Kingman Posted January 3, 2009 Share Posted January 3, 2009 (edited) Hit a HUGE puddle (well about 20 yards of standing water on the road) last night doing about 30 in front of my school (10 under the speed limit) on the way home, didn't see the water at all. I hit it and instantly hydroplained and it sucked me to the left and bounced me up over the curb to the grass and flowers in the center median and came a few inches away from hitting a pine tree. When I slid back down on to the road, I was sitting in about 6-8 inches of standing water, up and over the curb. I couldn't see anything for a while until the water stopped spraying. I had my little brother (11) in the truck with me, I thought we were going to smack the tree head on, but somehow missed it. I don't know what I would have done with myself if he had gotten hurt... Damage: 1) Sucked water into the engine through the rust hole in my fender, which is conveniently placed at the opening to the boot on the air cleaner. Barely ran until I got it home. 2) Blew out the bushings on the compression rod on the drivers side, which sucked my shock into the upper control arm or A frame and tweaked all that up. So now my shock slants back at an angle instead of straight up and down. It's mashed pretty good. 3) Broke the mounts on the stabilizer bar 4) An extreme amount of play in the center link ball joints, the wheel can move about 2 inches before the other side even starts to move 5) Killed my alternator, its giving about 11-12 volts at idle, and sort of gets better as the revs increase. Not even sure what to do, going over options with my parents right now... Edited January 3, 2009 by kingman92010 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Precise1 Posted January 3, 2009 Share Posted January 3, 2009 Damn!! Essentially, you climbed a curb at 20-30mph... 1) If your air filter is wet, replace it (or at least dry it well). 2) Need pictures... 3) Not a bushing, the actual mounts are gone?? Pictures... 4) Can't tell from here... Tie rod ends? 5) Check the wiring connections. Give them and the alternator a good shot of WD-40 B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kingman Posted January 3, 2009 Author Share Posted January 3, 2009 (edited) Damn!! Essentially, you climbed a curb at 20-30mph... 1) If your air filter is wet, replace it (or at least dry it well). 2) Need pictures... 3) Not a bushing, the actual mounts are gone?? Pictures... 4) Can't tell from here... Tie rod ends? 5) Check the wiring connections. Give them and the alternator a good shot of WD-40 B Yeah pretty much... Pretty crappy birthday present if you ask me... 1) Dried it out 2) That rod lookin thing thing with the bushings on it that mount to the frame behind the wheel, which I think controls the toe 3) The mount with the moon-shaped bushing that's welded above where the lower control arm is attached to the center piece of the suspension 4) The play is only in the center link, tie rod ends are fine, and the pitman arm moves a tiny bit. The center link moves up and down and jiggles when the wheel is moved side to side. 5) Sprayed the wiring with WD40 already, no change. It is stock though...202k sounds about right to me for it to go out anyways... Edited January 3, 2009 by kingman92010 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrimGreg Posted January 3, 2009 Share Posted January 3, 2009 Yep, broke that compression rod. That'll be about $85 in parts to replace. On the good news side, that "should" fix your steering issue also. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adamzan Posted January 3, 2009 Share Posted January 3, 2009 And with 202k on the clock you might want to replace those shocks, and inspect the swaybar links and the rest of the suspension and steering. I bet it steered loose and was all over the road before that even happened... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kingman Posted January 3, 2009 Author Share Posted January 3, 2009 And with 202k on the clock you might want to replace those shocks, and inspect the swaybar links and the rest of the suspension and steering. I bet it steered loose and was all over the road before that even happened... Oh yeah, shocks are definitely in need of replacing. Actually it wasn't loose at all, heavy yes, but not loose. I already replaced the swaybar links and bushings a few months ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kingman Posted January 3, 2009 Author Share Posted January 3, 2009 The thing that I'm worried about, is I might've bent the whole lower piece back, because of the way the shock is into the control arm. If fixing the bushings on the compression arm don't push the assembly forwards far enough, I wont be able to put new shocks on. Or I was thinking take a winch to it and pull it back into position... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kittamaru Posted January 3, 2009 Share Posted January 3, 2009 Even if you do that, you better sure it up somehow... that metal will have lost it's strength... Look on the bright side - most vehicles would have totaled their undercarriage in something like this... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SilverPath Posted January 3, 2009 Share Posted January 3, 2009 Man, you've put that poor pathy through hell these last few weeks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kingman Posted January 3, 2009 Author Share Posted January 3, 2009 Man, you've put that poor pathy through hell these last few weeks Lol, I see you're from Vancouver, so a forewarning... beware of standing water on Mill Plain right in front of Hudson's Bay heading west to the freeway... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Precise1 Posted January 3, 2009 Share Posted January 3, 2009 Yep, broke that compression rod. That'll be about $85 in parts to replace. On the good news side, that "should" fix your steering issue also. Yes, at least according to pictures 2 & 5. Not just 'replace the bushings', but 'replace the bushings, get frame bushing cup welded back on and get a new compression rod'. That will realign the lower A arm and from there you can look for any other damage that occurred. The damage isn't so bad so far... B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kingman Posted January 3, 2009 Author Share Posted January 3, 2009 Even if you do that, you better sure it up somehow... that metal will have lost it's strength... Look on the bright side - most vehicles would have totaled their undercarriage in something like this... Very true. Guess we'll have to see what happens with the new bushings. I think I'm going to take the center link and have the ball joints pressed out and replace them with new ones for now, just to keep it drivable until I can afford to put a lift on it. Hopefully that and the bushings are just the bare minimum to keep 'er goin... