[fritter]

Hi All, My SWB Vit has a bend in the passenger side chassis rail.
The car drives fine and the bend has been there since I bought it a few months ago.
The only problem I get is shaking above about 95kph.
Not sure if it's related though. There doesn't seem to be any play in any of the wheel bearings.
Also, the front passenger wheel has noticeable toe out by about 8mm.
The tie rod adjuster seems to be done up fully.
My question is are the toe and bent chassis rail related? Is there anyting I can do about it? Or should I just ignore it?
Here's a couple of pics. Sorry about the really lousy quality.
You can see the bend in the chassis rail near the muffler.





I know about the split in the CV boot too

Thanks
Graeme

[LAY80N]

Bent chassis rail = structural damage = unroadworthy car.


Layto....

[fritter]

Not what I wanted to hear
Is there any way it can be fixed?

[LAY80N]

Before you panic, get a panel shop to take a look at it. You could check it against another vehicle and confirm its acutally bent too (providing the test vehicle is not bent). Have you checked the wheel balance, wheel alignment, ball joints?

If you get the vitara FSM it will have the chassis measurement guide so you can check it. It basically has a picture of the chassis with dimensions between different sections. By measuring it all out you can determine if and where its bent, and how far. Then you can look at repair options.


Layto....

[fritter]

LAY80N wrote:

Before you panic, get a panel shop to take a look at it. You could check it against another vehicle and confirm its acutally bent too (providing the test vehicle is not bent). Have you checked the wheel balance, wheel alignment, ball joints?

If you get the vitara FSM it will have the chassis measurement guide so you can check it. It basically has a picture of the chassis with dimensions between different sections. By measuring it all out you can determine if and where its bent, and how far. Then you can look at repair options.


Layto....

Thanks Layto,

I'll check the FSM. I've only had the car since November and I've concetrated on the engine. It's running sweet now so I'm moving on to the suspension and steering components and get them back to near new condition.
I'll check with a panel shop as well.
Cheers

[atari4x4]

im 100% sure the chassis rail is fine, check the other side it should be the same. is it a LWB or SWB? my SWB looks exactly the same.

get a wheel alignment & balance & see if it fixes the wobble.

[Vits93]

I just checked my vitara same bend
[img][IMG]http://i1209.photobucket.com/albums/cc382/Vits93/110109_115936.jpg[/img][/img]

[alien]

thats a speed bend that it - makes your vitara go faster =)

[Vits93]

alien wrote:

thats a speed bend that it - makes your vitara go faster =)

Must be broken on mine.

[LAY80N]

HAHAHAHA you can stress less now. As for the shakes, check the items i listed in my previous post
Might need to upgrade your etch-a-sketch spec camera too


Layto....

[atari4x4]

alien wrote:

thats a speed bend that it - makes your vitara go faster =)

being a sierra owner you'd be unaware of the awesome speed attainable with a vitara, the chassis rails are dove tailed for less wind resistance & stability when cornering... another thing you'd be unaware of.

mine looks exactly the same as Vits93 LWB.

[fritter]

Vits93 wrote:

I just checked my vitara same bend
[img][IMG]http://i1209.photobucket.com/albums/cc382/Vits93/110109_115936.jpg[/img][/img]

Whoohoo!!!

Thanks guys, That's put my mind at ease.

Must be why it doesn't tip over when cornering at speed.

I'll get the wheel alignment and see how it goes.

Might wait till after the suspension lift though.

[shandy92]

yeah mate, nothing to worry about. my vit has it and so did my last one. so unless all the vitaras in Australia got in a major write off-able accident when they we coming over here, then i say its normal.

dont always trust a panel beater, i took my 1st rolled vit to a panel shop to get a quote for repares. he said it was a write off because the chassis was bent, but its wasnt, AS ITs FACTORY BENT!!! i new its wasnt bent.

[fritter]

atari4x4 wrote:

alien wrote:

thats a speed bend that it - makes your vitara go faster =)

being a sierra owner you'd be unaware of the awesome speed attainable with a vitara, the chassis rails are dove tailed for less wind resistance & stability when cornering... another thing you'd be unaware of.

mine looks exactly the same as Vits93 LWB.

This is true..

Mines a SWB. Funny how it's only on the passenger side.

[atari4x4]

check the RHS, you'll find it's on both sides.

[fritter]

atari4x4 wrote:

check the RHS, you'll find it's on both sides.

Damn. Your right..
Thought for a sec some dodgy panel shop had "fixed it".

[flatcat_auz]

Chassis can be straighten after accidents as mine was. I didn't like but the insurance company insisted that it was safe. Have spoken to a few beaters since and one in particular (vehicle builder with a heavily modded patrol) said he had no probs with them.
Simple check is the diagonals on the rail (unless it a parallelogram....)

[Chop]

ah crap my chassis is bent

[royce]

the tie rod adjustment is concerning, whats the other side like?

are you tyres worn flat or do they have a lip on one side of the tread block? heaps of toe will make em wobble

[fritter]

Chop wrote:

ah crap my chassis is bent

haha.. Yeah made a fool of myself there
Ok so I'm still a Zook noob.

The tyres are still fine as far as wear goes. But yeah that tie rod seems to be done all the way up. the drivers side is fine. You can plainly see that the passenger wheel is pointing slightly outwards when the steering wheel is centered.

[royce]

where is the drivers wheel pointed, straight?

sounds like it at least needs the alignment checked, somebody has probably done that to get the wheel straight

[fritter]

royce wrote:

where is the drivers wheel pointed, straight?

sounds like it at least needs the alignment checked, somebody has probably done that to get the wheel straight

yeah, drivers wheel is perfect. I'll get an alignment next Saturday.
I won't be driving it before then anyway as I'm working in Hobart this week.
The guy I bought it from had even less idea than me, but thought he was an 'expert'. Wouldn't surprise me if he did it.
After all. He put a 'Sports' muffler on it and reckoned it sounds great?
An Aston Martin sounds great. But a vit?

[gravity_powered]

Sounds like a bent stub axle assembly to me.

Have a look at the shape of the arm between the tie rod end and the outer CV and then compare it with the other side.