How to Know If Suspension is Compromised and/or Strut is Bent?

[Jaymorz]

Hello Stinger Gang!

I've been reluctant to make this post out of fear of not having enough information for any follow up questions you may ask but I feel its important to get a good handle on this situation and eliminate as much guesswork on my end as possible to troubleshoot this issue! It's a long story but this is as abridged as I can make it:

Incident: Drove 65-70mph over a deformed sheet metal panel that came flying out of a truck
Outcome: Popped a tire (passenger front) and put on the spare - insane vibration


Shop one (out of state): "inspected" the suspension - deemed OK with no damage, and changed the popped tire with a new off-brand one
Outcome: Medium vibration (Thinking - must be a crappy tire, bent wheel, and/or in need of an alignment) Purchased a new Front 19" wheel for the passenger side.

Shop two: Brought in the new wheel and purchased another new tire to match the set. Had the shop do an alignment.
Outcome: Aligned the car, Medium vibration (Thinking: maybe a balance is needed?)

Shop two (again): Removed the wheels to balance and noticed THE DRIVER FRONT AND REAR WHEELS ARE BENT
Outcome: His "guy" can repair the bent rims and then they can balance them to fix the issue. Also bought new tires.




Shop two (again again): Mounted the repaired wheels and tires and "Balanced" them.
Outcome: Low to Medium vibrations - still off

Shop three (Suspension and alignment specialists): Diagnose the issue because shop two was getting on my nerves.
Outcome (Specialist Says): "I can feel the car vibrate just rolling onto the lift" - "Bro these wheels don't have balance weights on them! Do you want me to balance them for you?" - "Bro these wheels aren't straight (witnessed from balancer machine), I need an insane amount of weight to balance them" - "I briefly examined the suspension and everything looks good"

**Goes back to shop two**

Shop two (again again again): Balances wheels with insane weight on each wheel
Outcome (Worker Says): oh and your struts are badly bent, just the fronts, and your endlinks need to be changed as well
Low vibration at 60 mph+, can feel it in the cabin and very slightly on the steering wheel, passenger chair shakes (unoccupied)

**Never mentions conditions of bent wheels**

Here are my questions:

1) Can "bent" but balanced set of wheels cause vibration at speeds of 60mph and minor bumpy feeling when rolling to a stop?
2) Can a car get into alignment with a bent strut?
3) How does a bent endlink look like to warrant replacing? Mine look perfectly straight to the human eye.
4) How can I tell if my struts are bent without removing them completely? Can a bent strut make any noise when driving over a bump?
5) Should I inspect somewhere else on the car?

I've done the following to help narrow down the issue:
-Inspected the strut assembly and endlinks, everything looks OK
-Purchased a set of new wheels, ETA 2-3 weeks
-Purchased new endlinks
-Debated purchasing coilovers to completely fix the issue

Attached is the alignment report from the FIRST go around with shop two. Still can't believe they aligned my bent wheels and sent me off before discovering the wheels were bent smh.

 

[MerlintheMad]

I have one repaired RR wheel waiting for me to pick up tomorrow: alignment shop and wheel shop guys both said that a single wheel more than 1/64th to 1/32nd of an inch out of true makes an alignment impossible: so, it looks from what you've already experienced that NONE of the shops know what the hell they are doing???!!! If they "pile on weight" to balance wheels that individually prevent an alignment from being done (yet was repeatedly done) then you have not got the first issue corrected, which is perfectly rotating wheels: forget the struts and endlinks BS for now. Make sure your tires and wheels are ALL perfecto mundo THEN get a road force balance/alignment done.

 

[Jaymorz]

Thanks so much Merlin - you're a name I haven't seen in ages! Hope you're doing well, one of the OGs!

 

[Rodtheviking]

Replace the the two lower front control arms, my guess is the ball joints now have a pit or impact spot internally that cant be seen.

 

[oddball]

1) Can "bent" but balanced set of wheels cause vibration at speeds of 60mph and minor bumpy feeling when rolling to a stop?
2) Can a car get into alignment with a bent strut?
3) How does a bent endlink look like to warrant replacing? Mine look perfectly straight to the human eye.
4) How can I tell if my struts are bent without removing them completely? Can a bent strut make any noise when driving over a bump?
5) Should I inspect somewhere else on the car?

1) definitely
2) Maybe, but it would be hard
3) It would look bent.
4) It would look bent, but most likely in the upper or lower mount area - not the strut rod or body itself. I wouldn't expect noise from just that.
5) Entire underbody. This must have been one hell of a hit. Might have damaged the driveshaft, exhaust, cover panels...

