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Hit Curb, All Kinds of Problems

Chaindog

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Long Island, NY
Let me start off by saying that this is probably multiple threads worth of questions all in one.

I made a stupid mistake this morning. I was pulling into a parking lot and for whatever reason, I tried to use the gas as a brake, and hit a curb with the front passenger side wheel :wstupid:. It was probably 15-25 mph.

I just limped it home from work through the snow. Due to said snow, it was in 4-Hi, so that may have been a variable. It drove straight with no vibrations, but I never went above 40.

So, now for the things that are apparent to me:
-I bent the steel rim and scraped up the sidewall (I replaced it with a full size spare)
-On the note of the spare, it is a brand new tire. However, the driver's side tire is almost bald.
-Looking from the front, the driver's side tire is offset almost 2 inches further than the passenger side. Thinking back it may have already been like that from when I lifted but didn't do the trackbar. (Is it possible I bent the track bar though?)
-The steering wheel is turned 90 degrees to the left (counter-clockwise)
-When I pulled out of the parking lot, at full right lock, the wheel rubs in the back of the wheel well. It's never done that before and I've trimmed them quite a bit.

I haven't crawled under the car yet. When it stops snowing, I'll bring it into the garage. I guess I'm just looking for any tips for what to look for first. I prefer to check the easy stuff first, but I'm expecting the worst here.

I know that there's a lot of variables, like different sized front tires, but I have a tendency to overthink this stuff so I figured I'd say it how it is to allow for better feedback.

2000 Jeep Cherokee
4.0 Straight 6
Auto Transmission
4x4
80,000 miles
3.5" OME Lift
31x10.50x15 Wrangler Duractrac Tires
Trimmed Fenders with Napier Flares
 
It sounds like for sure you bent a tie-rod/drag-link so I would start there.
 
The axle looking shifted towards the drivers side and having to steer left to go straight sounds like the trackbar bent or tweaked the upper trackbar mount. I'm thinking it it was a tie-rod you'd have to steer the other way and probably have a noticeable change in toe-in . Could be both. It's time to crawl under the front and see if anything is bent, measure the amount of toe-in with a tape measure, use a square to see if camber is messed up, etc.
 
The axle looking shifted towards the drivers side and having to steer left to go straight sounds like the trackbar bent or tweaked the upper trackbar mount. I'm thinking it it was a tie-rod you'd have to steer the other way and probably have a noticeable change in toe-in . Could be both. It's time to crawl under the front and see if anything is bent, measure the amount of toe-in with a tape measure, use a square to see if camber is messed up, etc.

I'll definitely get under it tomorrow. Thanks for the input!
 
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