I broke my a-frame, need some help

[monsonhonda]

well, about a month or two ago i crashed my car, and i hit a big rock, one big enough to spin my car 3/4 of the way arround. anyway, i'm finally getting down to getting it repaired, just i think i want to do it myself. Heres what appears to be the damage, i hit the rock with the front left rim and nocked a chunk out of the rim. I also bent the lower control arm, which i believe is part of the "a-frame". The bracket it bounts into on the frame is bent slightly, but it is a removable piece, the one that links the two lower control arms from the left and righ wheel together. So far this is all the damage i have been able to see. I figure the ball joint is shot, and the wheel bearing must be mush, or will turn mush afer i start driving it. the axle appear fine, no leaks and they spin the wheels. so pretty much im wondering if and how i can fix my car, i really love my accord and dont want to move on, but i dont really want to put it in the shop.

later

fussell

[monsonhonda]

ive pretty much figured out how to fix my car, but i need to know about parts, will a lower control arm from an 88 or 89 lx fit in an 89 lxi

thanks

fussell

[OldSchoolSwap]

Originally posted by monsonhonda
will a lower control arm from an 88 or 89 lx fit in an 89 lxi

thanks

fussell

Yes, only the lower arm. The arm with the spindle i think it will be diffrent due to brake diffrences.

[smufguy]

u did not mess up your radius rod? do check it to see if its messed up or your handling will suck, check your upper A arm too and check your main tubular box frame for any or even slight tweaks. Good luck with your car man. have fun

[monsonhonda]

yeah, im gonna start with the lower sontrol arm and then see what else needs fixing. is there any way to take out a ball joint without a pickel fork or whatever its called.

later

fussell

oh yeah, what might the radius rod be, ill check my book but it might not be listed er something

[smufguy]

the radius rod is the one that goes on an inward angle towards the center of the car (front to back). Its a small solid rod that runs from the hub assembly to the front crossbar (black color) which holds your front engine mount. Have fun.

[monsonhonda]

u mean this, thats what ive been calling the lower control arm, i think

here:
http//www.geocities.com/fusselll/

got it most of the way off, i need to get it off the ball bearing though, how should i go about that, should i just go get a pikel fork thing

later
fussell

[smufguy]

site wont work bro.

[monsonhonda]

[monsonhonda]

how do you post a pic

if you type in the address like this
http://www.geocities.com/fusselll
it works i think

[smufguy]

yeah, what u got out is the lower control arm. the radius rod as u know is the #2 on the pic below.

[smufguy]

sorry, forgot the pic

[monsonhonda]

but how do i get the lower control arm off the ball joint

thanks

fussell

[smufguy]

its gonna be like 4 posts to take this all in. I just scanned it all from the haynes guide.

[smufguy]

stage 2

[smufguy]

removal complete

[smufguy]

is there any way we can get a higher pic size posted cause cropping a page takes a whole lot of time and number of posts. 1MB max would be just awsome.

[monsonhonda]

well i got it off, i put some penetrating oil on it and hit it with a board, and it popped off.

So i went to the junkyard yesterday, and after 4 hours,( i still can believe it took 4) i got the lower control arm. I ended up having to take off the hub, the axle, the upper control arm and the radial control arms to get the piece to a torch so it could be cut off. The bolt in the center bushing was frozen so it wouldnt come out of the bushing, so i will be using the bushing from my old control arm. I still have to bend the mount that the control arm sets into, the one that runs from one side to the other. Its slightly bent, like 1/2 to 1 inch so like 10 to 20 degreeze off of its proper allignment, but i figure i can put the old one in upside down and either use some kind of bar to lever it back into place or use some come-alongs.

thanks for the pics man, they were helpfull and ill save themin case someone else needs help, and ill let you know how i turn out.still got to find an lxi rim, i broke a chunk out of the front left one.

later

fussell

[monsonhonda]

ny hopes of driving my car by the weekend have been diminished , the bracket that the lower control arm mounts into is fuck, i mean its more bent than i thought, and thereis a kink in it. So, i guess i am going to have to brace my engine and take off the bar that runs from one control arm to the other and take every little thing of of it, and then put it back on the new one.

i figure this should be pretty strait foreward, im going to borrow one of those cherrypicker engine hoist things and brace my engine and just go at it. Problem is i dont want to deal with the junkyard crap because id have to brace the engine there and take everything off, and it would still cost alot.
so if anyone has an accord( i dont know which models would work with the 89) w/o an engine (makes it easy) lying arround and would like to sell me the control arm link engine mount thing, let me know

thanks

fussell

[smufguy]

the blck cross member is the one ur talking about right? That holds the front engine mount in? I am going to the junk tomorrow and i could take it out for you. Which year is ur car by the way? Hope everything works out for you man. If u need anythign, just let me know. i am going to the junk to get parts for my car too so i can always take things out.

[monsonhonda]

that wouldbe great dude, my car is an 89 lxi(good luck on your conversion,injection all the way!). the yard near my house is going to be impossible to get the crossmember, it runs from the one side to the other and it is the last part in your sirections that your take the control arm outof. the only accord there is surroundedby cars and in 2 feet of mud, and they make you get the stuff by yourself. just let me know how much and how much u want for labor, and we can talk about shippin,(if your close i could drive out and pick it up)

im in massachusettes.

later

fussell

[smufguy]

hey man, i am gonna go to the junk tomorrow and get the parts i need out and tomorrow is the day i am gonna get my jack stands too cause i need em. so i guess i will be able to take out/try to take out the part for you on satu and i live in NJ so if u wanna drive 3 hours to get it yourself. hehehe, come on down buddy, if not i will ship it to you bro. I am doing nothing this summer, besides going to india for a visit ( i really hate going there). So i can get u anything you want cause the most cars in the junk i go to is all 3gs. hehe, nice work for us. they got a SE in there, i dont know if they have it still. but if they do, i wanna see if i can get anything out. Rear disks would be goo, but i can buy it online rather cheap and brand new.

[njpeter]

I spit cofee when I saw that shot, I spent some good bucks on some new pullers when I had to swap an axle, I ended up changing the ball joint too..the spindle crushed by the puller ( and I wasn't using an air gun on it) pick fork is the way to go, but put a new boot on after you do.

[monsonhonda]

just letme know how much its going to cost an i can send a money order if you need it soon, if not i can bring it when i come, if i come, ill see if i can talk one of my freind into it. let me know if you want anything for time/labor, and thanks

fussell

[smufguy]

i went to the junkyard today, but the dude who usually is there was not there so the other guy. He did not know about the pricing, so i still dont know what the price is. I am gonna go to the junk tomorrow or probably monday and see how much it is, if its reasonable i will take it out. tell me how much others say it costs, and if it exceeds that or even close to it in around 10 bucks, then its not worth for me to take it out cause its gonna be expensive for you.