Sounds like shops #1 and #2 did really poor work. Rim damage like that is really really obvious, especially when on the balancer.

I highly doubt any of the suspension parts are damaged. I don't think it would be possible to *just* bend the lower control arm or the strut. Both would have to be damaged. Or at least the lower control arm and the upper strut mount. Anyway, that requires A LOT, like hitting a curb at 30mph.

End links are cheap and easy to replace, so sure, why not. I would get the new wheels on and see how it acts then. If it's still odd then I would stick with shop #3 - they seem the most competent at this point.

 

[Jaymorz]

Thanks everyone for your responses! Everything said is definitely noted!

Getting my new wheels sooner than expected, lets see how they change things.

 

[Ozstung]

Was there a positive outcome yet?

Thanks everyone for your responses! Everything said is definitely noted!

Getting my new wheels sooner than expected, lets see how they change things.

 

[Jaymorz]

Putting the wheels on tomorrow or Saturday depending on work and deadlines I need to complete today

 

[Jaymorz]

Update:

I took the car to a new auto-shop, Shop Four.

Had new wheels put on that were 19x8.5 (front) and 19x9.5 (rear) sizes vs. the 19 inch oem.

This solved the cyclical bumpiness of the ride when cruising at constant velocity, downshifting at low speeds, and/or accelerating at higher speeds (65mph+)

I also had new front rotors installed - can feel the braking difference. My old pair was definitely wrapped and wearing out.

I also had Super Pro AWD endlinks installed in the front which are much heavier and are adjustable vs. the oem.
I definitely feel a tighter steering response and suspension setup now.

The shop inspected the front and rear suspension and did not see anything bent, damaged, compromised, or questionable.

They performed a road force balance - well done might I add.
They also completed a wheel alignment after the install and balance. Toe was, again, out of alignment and so they've corrected it.
Results are attached.

Shop Four Comments:

1. There is clunking coming from the front, could be the endlinks or oem top hat.
1b. My response: After driving around with the new installs, the clunking sound was exactly what I was experiencing prior to all the modifications
above. Must be the oem top hat?

2. The exhaust pipe is loose, he needs to figure out a way to constrain it so it doesn't slide in and out.
1b. My response: I have the MBRP stainless steel exhaust catback and understand how it may be less intact than other catback systems. I have not
yet inspected the catback myself, will report back here once I constrain everything down under.
Could this cause the clunking/thud sound after driving over bumps and divets on the road?

My Additional Comments:

1. Honestly, i did not even notice, nor do i remember if the car rides were ever "clunking" or "thudding" over bumps or rough roads. People on this forums and other stinger community forums say the AWD ECS setup does infact clunk or thud straight from factory - is this true? Mine does not seem excessive where it's annoying (Must be back to normal? Music or the AM radio overpowers the sound)

2. I'm more concerned about future implications if I do not take care of my suspension setup if it is still indeed compromised. Any suggestions or advice? I want to say all is well but I can't say that with absolute certainty.

Thanks for your time everyone!

 

[MerlintheMad]

I want to say all is well but I can't say that with absolute certainty.

Thanks for your time everyone!

Nothing in life is ever absolutely certain.

My report is 100% success ... for now. Hah. No more rapid, low grade vibration: it was a combo of a poorly balanced RF wheel (after getting the destroyed tire replaced), and the RR being out of true, now all fixed and smooth as ever. Took it up to 120 MPH to check it out.

If your ride is smoothed out with new wheels, likely as not one or more of the old ones had been knocked out of true, and (or) balance was off. The rest of what you had done will surely not hurt and will give more satisfaction (better braking feel and performance is always a positive). May your toe stay put (some on here complain that it goes out rather quickly, and I won't know if my toe stays put either until I get an alignment in a year or so: my new resolve, annual alignments: I let it go over five years before I got the first alignment and that, upon reflection, was kind of dumb). So, smooth vibration-free tracking means FUN.

 

[Jaymorz]

Do you get any clunks or thuds driving slowly over bumps or poor road conditions?

 

[Rodtheviking]

The supplied clamps with the MBRP exhaust are garbage, get some better ones.

I could never get them tight enough to keep the exhaust from moving around.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08HW8ZF4Z/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[MerlintheMad]

Do you get any clunks or thuds driving slowly over bumps or poor road conditions?

Creaks, from the front: they only manifested c. two weeks into my front Eibach sway bar: I can knock the creaks back with a liberal spray of silicone lube, but it doesn't last (penetrate). Yes, I have specifically mentioned this to the techs at the dealership (they put the bars in), and they insist that everything is greased. Oh, well. I don't hear anything at normal driving speeds.