She wrecked two cars in a week! Fixing the Cougar's wheel bearing, etc. from hitting a curb.

What goes around, comes around. And I don't mean that in a wheel bearing sort of way. As a parent, I get to watch my kids repeat some of the mistakes of my youth. The registration was about to expire on the Thunderbird, so I was going to take it in for inspection after I got home on a Friday. But before I got home, she lane-changed and when she looked back in front of her, there was someone there that she ran into, smashing the left headlight, corner light, light mounting bracket, fender, bumper cover, and bending the bumper frame and hood. You kind of need those lights to pass inspection, so I had to wait until the new ones came from RockAuto.com. Oh, and she was ok - no injuries to either driver. We were down to one car - the Cougar.

Three days later, on Monday, this is what happened in the Cougar (if the video below works). I didn't have a dashcam in the Thunderbird, but I did in the Cougar. Luckily for her, she can relive this moment in HD video. There's no ABS in this car, no stability control, and no traction control. So when you lock up the brakes, it doesn't respond to steering.

She called to tell me about it while she was driving home and I could hear the wheel bearing moaning over the phone. She also said she had to hold the steering wheel at an angle to drive straight. So I knew I had at least a bad wheel bearing and probably a bent control arm or tie rod. She felt really bad about wrecking two cars. But she had to find a ride to work for the next few days. We'll need to go practice some driving techniques later.

With both cars broken, I was considering buying another car or truck. I took a look at the classifieds and had a few picked out. But we'll hold off on that for now.

I'd be a hypocrite if I was upset with her. When I was a teenager, I drove my mom's 1981 Datsun 210 with a 1.2L 4 cylinder engine, 5 speed, and rear wheel drive. For a car with negative horsepower, it was very difficult to spin the tires. But that's not going to stop a teenage boy from trying.

On a Sunday afternoon in 1988, as I crossed an intersection with gravel in the road, I thought it would be cool to spin my wheels in the gravel. I stomped the gas pedal as I shifted into second gear and turned a little to the right. My wheels cut loose and spun like never before. The back end swung left, wheels still spinning. I compensated for the slide as two guys on bmx bikes on the other side of the road about 100 yards in front of me got off the road. I overcompensated steering and with my foot still on the gas pedal because vehicle control wasn't yet second-nature, the car started to slide right and before I had time to correct it, my right rear wheel hit the curb. Then a soft grinding/humming (mostly humming) sound came from the rear axle going wonk-wonk-wonk, starting
at about 20 mph. The wheel was bent, and the bearing damaged.

So here's how the repair on the Cougar went. It's an early 1999 with a 2.5L V6, a 5 speed manual transmission, and an oil leak.

When she got home after hitting the curb, I took a look at the wheel. It's amazing this wheel held together and didn't lose air. The junkyard had one listed on their website for $45.50, so I went down there and they said they'd have to order it for $80. I went home to consider my options and called them the next day and they wanted $192 for a wheel. I said never mind and ordered one from RockAuto.com for about $136 including shipping.

Broken wheel

I was unfamiliar with the style of spindle nut on this car and thought the metal tabs had to be bent out. That was a mistake. Now I need a new spindle nut.

I removed the steering knuckle to press out the wheel bearing and was surprised when the whole bearing came out in pieces. Part of the problem is that whoever put this thing together the last time didn't install the outer snap ring to hold the bearing in. The problem with omitting the outer retaining ring is that if the bearing slides outward, then the CV joint will rub on the wheel knuckle.

Broken wheel bearing

Usually only the hub and inner race come out first as shown in the next picture.
Here I've cut slots in the inner race using my Dremel. I think it helps it come off easier.

The inner race with slots cut into it

The bearing puller works great to get these races off. It may take a few tries. But I oriented the puller wrong in this photo. Rotate it 90 degrees so the bolts don't bend when you press the bearing.

I have the bearing puller oriented 90 degrees wrong. It should be the other way to not bend the bolts.

Here's the new wheel bearing, about to get pressed into the steering knuckle. This kind is sealed. You don't need any separate wheel seals with this style bearing. Notice the sides of the bearing have the seals on, and you can't see any ball bearings inside.

New wheel bearing

Before installing the hub, I had to order and install the new retaining ring.

New outer retaining ring: TIMKEN RET177

Pressing the bearing into the steering knuckle using my press and a 36 mm socket on the inner race

To press the hub into the wheel bearing, you need to apply the force on the inner race. Otherwise, if you only apply force on the outer race, the inner race can pop out, along with the seal. If that happens, you may damage the seal. As I pressed it in, it took more pressure than I was used to. Then afterwards, I thought "maybe the hub got bent". I should have checked that before putting it back together. Luckily, they sell a wheel bearing set with a hub for a pretty reasonable price on RockAuto.com if I find out I need one. [Update: I checked later. The hub wasn't bent.]

Pressing the hub into the wheel bearing

Here's the new lower control arm with ball joint. This one is straight. I had to pry on this to get the holes to line up so the mounting bolts would go through. Maybe the frame got a little bent too.

New control arm with ball joint

Here's the old control arm. You can see how it's not straight.

Old, bent control arm

The nut and bolt that came with the new control arm didn't have the built-in washers like the original did. So I re-used the original. I know, it's a bad idea to re-use the lock-nut. I'm pretty sure it will still hold together.

Lower ball joint retaining bolt and nut

But, the new bolt fit in the same spot as the bolt to hold the strut in the steering knuckle. So I used it there. Since I saved this old bolt, it found a new home on my friend's Bobcat.

When I got it all back together, I threw the spare on and took it for a test drive. The steering wheel was still at about 70 degrees while driving straight. I missed the fact that the inner tie rod may be bent because it was hidden in the steering boot. So I ordered one of those (assuming it was bent, even before taking the boot off to look at it). With the alignment so far off, it won't handle well and will wear tires really fast. So I got out my laser ruler and did a quick toe angle adjustment. I released the lock nut on the tie rod end and turned the tie rod out about 3/8" or so until the wheel was straight again. Next week I'll replace the inner tie rod and the wheel.

Here's the damage report on the Cougar:
Bent & cracked wheel - $124.89 + $11.98 shipping = $136.87
Broken wheel bearing - $25.79
Bent control arm - $64.04
Bent inner tie rod - $19.88 + 6.19 shipping = $26.07
Wheel bearing retainer - $2.83 + $19.40 shipping = $22.23
Spindle - $35.00 + $18.93 shipping = $53.93
Re-mount tire - $unknown. I will owe my friend a favor.
Labor - one day off work unpaid + an evening or two

Total for parts: $328.93, not including the brand new tires that got worn out.

Update: One month later - wearing tires

I should have verified the toe angle. The toe angle changes when you drop it off the jack. I knew it changed some, but I didn't realize it changed so much. I was planning on replacing the inner tie-rod in a couple days. That still hasn't happened yet. After a month of driving on brand-new tires, the front tires are nearly worn out.

I verified that the strut wasn't bent by using a straight edge. I verified that the hub (what the tire bolts onto) wasn't bent because it doesn't wobble when the wheel rotates. But it still has positive camber. The only thing left that I can conclude is that the steering knuckle got bent when it hit the curb.

Update April 30

I replaced the bent steering spindle today. I got one off ebay for $35 + shipping. Here are the old and new spindles.

And you can see that the old spindle (foreground) is bent, compared to the wrecking yard spindle (background). I measured the angle between the hub and the strut mount on the new one and got 4.5 degrees. So if the wheel was positioned perfectly vertical, then the strut leans in at 4.5 degrees.

The old, bent spindle measured 8.6 degrees. So that resulted in an additional +4.1 degrees of camber. That'll wear the tire quickly.

I was trying to think how I would measure the angles on the spindles and while trying to go to sleep last night, I had the thought that I should just use the protractor app on my phone. It worked great. I just measured the angles of the strut and the hub, then calculated the difference.

After replacing the spindle, the toe angle was way off again, and I had to adjust it. Now I just need to do something about the cracks in the driver's seat.