When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
So while driving into a shopping center and doing a turn my lower control arm on the driver side (L) snapped.
Yeah NO idea how that happened. But I am near a really shitty Mazda and didn't want them to touch it so I figured I would removed it. Both camber bolts were COMPLETELY FROZEN. I had to reciprocating saw them out... About 6 hrs later I had everything removed. Stopping for a few things and picking up parts etc.
I have one question about one of the mount points for the lower control arm. While removing the camber bolt it actually snapped a tiny piece of metal off and bent upwards. I had to apply some heat and bend it back down but it is mostly flat now. Is this usable? Picture below...
If it is not it means removing the entire sub frame and somehow supporting the engine. I assume its not that bad but was hoping for some people who hopefully have some experience to weigh in.
I'm not much help with the question you are asking but FYI there is a recall for the lower control arms and the dealership would have replaced them for free.
I dunno, OP... We're talking about a major structural element. I'd want to know for certain that it's in good shape. I'd drop the subframe and give it a thorough inspection. While you're at it, you can clean it up and do some rust prevention.
If you look down from the bolt hole in that picture, is that a crack all through the subframe? It's really thin but most apparent on the black part mid-image.
If it is, and it has been rocking back under corner force, it might be what fatigued your control arm. Aluminum fatigues faster than steel.
That "crack" is actually a scratch that shows up under the flash really well but its actually barely a scratch even and hard to see not under flash I think the light got it an the perfect angle.
The entire car is fairly rusty at this point I just want to keep it running but its .1 away from under spec on compression, has bad cat, ignition coils have been replaced 3 times and plugs 4.
All this at 49K miles in over 10 years. The frame looks to be in good condition minus this. I am going to give it a try and see how it goes but at some point I will likely be getting a new car because this one is slowly dying. A new engine, new front suspension, new cat etc would likely cost 5k... I could get a used rx8 for less.
If you think its dangerous then I guess I will have to replace the other control arm (its not going to come out) and sub frame etc... starts getting costly...
A 5k RX8 will probably have all the same issues :/
If it's just a scratch then OK. That hole should be OK IMO, anyway the LCA bolt goes all the way through.
You should really address the bad cat before it kills your engine. And replacing coils and plugs that often tells me there's an underlying issue, or the repairs weren't always necessary. Especially the spark plugs.
I think the coils are weak... I have replaced them 2 - 3 times. One of them burns out faster than most... I should probably just upgrade to BHR kit but not sure I want to spend the money on it...
Compression doesn't matter much as long as it starts and idles. Ask me how I know.
Gut/replace that bad cat ASAFP or your engine will soon not start nor idle.
As for the suspension:
If that's the rear upper caster bolt hole, there is supposed to be a fence around it that the eccentric works against. Looks like that fence is gone, so the bolt is going to wobble in that hole. That will make it hard to set. Some chance the setting will not hold, though it should if there is enough metal left and the bolt is properly tightened.
Be sure to slather the center sections of the new bolts with anti-seize...
02-06-2018, 05:20 PM
