I guess my frame is bent -_-

[kev9180]

So my alignment is pretty bad. I can let go of the wheel and it'll veer off to the left about 45 degrees. Pretty bad. Today I went to go get an alignment from the Nissan dealership (since i've heard on here some places won't touch older pathfinders), only to find out they couldn't do it. The tech took me out to show me what he was talking about, and he said my frame is bent a little bit. The driver's side torsion rod was making contact with a piece (frame?) right next to it which he said was contributing to the 'alignment' issue. They said there pretty much wasn't a point in following through with the alignment process because of this issue. He referred me to the Ford dealership that does all the frame work and collision work. The guy at the dealership i was talking to said he'd seen a lot worse and it seemed pretty minor, probably a minimum $300 fix. He also said that it might contribute to some accelerated tire wear, and that I will probably have to keep up on tire rotations more often to keep the wear to a minimum, but he said that was about it. Other than that, he said it was an awesome truck and it was in pretty good shape for being from 1990.

 

As far as i know, the vehicle hasn't been in any accidents, and the previous owner said the same. Probably should have done a carfax or something. I did call the ford dealership and they said they need me to come in so they can get it up and get out the lasers and computers and magical equipment (in my words) to figure out the extent of the damage. Said it'd be about $95 to do that so they could tell me what was really up.

 

Here's some pics of both the torsion rods so yall can see what i'm talking about. The drivers side torsion rod is the one making contact with the piece next to it, there's a picture of the passenger side torsion rod as well for reference to see the space between the rod and the piece the other one is making contact with on opposite side.

 

What do you guys think? Follow through with the frame work or just keep driving and having to correct my alignment non-stop?

 

Here's the drivers side rod touching the piece next to it. (Don't mind the stuck grass )

 

 

And here's the other side:

[madhakish]

So it looks to me like what this picture is showing is a torsion bar touching the mounting bracket for the thrust rod on one side.. The thrust rod is the short little rod connecting your UCA to the frame behind your front tires. Have ford throw it up and check your frame alignment for $95 bucks - can't hurt and you know exactly how far its out and what it will take to fix it.

 

At $100 per alignment and $3-500 for tires, a $300 frame alignment seems cheap.

[adamzan]

Get the frame fixed. Trust me. The amount of tires you will burn through will far outweigh the cost of getting it repaired.

[kev9180]

Thanks guys, I'll definitely pay the $95 bucks to get the frame checked and see whats up. Hopefully its not too bad / too expensive.

[Precise1]

x3 Have it measured to find out what is going on.

Unless it is an optical delusion, it looks like the torsion bar in the second picture has a curve to it.

I don't see how the frame could be that bent without it being in an accident, even if it is only a wheeling accident.

 

 

Probably should have done a carfax or something

I do and consider it a decent investment and while it can tell you a lot, it doesn't always show everything either.

 

B

[hawairish]

Why is there a wad of grass up there anyway? Woodchuck nest? Seems like that area might have made solid contact with a hill or ditch at some point judging by how well packed it looks. I'd pull that out and inspect the crossmember and t-bar anchor just in case.

 

The tension rod bracket does look a little shifted, too; the bottom doesn't sit square like the passenger side. Does the tension rod or lower control arm look bent at all? I'd still crawl under and see if there are some reference points you can measure from my other post with the body alignment points. It's free (albeit free-zing out there in IL).

 

Got any better pics of the tension rod and bracket?

[kev9180]

I got down there this morning and got out the grass/dirt. Man, you were right it was packed tight as hell, and there was a lot more than you can see in the pic, so it must have made contact with a hill or something at some point. Got it all out, and while I don't really know completely what i'm looking at down there, everything looked okay as far as i can tell. Although, there was a seal on each of the torsion rods where they connect to the frame(?) that were both cracked and nearly coming off the torsion rod.

 

I'll get down there a little bit later today and do some measurements (once again, thanks for those references hawairish!) and try and take some pictures. as well.

Edited January 1, 2015 by kev9180

[Precise1]

 

there was a seal on each of the torsion rods where they connect to the frame(?) that were both cracked and nearly coming off the torsion rod.

That means they are completely worn out and that the rod is probably compromosed and/or the hole has been opened up as well from contact. Common problem and easy fix.

 

B