5

So basically I had a t-bone accident (I was hit on the side) and as a result of the crash the rear wheel on the driver-side is now tilted inwards (kind of like it had negative camber) and a little bit to the left. The problem is that when I see underneath the vehicle I can't tell if it is the axle that is bent or just the end of it (the opposite wheel looks just fine). Also note that the wheel does not wobble when rolling, and there is no apparent bent in the axle itself to the naked eye.

So I'm wondering, is there a way to fix this by just changing the wheel bearing and having my vehicle aligned? Or do I have to change the whole rear axle?

The vehicle is a 2003 Toyota Corolla. Below I leave an image of what type of suspension I'm talking about:

Rear rigid axle

Improve this question
4
  • Your rear suspension is a bit different from that. That is a dead rear axle. basically a straight bar between the wheels. Your car should have independent rear suspension. Each side is mounted at the center of the body. Should look something like this: google.com/…
    – rpmerf
    Commented Jan 12, 2017 at 21:26
  • @rpmerf A 2003 Toyota Corolla suspension looks like this but with drum breaks instead of disck. i.ytimg.com/vi/kHb6aJMjfds/maxresdefault.jpg
    – vini_i
    Commented Jan 13, 2017 at 2:25
  • @vini_i Yes! That is exactly the suspension on my vehicle. The one above was the closest I could find.
    – David
    Commented Jan 19, 2017 at 21:43
  • It would be cheaper to get a used "axle" than to replace the wheel bearings and where the hub attaches to it is likely bent beyond being repair worthy.
    – finleyarcher
    Commented Aug 7, 2017 at 23:17

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
1

If the wheel rotates easily, it is not the wheel bearing but that impact may well have caused damage so it may fail in the near future - needs replacing.

I would suggest that you will need to replace either, or both, the stub axle and beam axle as a very small bend which you may not be able to see will translate to a larger angle at the wheel. If the wheel is at an angle to the centre-line of the car outside of the "toe-in" or "toe-out" specified, it is most likely to be one of those components. A complete second hand suspension with no damage may be a good solution...

Improve this answer
1
  • Yeah the wheel rotates easily but now that you say it does make sense that it may have taken a hard impact anyway. I think I will go for a whole beam axle then. I hope the place where the beam attaches to the frame is not bent or I will have to take it to a body shop first (in which case I will have to have the car towed).
    – David
    Commented Jan 19, 2017 at 21:57

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .