Diagnosing Broken Parts

[Kelqutub]

So long story short, I let my cousin borrow my car, and he drifted it and crashed into a median :bang head: Basically all four wheels the car was off of the ground and the median tore up a lot of parts for the bottom end. Stupid of me to lend it to him, I know. Oil pan cracked for sure, and should be getting replaced this weekend. Also was told by a mechanic that I need a front end crossmember.

Now the car is at my garage and I am fixing it myself.
When the car was driven off of the median, The car had a constant hit to it and I am trying to figure out what part could be broken. He said that when he drove off of the median going about 2-3 mph the car would roll about a foot or two then the car would have this loud hit to the bottom end.

I immediately pointed my finger at the driveshaft and believed that it would be bent. It looked fine to me, but as I have no experience with driveshafts, I wanted to get other peoples take on it. I will attach the video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kgqb-p1wCDY

What do you guys think that hitting problem is? Do you guys think it is the front end crossmember?

[FLG]

First thing would be to check and make sure the front and rear strut towers didn't move and there is no frame damage, no point in fixing a car if it's tweakd. Depending on how hard he hit anything is possible. I don't know the correct measurements off hand but you should have able to find with a Google search. I would say it's probably ok but better to check now then after you've changed parts.

Also can you take a pic of where the driveshaft mates to the trans? Something with the vibration dampner at the front looked a bit funky in the video.

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[jlevie]

Judging from the lack of damage to the exhaust, it doesn't look to me like the drive shaft took a hit.

[Kelqutub]

First thing would be to check and make sure the front and rear strut towers didn't move and there is no frame damage, no point in fixing a car if it's tweakd. Depending on how hard he hit anything is possible. I don't know the correct measurements off hand but you should have able to find with a Google search. I would say it's probably ok but better to check now then after you've changed parts.

Also can you take a pic of where the driveshaft mates to the trans? Something with the vibration dampner at the front looked a bit funky in the video.

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What do I do if the frame is damaged? I will check it tonight and take a picture of the driveshaft for you.

[Cletonius]

What do I do if the frame is damaged?

Beat down your cousin, make him buy you a new shell. Then swap over the good parts.

[jlevie]

What do I do if the frame is damaged? I will check it tonight and take a picture of the driveshaft for you.

For frame damage you take the car to a frame shop to be repaired.

[Kelqutub]

Beat down your cousin, make him buy you a new shell. Then swap over the good parts.

Trust me, The beat down has happened. :blowup:

[Kelqutub]

For frame damage you take the car to a frame shop to be repaired.

Yeah but how expensive is it going to get? :(((

[jalopi]

Yeah but how expensive is it going to get? :(((

Quite a lot :(

Hopefully the curb wasn't too high and it was a sloped one (not a 90* curb) and you only have some suspension bits to replace. Regardless though, it's probably gonna be $500 minimum in parts.

*edit*

Just watched your video - is your car at stock ride height or something? Because it looks like the exhaust was unscathed. Who knows? You might've gotten away with just a little bit of front end damage.

[Kelqutub]

Quite a lot :(

Hopefully the curb wasn't too high and it was a sloped one (not a 90* curb) and you only have some suspension bits to replace. Regardless though, it's probably gonna be $500 minimum in parts.

*edit*

Just watched your video - is your car at stock ride height or something? Because it looks like the exhaust was unscathed. Who knows? You might've gotten away with just a little bit of front end damage.

No it is very low. I took the video with the car on jack stands. I hope I get lucky. While we are here, does anyone recommend a good place to get a front end crossmember?

[jalopi]

Classifieds or a junkyard. Do you have pics of the subframe?

I'm not super low (on H&R race) and I had a friend jump a curb while I was in the car and hit a tree (at like, 5-10mph by tree time). Total damage? Slightly bent diving board, bent up exhaust (I had open headers at the time, no big deal), a busted marker cover and a very curbed wheel. Magically, nothing got bent and my oil pan was untouched (although it's a ford stamped steel pan). Confirmed by both diving straight and putting on an alignment rack out of curiosity (gotta love the 'free alignment check' offers).

Who knows? Maybe it's not that bad. I'm just saying, the collision must've not been that bad if your car is SLAMMED and your exhaust looks like that.

[jlevie]

Yeah but how expensive is it going to get? :(((

That depends on how much damage there is and where it is. It is inexpensive to replace parts and more expensive to deal with frame damage that requires bending the frame back into shape. And it gets more expensive if there are areas that have to be cut out or reinforced.

The proper course of action here is to replace parts that are obviously damaged or that are likely to have been damaged. Those would include tie rods, control arms and trailing arms because they are easy to bend. Then put the car on an alignment rack and see what you have asymmetrical front camber/caster or rear camber/toe errors are evidence of further damage. Asymmetrical front camber/caster can be a bent strut, so you replace that and see what the numbers are. If errors are still present there is chassis damage.

[Kelqutub]

No pics of the sub frame but will take some tonight with pics of the front part of the driveshaft.

And jlevie, That sounds like a plan. Thanks.

[Earendil]

I don't see how that drive shaft could be causing a "hit" sound. Seems more likely that it's something else. If the car is on jackstands though you should be able to spin the front wheels and see if they touch anything. Next spin the rear with the car in neutral (might need to find a way to lock down the opposite wheel if you don't have an LSD). If that all spins freely, than it's something that is only a problem when the car has wheels on and the suspension is compressed, which would eliminate everything between the diff and engine inclusive.

[Kelqutub]

I don't see how that drive shaft could be causing a "hit" sound. Seems more likely that it's something else. If the car is on jackstands though you should be able to spin the front wheels and see if they touch anything. Next spin the rear with the car in neutral (might need to find a way to lock down the opposite wheel if you don't have an LSD). If that all spins freely, than it's something that is only a problem when the car has wheels on and the suspension is compressed, which would eliminate everything between the diff and engine inclusive.

Will do this if all else fails.

Also forgot to mention that when pushing the car into the garage, it would not budge! and yes i know someone is gonna ask if the car was on neutral and hand brake down, Yes it was down and in neutral. It took 6 (including me) grown men to push the car about a car length into my garage. What could cause the car to be so planted to the ground? Before the hit, The car would move freely when off and pushed.