The Gap (no, not the store)

[LEE337]

Cant wait to get my driver side done so I can show mine off.
I already bought a brand CV Trans half axle. (the old one was torn and grease was everywhere) Also bought a knuckle with wheel hub assembly and should be getting that sometime Monday. Then have new wheel bearings pressed in Tues or Wed. So I hopin by next sunday to have it all put back together and be on the road again.

[LEE337]

Well I figured the the knuckle was messed up for a reason so I started at the root of the problem.

Busted CV Half Shaft


Pulled the busted one out along with the knuckle


The new one


Ill post up more recent pics when I get back from the Texas Meet.
OMG she drives soooo much better now!!!

[akora12]

Nice work. How in the hell did your axle break? The 1MZ axles are generally tough.

At least you can finally make your supra kit work.

[LEE337]

Well, the boot tore a while back and I was so busy at work I thought it was drivin funny cuz it was misaligned. That and my cheap tires suck so I thought that was the problem. The boot tore more and more to the point I had death wobble at 50mph. It kept getting worse and worse. So around the time I bought Gabe's BBK kit I noticed grease around the inner fender. Looked under the driver side wheel and saw grease everywhere. Read up in my Haynes manual and some research on SG to find the driver side CV isnt that difficult. Called Gabe and Greg a few times too, as to how hard this would be. Once I got my new CV half shaft, and used knuckle off an 01, it only took about 3hrs to tear down and install. Why the knuckle was bent in the first place I may never know. All I know now is everything is in, the BBK is installed AND SHE DRIVES WONDERFULL!!!!!!! The braking is unbelievably sweet!!! The BBK definitley ranks up there with the TRD RSB, if not better.

On top of that I upgraded to some 18" wheels w/225/45/ZR18 Hankook V12 Evo K110 tires. I love these tires! Ill be posting more of my modz after the Texas Meet next saturday.

[RON]

Looks like your car was hit hard before you bought it? That would damage both the CV joint and the Hub. I would have a shop check the FRAME to confirm. The frame would definitely be bent (even slightly) if the car was hit. They could easily see if there are any *Krinkles* in the frame...could also do some measurements as well.

[99BlackSandv6]

Actually, Lee hit something one day and probably
messed up the knuckle and other stuff himself.

Lee, did you have a shop measure for frame bendage?
How about some finished pics of the bbk installed....and the new rubber?

[LEE337]

Yeah, last year I hydroplaned into a gaurd rail. All it did was mess up the front end cosmetically. Didint hit it fast enough to bend the knuckle or the frame. It was more bouncing off the gaurd rail in mid turn than head on into the rail.

...BUT

When I took it to my body guy for paint last year he told me it would be a good idea to check the frame anyway. So I did and it was slightly off a bit. So he straightened it back out. Never thought anything of it till the whole knuckle delima. Also when I bought my Solara, she came up clean on CarFax. Which isnt a good report if whatever happened to the driver side wasnt reported. Like I said before the 1/4" bend in the knuckle brake brackets boggle my mind. For something as thick as the knuckle to bend would have to of taken a pretty good punch. A big enough punch to desecrate the entire driver side. Then rebulid it and use the same knuckle. I dont get it, but shes all straight and back together and driving beautiful.

Ill have some pics posted up soon. We have a photograpgher coming to the Texas Meet. Ive seen his work and it looks like we will get some awesome shots of the meet.

[99BlackSandv6]

Ok, couldn't remember how hard the impact was, but you got it all fixed up.
I'm interested to see some great shots from the TX meet too.
Keep us posted!

[Gibson99]

For something as thick as the knuckle to bend would have to of taken a pretty good punch. A big enough punch to desecrate the entire driver side.

you'd be surprised. i was run into a curb in my miata at about 25 mph in the middle of a turn. after the hit, i had to turn the steering wheel about 90 degrees left just to go straight. it folded the lower control arm practically in half, and also tweaked the hub/spindle. i replaced the bearings, lower ball joint, the spindle/knuckle, and of course lower control arm.

amazingly i didn't have to fix my rim! it was a 15x6 BBS forged rim, and all i did was file down some of the scrapes on the lip so they weren't so obvious. no damage to tire, either. forged rims FTW!! would be nice if i still had those rims... i sold them to put money down on an engagement ring. i'm pretty sure it was worth it...

[LEE337]

^Your right, it prolly wouldnt take much at all.

Then I thought about it and the gap was 1/4" away from the rotor. This tells me it wasnt a curb or anything of the sort. Because if it was a curb or something, it would have bent towards the rotor. So whatever happened, happened to the middle to upper side of the rim. ???

IDK Go figure.......

[Gibson99]

^Your right, it prolly wouldnt take much at all.

Then I thought about it and the gap was 1/4" away from the rotor. This tells me it wasnt a curb or anything of the sort. Because if it was a curb or something, it would have bent towards the rotor. So whatever happened, happened to the middle to upper side of the rim. ???

IDK Go figure.......

maybe before you owned it, someone t-boned the car at low speed, or backed into it and in either scenario, hit the wheel directly. either way, fender and wheel (and likely strut) were replaced before you got it.

the cast knuckle part is not easy to see bends on like the stamped steel parts (ie: solara's lower control arm - camry LCA is also cast). i don't know for sure that the knuckle was bent, but after a hit like that which nearly put my tire touching the back of the wheel well, i wasn't going to take my chances. same deal w/ the bearings - i drove it to the shop to work on it, but no further. better safe than sorry when it comes to something that important!