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MY1PATH Posted January 3, 2009 Share Posted January 3, 2009 (edited) If its any consolation there are shops that can straigten frames(better technology than back in '89) my dad go hit pretty bad on the passenger fender/wheel they day he bought it and the frame has never been fully square even after the repair but a 1/8" shim on the BJ and a good alignment has always been able to compensate for the differance. Today I'd imagne it could be straigtened even more accurately so no aditional compensating would be required. hang in there, your pathy 'll bounce back if you do. for the compression rods I reccomend using bearing cups for the bushing cups.( I will be doing this to mine when I get back from cali) a beaing cup will not wear out unlike the stamped factory cups. I already have the bearing cups and the correct PN for more if others or interested. If we are still meeting up on monday I can show you the bearing cups I've chosen and how close they fit the bushings. edit: good time to get a hoohaa centerlink if you can. Edited January 3, 2009 by MY1PATH Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kingman Posted January 3, 2009 Author Share Posted January 3, 2009 If its any consolation there are shops that can straigten frames(better technology than back in '89) my dad go hit pretty bad on the passenger fender/wheel they day he bought it and the frame has never been fully square even after the repair but a 1/8" shim on the BJ and a good alignment has always been able to compensate for the differance. Today I'd imagne it could be straigtened even more accurately so no aditional compensating would be required. hang in there, your pathy 'll bounce back if you do.for the compression rods I reccomend using bearing cups for the bushing cups.( I will be doing this to mine when I get back from cali) a beaing cup will not wear out unlike the stamped factory cups. I already have the bearing cups and the correct PN for more if others or interested. If we are still meeting up on monday I can show you the bearing cups I've chosen and how close they fit the bushings. edit: good time to get a hoohaa centerlink if you can. Yeah, I have no idea what your talking about with the bearing cups so you'd have to show me lol. I thought about the hoohaa pretty seriously already. Costless quoted me $249 for a new center link with ball joints...Much better deal to spend $229+shipping for something 1749655645265726525x better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
knikmudslinger Posted January 3, 2009 Share Posted January 3, 2009 Time for SAS? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MY1PATH Posted January 3, 2009 Share Posted January 3, 2009 Time for SAS? x2 LOL I'm sure if he could he would... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edicer2 Posted January 3, 2009 Share Posted January 3, 2009 I bought my last pathfinder with that exact same part broken and they sold it to me for 500 bucks becasue they didnt know what was wrong with it. It was sort of a bitch because it was really hard getting the 2 bolts to line up but i finally got it and only spent 59$ instead of the shop wanted 478 or something like that Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kingman Posted January 3, 2009 Author Share Posted January 3, 2009 (edited) Time for SAS? hahaha that's the first thing that popped into my head when i looked it all over. My buddy has a d44 he can give me for freeeeeeeeee....if only i had the money for the SAS kit... Yes, at least according to pictures 2 & 5. Not just 'replace the bushings', but 'replace the bushings, get frame bushing cup welded back on and get a new compression rod'. That will realign the lower A arm and from there you can look for any other damage that occurred. The damage isn't so bad so far... Why do I have to replace the whole compression rod and not just the bushings and bushing cup? EDIT: If it's not too much to ask, could someone snap a few quick pics of their front end that's not all foobarred, so I can see what it *should* look like? Edited January 3, 2009 by kingman92010 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adamzan Posted January 3, 2009 Share Posted January 3, 2009 Here is what my tension rod looks like. You probably bent or broke the rod... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kingman Posted January 3, 2009 Author Share Posted January 3, 2009 Here is what my tension rod looks like. You probably bent or broke the rod... I think its the pic and the shadow that makes it look bent on mine, i just rechecked it and its not tweaked or bent Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adamzan Posted January 3, 2009 Share Posted January 3, 2009 But the hole must be really wallowed out for it to have shifted like that. I would definitely change those bushings. You can get them from www.rockauto.com Good prices and cheap shipping. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MY1PATH Posted January 4, 2009 Share Posted January 4, 2009 But the hole must be really wallowed out for it to have shifted like that. I would definitely change those bushings. You can get them from www.rockauto.com Good prices and cheap shipping. I thought that was just the bushing cup falling out, I could be wrong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kingman Posted January 4, 2009 Author Share Posted January 4, 2009 But the hole must be really wallowed out for it to have shifted like that. I would definitely change those bushings. You can get them from www.rockauto.com Good prices and cheap shipping. What's the part called on that website? I dont see compression rod anywhere Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adamzan Posted January 4, 2009 Share Posted January 4, 2009 It's called the strut rod bushing on there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kingman Posted January 20, 2009 Author Share Posted January 20, 2009 Aye aye aye, just got done replacing those damn things. Something is bent somewhere, on both sides. Took a lot of prying, torching, winching, bottle jacks, hammering, all kinds of stuff to get them in place. The rod wouldn't remotely line up with the bolts with the new bushings on. Took almost 10 hours for both sides with me and my step dad. Bad news is, the shock is still in the UCA under full droop. The driver's side, in the pics, were by far the worst condition wise, but easiest to put the new bushings on. The passenger side, though better condition wise, was what took almost all the time. Good thing is, my front end is actually sitting higher with the torsion bars set to zero. So its sitting where it should be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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