I just drove a buddy's '06 V6 that was involved in a wreck and repaired. He got hit in the right rear quarter panel. The problem is that now, when the car goes over bumps, the rear body feels like it steps out to the right. Anyone have any ideas of what problems to look for? Panhard was already replaced. PHB mount or brace maybe?

Thanks,
Edward

 

The axle might be tilted sideways under the car (rear wheels not parallel to front), which can happen if the lower control arm is bent or different length than the other side, or if the lca support bracket in the chassis or axle got bent. If the impact into the rear was from the side, these could have happenned very easily and are affecting the entire rear alignment. While this should have been properly fixed, a small bend might have been ignored or hammered back in place and left alone. If this is indeed off, a fix would be to get adjustable lower control arms and adjust them to account for the difference so that the alignment is proper. But since something would be bent, that should be corrected first, I would think.

Also, the rear end could be shifted to the right or left, depending on the panhard bar that was put in. With the car on level ground, take a peice of string with a nut or bolt or other small weight tied to it, tape it to the rear fender over the center of the back wheel. Do this on both sides. Then using an accurate fixed-length ruller (like one of thosed used in school), measure the distance from the string to a point on the tire rim; do this on both sides, measuring at the same place on the rim to the hanging string (hold it still or wait until the string stops moving around!). They should be the same distance from the wheel to the string (for example, on mine, with GT wheels, measuring from a point right where the hubcap snaps in, the distance was exactly 1.5" on both sides). If the difference is small (like 1/8" or less), you probably are ok. But if it's off by 1/2" or more, then that needs to be corrected. Either a panhard bar of the correct length is needed or use an adjustable one. If the car is stock, I have a stock panhard bar available.

As far as the PH brace, just make sure it is there and not bent!

It's also possible that the shock is different on the right than left, or the springs are different, depending on what was replaced. A quick-check of the shocks can be done by looking at the bottom at the colored sticker on the shock, and making sure they are the same on both sides (and same part number). It probably has a blue "N" on the driver side; if the passenger side is different and the panhard alignment is ok, the shock was replaced probably with one of a different damping rate, hence when handling bumps, it reacts differently than the driver side one.

I dont know where you are geographically, but I have stock parts from my '05 that would fit the '06.

Good luck.

 

Thanks for the reply. One thing that I did notice was that his PHB seemed to be at more of an angle than mine at rest. His looked more like / (exaggerated for effect) while mine was more like --. I would think that the PHB should be pretty close to parallel to the ground.

-Edward

 

The panhard bar should be at a slight angle say 20 degrees or so. Thats not an accurate measurement just a guess. On our site we have a picture of our bar installed. If the car is lowered or raised it will effect the bars angle. The lower control arms could also be bent or have a bad bushing. If you can't figure out whats wrong have your friend get a hold of the insurance company that paid the claim and let them know that the car is still not right. They should have the repairing shop look at the car further. Good luck.

 

My first guess would be a lower control arm bushing. I would inspect all 4.

If the arm had been significantly bent I would think the car would be tramlining noticeably.

Is there any clunking when you get on the throttle?

 

Shock problem. The stock shocks make the car very jumpy anyway, and a poke could have well just broken one and made things worse.

If it was a PHB issue, it would effect the car in both directions, not just one. Seems pretty clear to me the issue is when the suspension hits bumps, and that's one time the dampers are big time in play. And it's known that as the dampers just age the back of the car jumps around more and more over bumps. A broken shock is basically a very, very worn-out shock.

The nice part about a solid axle it there isn't much to go wrong. You should definitely make sure the LCA's aren't screwed up somehow, but pretty much anything else that might be wrong should be pretty obvious other than the shocks which you can't see inside of.