February 19, 200719 yr So I blasted a football sized rock with the left front on my 89 GL wagon. It bottomed out the suspension and bent the rim some. I didn't notice any difference in the handling of the car afterwards, but after a week the tire started to get a blister on the sidewall. So I had four new tires on the car and it started pulling to the right really bad. So I put the tape measure to it and found the left front to be 1/4 inch farther forward than the right front. Anyone know what might have bent to account for this? My thought was that it might be the strut. Just so everyone knows, I measured from the rear axles and many points on the body and came up with the same difference. If only the radius rods were adjustable.
February 19, 200719 yr Might have to get a new radius rod -- sounds like it might be bent. My friends EA82 pulled really hard, and we noticed that the right front wheel was a full inch farther back than on the other side. When it's that bad, the radius rod bend was quite noticeable. But your's might not be noticeable with only 1/4" Z
February 19, 200719 yr Might have to get a new radius rod -- sounds like it might be bent. ... I Agree, I have damaged both my Subie Wagons in same Situations (Not only Rocks, sometimes a Huge Hole in the Pavement can do that too) so maybe the Rod is Damaged, Also I Suggest to Check the Entire suspension, ´cos maybe other parts did Suffer from the Hit... Good Luck!
February 19, 200719 yr Author I don't think the radius rod is bent, for the wheel to move forward it would have to stretch. But I can't rule out the radius rod mount might have been bent forward. I thought it was strange that the wheel moved forward not back. But thats where it ended up.
February 19, 200719 yr Oh. It moved FORWARD?? :-\ Hmmmm..... bend your radius rod to pull it back You could probably just realign it, and it would be fine. If it moved forwards, the toe in is probably too wide now. I bet you could get it back in alighnment and not worry about it being moved forwards that little mit.
February 19, 200719 yr Author It did toe it out a bit and readjusting the toe did help, but by moving the wheel forward it also increased the caster on that side so now it pulls to the right. I hadn't thought about bending the radius rod. Sure wish the suspension was as adjustable as my old 69 Mustang.
February 19, 200719 yr possibly a bent strut? disconnect the tie rod, drop the Transverse link and slide off the Housing (knuckle) and inspect your lower strut to see if it is bent near the end. A bent strut could create this problem.
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