View Full Version : Front end took a hit. now I have steering problems


Hotrod 70 BB
Apr 2nd, 06, 11:28 AM
A little old lady in a Cadillac ran a stop sign and smacked up the driver side front fender on my 70 camaro. I took it to get it aligned and they said they had problems doing the alignment. They said they got it as close as they could, but didn't say much more. The steering wheel is slightly off center, but It drives fairly straight. The real problem is when I go over humps in the road like at an intersection it pulls hard to the left. It almost jerks the steering wheel out of my hand. Could it have bent the spindle or possibly the frame? She was only doing about 30mph or so. It sure tore up her caddy. The only damage I could see on my car was the fender and the radiador support was bent a little. Any input would be appreciated

28ss
Apr 2nd, 06, 12:17 PM
Yes it would seem your frame was bent
The spidle is to hard to bend would usually break first.
The rad support is inside the frame rail corect?

The geometry of your suspension has been changed. Most likely a Toe in/out condition when put into jounce. Check to see if your tie rods are straight. See if the shop put in alot of shims on the upper control arm.

Hotrod 70 BB
Apr 2nd, 06, 09:35 PM
There is only one shim on the drivers side. It is on the back bolt. Pass side has one shim on each bolt. The car has been sitting since 2001 and I misled about the rad support. It is not tweeked. Body mount bolt hit the radiator, dented it and pushed it to the side a little. I'll need to borrow a floor jack to check the tie rods. It sits a little low. (big block on small block springs)

28ss
Apr 3rd, 06, 01:47 PM
Most likley the problem is a bent component in your steering system look it all over and compare to other photos to see if somthing looks wrong.

I'm assuming 1 tie rod is all the way out to try and get steering wheel back to center and they couldn't because somthing is bent.

Simpliified, what happens is that when your spindle moves up the tie rod has to stay parallel to the arms. If not the tire will toe in or out. This will cause your hard left condition