probably not any other damage down there.

Can we get a picture of the other side so comparisons can be made between the unaffected and this?

That's not a rock. That's a solid impact.

Very possibly it wasn't a rock but I am pretty sure the track rod was impacted by something. If you look at the top of the track rod, you can see that there is a very defined dent. I will check the orientation of the sway as well as the bushings and hardward. Since it appears that the car was driven like this for sometime, I think very possible that it at least damaged the sway bushings. Any other feedback?

To answer your original question, I think you'll be fine if you replace the track rod, inspect other components for bending or looseness, including the wheel bearing on that side, as it seems likely that the damage was a result of a side impact against the wheel (as noted by another commenter), and at least prime the worn area on the anti-roll bar to prevent corrosion which can eventually cause the bar to fail.

If you notice from your picture, someone did a rear suspension alignment on this car after the arm was damaged. Notice that there is a new camber adjustment bolt in there. Why they did not replace the arm is crazy. You need to have a heart to heart with the former owner to find out what really happened. Chances are there are other things bent down there too.

Good catch with the eccentric. I thought it might have just been a careless car transporter chaining the lower arm as a tiedown spot, but after seeing the eccentric, most likely crash damage.

I did notice the new eccentric in there. My buddy who owns the car, bought it at auction so it likely already had this issue and someone tried to do a cheap fix. One more reason not to buy cars from auction guys!

Quotes source post: 6175626

Transporter mistake came to mind for me too when I saw this. (My car had a little bending at the jack points that looked like chains were used in the holes on the jack points).

Quotes source posts: 6175626, 6175729

Based on the indent at the top of the arm too, I have my money on it being transporter damage that was noticed and fixed on the cheap with the new eccentric. Orient, your eyes and attention to detail never cease to amaze me. However the underside of your car is all as clean as the "new" eccentric there, no one would ever notice it! LOL

yup, transporter tie down hook, cranked EXTRA TIGHT so we dont damage this expensive car...

I can probably get a pretty good idea of what happened to the arm once get it out of the car. I'll try to post pics.

Either no talent drifter or no talent transport.

I have a friend who had similar results when he took too sharp an approach to a driveway and caught the curb