steering wheel off-center, no pulling though

[acannell]

90 daytona es

was driving downhill and flooring it, bottomed out and then shot up, causing wheels to drop and pull apart drivers inside CV joint, letting the rollers and needle bearings fly apart all over the road

anyways, replaced axle

now if you point the car straight on the freeway, wheel is off center. didnt do that before. car does not PULL though...it will go straight without touching the wheel, its just off...

pointing the wheel straight makes the car turn left.

NOTE: axles are not the same brand left/right anymore...they weren't before though either, but its a DIFFERENT mismatch now

what should i check?

[ol"blue]

Doing the repair, did you disconnect the ball joint or take the spindle loose from the strut? If the latter- alignment could be off.

[acannell]

yes i definitely had to disconnect the knuckle from the lower ball joint..there is no way to get the axle out without doing that.

not sure what you mean by the spindle loose from the strut?

i've taken the knuckle off the ball joint many times for other reasons and it hasnt changed the steering..i dont think thats supposed to affect alignment.

Asa

[ol"blue]

You're right it doesn't. I was curious, as I've seen people make extra work for themselves by removing the two bolts/nuts that hold the spindle/knuckle to the strut. Actually, the axle can be removed that way but it's a pain & can cause alignment issues if not marked & reinstalled correctly.

[acannell]

just got back from the alignment shop

they did not do an alignment, but they did put it up on the rack and we looked at it

took measurements on the left and right side from two corners of the crossmember, and the measurements were 3/8" different.

looks like when i bottomed out the drivers front corner of the crossmember hit the ground and now the crossmember and maybe more is bent

any other ways to confirm this?

[ol"blue]

The Mopar FWD performance manual has a chart giving the fore/aft & diagonal measurements for measuring frame alignment. If the diagram doesn't apply to your particular yr./body style, use the locating points shown as a refference to measure your undercarriage.

[dirtyglhturbo]

note to self: don't get the car airborne

[tryingbe]

How fast were you going?

[acannell]

more than 30 less than 50..i think it was more the angle of things that caused the problem...steep down then sudden up

[83sdc]

check your rack out very close. my lebaron is doing the same thing. come to find out my rack is shot. the pinion gear has skipped over a toth or two on the rack internally