Bent Rear Tension Strut?

New 10/02/2004

I have had an alignment issue on my right rear side (of the car). As some of you may remember a bad circumstance out in Oklahoma when I was chasing a dog named Lucky and lost.....

Anyway I went airborne and landed on the right rear tire. The strut was bent and a new one put in. After putting in the GM arms and actually be able to align that corner, the wheel is about an inch further out. This makes the fender lip rub when the car is heavily loaded or the suspension is near full compression. I have always suspected the rear wheel spindle (knuckle) but was usually told that it will break before bending.

I am in the processes of changing out the tension strut bushings and noticed the right side tension strut does not lay equally as flat as the left rear. It is twisted up and out which will lift the spindle and push it out. So this is the problem. Now to get the T struts off and see if it is bent or the spindle is.

Stay tuned....

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10/04/2004

We used to do them on F-150 front twin I beams. By chaining the I beam to the tiedowns in the shop floor.
undo the nut and back up slowly. Replace bushings and drive forward slowly.

Not sure if that would work here or not on the back end.?

Clare

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Paul,

I like to hear how you took the TS off to change the bushings as I have been contemplating doing this for a while. Did the underbody stiffeners make it any more difficult? It looks like the forward bolts could be a PITA to get to.

Chris A
99 SF

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I'm sure you will hear me from there...

The tension strut pivots pretty easily in it's mount with one end disconnected. Might be able to get a socket on it and turn the strut. It does have a nice flat area for a wrench.

Yes the SFCs are going to make things more difficult. I now have the rear bolts out and out of the spindle. Easy job on this end. I took out the fuel filter, the fuel filter holder, took off the RSB to body clamps, and am removing the E-brake cables. Also going to paint things and make a splash shield for the upper right rear wheel well. The fuel pipes are pretty corroded.

Paul Nimz
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10/12/2004

Well I got the new spindle on, it had a bit different measurements than the replacement used spindle but no big amount. Tension strut is not an issue as it pivots around on the bushings and did not appear bent out of shape. So if the problem is still there after I get an alignment the strut mounting point at the top in the package tray area must be bent.

I did not do the front tension strut bushings. Getting the nut off is the easy part. Getting the washer and front most bushing off the strut rod is the big problems. I did not have enough new bushings to try Clare's trick.

I did put in the TCE spindle braces that go between the GM rear arms at the spindle. This if nothing else keeps both sides equally spaced at the spindle. Also put on rebuilt calipers from AZ as they are cheap and the one that was not properly lined up with the pad was fubared and could not be turned in. $35 for the drivers side and $23 for the passenger side. This included new copper washers and pin boots.

Hopefully I can get the alignment done and the wheel will be more properly located on the drivers side.

Paul Nimz
'97 TR
'93 EG mtx
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After driving up to Sheboygan yesterday I noticed when I got there my LR tire camber was way off. I had to pull the bottom of the wheel in about and inch. This is where it should be and confirms that the spindle was indeed bent. It was next to impossible to compare the two when the were side by side as there are few flat surfaces. But from the way it pushed the top out and the entire wheel forward it had the be the tension strut mount on the spindle that was bent.

Paul Nimz
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