Bent chassis?

[BoSDunfor]

:bite::repost:Hey guys, first post ever for me. I'm more than excited to be back in the game. This isnt my first rodeo though. Ive owned 4 240s in my life. I try to grow up and get a nice daily driver with no mods but "One does not simple drive boring cars their whole life"

Anyways, I just bought a 1993 vert. Its a complete bucket, im going to post alot of pics soon so you can cringe with me LOL. It pulls very hard to the right (no power steering) The only reason why im concerned about a bent frame is because when I'm at slow speeds and turn to the opposite side that it pulls too. The back tire skids, almost seems like its jumping a bit. Has anyone ever had this happen to them? Its new to me, and also Ive been reading that the s13 vert chassis is heavier than a coupe or hatch. Does that have something to do with it?

Any help is appreciated. Flame.. Dont flame I dont care. Throw some ideas at me. Except for "Google it"......:repost:

[Jtuned_andy]

but unibody bro

[BoSDunfor]

thanks Jtuned_andy,

I read about that as well. I Just didnt understand how a unibody cant be bent or w.e. Ill do more research on that. I just need confirmation because I have the reading comprehension of a second grader. THanks though

[Thedriftbadger]

A unibody can be bent. It's a little different than a frame being bent but a bend is a bend. Did you gen an alignment? Most problems of pulling one way is simply just a messed up alignment or a bad bushing or tie rod or something of the sort.
You can always check the car fax or autocheck, it will tell you straight up if it's had damage.

[BoSDunfor]

Thanks Thedriftbadger

Yup, I know those can be factors. The only reason why I posted concern about a bent "frame" was due to the fact that the back tire while turning opposite to the way it pulls. Was dragging to the point where I stuck my head at and saw the tire stopped moving and was just skipping. Ive never seen that before, so was a bit concerned. I wanted to skim for answers before I put it up on a rack. Honestly even if the frame has damage.... ill spend w.e to fix it lol. Thanks for response.

[Thedriftbadger]

Thanks Thedriftbadger

Yup, I know those can be factors. The only reason why I posted concern about a bent "frame" was due to the fact that the back tire while turning opposite to the way it pulls. Was dragging to the point where I stuck my head at and saw the tire stopped moving and was just skipping. Ive never seen that before, so was a bit concerned. I wanted to skim for answers before I put it up on a rack. Honestly even if the frame has damage.... ill spend w.e to fix it lol. Thanks for response.

Sure it's not just a welded diff? Or maybe it was welded and the welds broke and now it locks up weird.

[BoSDunfor]

AHHHH didnt consider that either......Ill have a looksie. I didnt have a chance to really check her out. Ive only had it for a few days. Holy a;f;fjfdafl fdajfoiaej;afmal Im so excited to start poking at her.

[zerodameaon]

Could be a messed up LSD of some type but I doubt it is a broken welded diff, they are very easy to identify that the car has one, and they are pretty apparent when they go, they don't work fine turning one way and stop working the other. I would jack up the car and check out the underside and see if you have any bent/broken arms allowing the axle to shift back and get jammed on something. I have a vert and they are heavier but at the same time all that weight is below the door sills as the windshield assembly does not weigh that much so that is a plus.

[BoSDunfor]

ThanKs for the response zerodameaon
Yea I have yet to look under this beast. I cant even wait, I just wasnt sure if the dragging tire could mean a possible bent from or if it was due to alignment issues. Ill look at everything and post an answer soon. Thanks for the taking the time to respond.

[thefro526]

How many miles are on the chassis? If they're up there or the car has been beat on before, there's a pretty good chance that most of your bushings/ball joints wearable components are binding. Shot subframe bushings will make your car do some interesting things while in motion - especially if the bushings didn't fail uniformly, feels almost like the car has rear steering from time to time.

Some of the other bushings Im the rear can also fail and cause some pretty dramatic dynamic alignment changes, but the subframe bushing seem to fail before anything else.

Also, like the guys above said check to see if you've got a welded diff or LSD. These can cause some pretty interesting things to happen at low speed if you've got something else wrong too. Welded diff (or a good locking diff) with a bad alignment will cause some noticeable 'scrubbing' at low speed in large radius turns, but there is some scrub to be expected in small radius turns no matter what.

[BoSDunfor]

hey thefro526
odometer is broken and stuck at 86k, but with my exp and these cars. This thing should have almost 180-200k. Its in pretty bad shape, I can tell without looking at it that it will need new bushings and tie rods at the LEAST. The diff I'm unsure of. It looks like the prev owner was trying to be a street racer. the rear tires are flat bald and the front ones have plenty of meat. HMMMMMM Thanks a million for the info, I haven't exp the dragging before in my life so I was instantly like BENT FRAMME HAAALP. Its already my baby....i cant wait to fix every screw on this B*9%&

[zerodameaon]

Could be a bent subframe as well. Forgot to mention that.

[BoSDunfor]

I keep forgetting to ask but can the suspension throw everything off too? Because I know my front left shock is blown. Its sitting all crooked and it bounces pretty weird lol.

[drftngs14]

Sounds like you should do some updated maintenance on her then re-evaluate your issue. And yes suspension will have a huge affect.. Go through it thoroughly and note anything that looks suspicious and replace it. There are a ton of deal in the for sale section, so search, a lot, its what I did with my piece and its coming together nicely. good luck

[BoSDunfor]

Thanks drftngs14
Thank you for that, yea I was just shooting for worst case scenario but I know I need to throw parts at it first. Ill be posting pics and possible vid with updates. THanks for the help all!!

[thefro526]

I keep forgetting to ask but can the suspension throw everything off too? Because I know my front left shock is blown. Its sitting all crooked and it bounces pretty weird lol.

Yes, the suspension being blown/half destroyed/generally derped can throw everything out of whack. Basically, most of what you feel through the car, especially the steering wheel and drivers seat is because of the suspension (ignoring any motor vibrations).

When you've got a blown shock or two, then that corner of the car won't be handling loads correctly, meaning that the car will respond like that corner is significantly 'different' than the others. Depending on how bad it is, and what exactly is going on, this could make the car seem like it's got one 'light corner' or one 'heavy corner' - almost as if the frame were twisted in such a way that would cause this... It also doesn't help that you've got undampened motion in the suspension which can/will exaggerate the feeling of any dynamic alignment changes.

It's also worth noting that our cars do have a pretty significant bit of flex from the factory, and it only seems to increase with mileage. When you've got suspension problems - especially anything that can cause one end of the car to 'droop' or 'sag', the chassis can/will twist a bit. I know that both my S13 and S14 will twist noticeably when one of the front tires is loaded up more than the other (like when going up an inclined parking lot from a flat road) and it feels weird as all hell.

So yeah, start digging into stuff, check your bushings, springs, struts, ball joints, etc. Anything that is obviously worn could be contributing to the problem - but if replacing the wear items doesn't fix your problem, then you might have a bent subframe or other chassis member like someone mentioned about. (Odds are, you're going to need to pull the subframe at one point or another to change the bushings, so check it for bends/cracks prior to replacing stuff)

[BoSDunfor]

Thanks thefro526

Going to start digging into this beast next month, thanks for the info I appreciate it. Hoping its not a bent subframe but Ill do w.e it takes to get it driving straight. SAVE THE 240sx!!!!!!