Well here's my second post in one day, after being silent for years, but always appreciating this site.
Two weeks ago my 16 year old daughter - a fine driver usually - wrecked our '97 Ody. Main thing: No one was hurt. She got distracted with something at her feet and drifted into a parked car at <15MPH.
It was totaled, but I got way less for the insurance settlement than it would cost to buy another one of these. I'm challenging that, but meanwhile, back at the carless ranch...
I took my chances and bought the car back from the insurance company. The damage was to the right (passenger side) front fender, side impact. Bumper cover, fender, plastic inner fender, intake tube, some kinda plastic box all need to be replaced. Tire and wheel undamaged.
I drove the car home after the wreck and the front end is now out of alignment, and there's a squeak that I see is probably the sway bar bushings are knocked out of whack -just replaced them too
I've removed the fender and inner plastic already. Looks to me like there's some distortion in the front bulkhead (I think that's the name of the part) - right outboard of where the air filter box sits, and where the outer fender mounts with a stay bracket.
Going to a body shop next week to see if they would check frame alignment. Meanwhile I guess I should jack it up and examine the front suspension for any obvious broken parts.
One month ago I was patting myself on the back for all the work I did, for just $800 in parts: Both new CV axles, upper control arms, tie rod ends, sway bar bushings, one lower ball joint, calipers cleaned and lubed, pads replaced, rotors still cherry. Replaced both rear shocks and mounts. Replaced valve cover gasket, oil pan gasket, and adjusted valves while I was in there. I thought we were good for another few years.
Anybody got any experience with front end damage, whether these cars tend to buckle bad or if they can be straightened (or maybe don't even need to be, if the replacement fender fits)?
Two weeks ago my 16 year old daughter - a fine driver usually - wrecked our '97 Ody. Main thing: No one was hurt. She got distracted with something at her feet and drifted into a parked car at <15MPH.
It was totaled, but I got way less for the insurance settlement than it would cost to buy another one of these. I'm challenging that, but meanwhile, back at the carless ranch...
I took my chances and bought the car back from the insurance company. The damage was to the right (passenger side) front fender, side impact. Bumper cover, fender, plastic inner fender, intake tube, some kinda plastic box all need to be replaced. Tire and wheel undamaged.
I drove the car home after the wreck and the front end is now out of alignment, and there's a squeak that I see is probably the sway bar bushings are knocked out of whack -just replaced them too
I've removed the fender and inner plastic already. Looks to me like there's some distortion in the front bulkhead (I think that's the name of the part) - right outboard of where the air filter box sits, and where the outer fender mounts with a stay bracket.
Going to a body shop next week to see if they would check frame alignment. Meanwhile I guess I should jack it up and examine the front suspension for any obvious broken parts.
One month ago I was patting myself on the back for all the work I did, for just $800 in parts: Both new CV axles, upper control arms, tie rod ends, sway bar bushings, one lower ball joint, calipers cleaned and lubed, pads replaced, rotors still cherry. Replaced both rear shocks and mounts. Replaced valve cover gasket, oil pan gasket, and adjusted valves while I was in there. I thought we were good for another few years.
Anybody got any experience with front end damage, whether these cars tend to buckle bad or if they can be straightened (or maybe don't even need to be, if the replacement fender fits)?
