My Honda Accord got into a wreck and the guy had hit the rear left tire dead on, probably around 30 mph. Now the car kind of drifts down the road and I have to keep the steering wheel turned to just go down the road straight! I took it to an alignment shop and he said that I need to replace the trailing arm, and if that didn't fix it then the strut, and then if that didn't fix it the knuckle. When going down the road I can hear a kind of thumping noise consistent with the turning of the tire. Also when I hit a bump the back end feels like it goes down and to the side. So far I replaced the trailing arm and that is it. I am thinking that the strut maybe need to be replaced but not sure. I had a friend look at it that knows cars well and he said that he couldn't see anything under the car that had shifted. The rear left tire is pointed inwards and maybe in a little at the top... Not too sure. If I could get any help with this I would like that very much. Thank you.

 

do as suggested as the mechanic sees that the trailing arm is bent and then once that is replaced go from there. You're lucky if that is the only thing broken.....

 

Hello!!!
Your cars a menace to society...get it off the road before you kill yourself or worst yet ...you kill someone else and not youself..then it'll really cost you money..

Be careful and get it fixed before you do get hurt.

WheelBrokerAng [sm=badidea.gif]

 

Not really sure what you meant by this but ok... I have replaced the trailing arm and it didn't fix it. Do you think I should continue on with replacing the strut and knuckle? Thanks

 

I was also wondering, I cannot see anything that is messed up under the car, but it is obvious that the car wheel is screwed up. Should I look for something specific? Thanks again

 

if the car kind of goes down and shifts to one side then it sounds like there is a good chance that the strut is bent too.... it didn't mess up the frame at all did it? The other side looks just fine? I'm assuming that you put on a new rim as well... I would think that when a mechanic did the alignment he could tell what was bent/out of place

 

He's saying the obvious....it's unsafe and shouldn't be driven.

I would be concerned if a mechanic said, "Do this and if that doesn't work then do this, and if that doesn't work.........."
for me that would be a huge clue to go elsewhere.

 

I concur with that. Thats how my cousin used to troubleshoot his car. Guess and check. "Hey Jeff, you sure replacing the fuel rail is gonna fix it?" "Nope. But if that doesnt work, then its probably the injectors." "Well what if you replace the rail AND the injectors, and that still doesnt work?" "I'll replace the intake manifold."

Gets spendy that way.

 

Well I took off the knuckle and looked at the new one that I had ordered and they both look the same. I also took out the strut and it looked straight too. Right now, with a string from the front tire to the back, the back tire looks like its toed in about one inch, without the strut attached. I am thinking that it is twisted about .5 inches because of the back of the tire sticking out more and the front of that tire pushed in. I'm thinking now that it may be the unibody..... I was wondering if anyone knew where to go to look up the measurements of the unibody from point to point, hopefully from that I can determine if the unibody is out of wack. Any help would be great.

I am begining to think that the alignment shop was trying to make a buck off of me.... They didn't mention anything about going to a frame shop either... go figure.

Thanks again!!! I appreciate all of the help!!!

 

I am begining to think that the alignment shop was trying to make a buck off of me.... They didn't mention anything about going to a frame shop either... go figure.

of course a alginment shop won't tell you to go somewhere else.like you said they're trying to make a buck off of you.trust your instincts when it comes to shady mechanics.mechanics think little bit a paint make old part new again even if its broke,they'll say its manufactur defect.i seen some pretty piece,hacked,together of cars cause my dad owned a auto body shop call bedrock auto body.trust me it anit worth putting all that money into fix your car if you can just by another donor car to swap parts on to