Subie down! knuckle fracture!

Good news is it happened on my alignment guys lift.. kinda long story, I'll try to hit the highlights..

 

Ok, I've mod'ed my suspension. So far I have Tein Basics, Perrin 22mm F/R sways, cusco front upper and lower brace and super pro LCA high caster poly bushings. Happy so far, but really like the way the back end came around with the sways before the coilovers were put on. So I figure I'd try the Whiteline roll center kit. Found a vender here, they had a good price so I went for it. +1 for touge tuning!

 

So my alignment guy owed me a tweak, since he didn't put the car into the specs I requested after He intalled the LCA bushings. Perfect time to upgrade to the WL roll center kit, right?

 

So Drivers side went fine, he calls me at work to say "we got a problem here" as he is puttting the passenger side together. Apparently the Collar which holds the body of the ball joint in the knuckle fractured. Thats right, the cast knuckle broke. I go over to the shop at lunch, and he shows me the damage. You can see rust on the internal portion of the fracture. He says there must have been a void in the casting. Wants to know if I want a used part or what we should do.

 

Now I'm still under warranty, but don't have high hopes since my subaru dealer has seen my suspension mods. I call and ask for the service writer, who I know pretty good. Turns out they use the same shop for work some times, and they trust my guy. They are going to Get me a new Knuckle under warranty, and it should be here tomorrow. +1 for my subie dealer! Not sure if my guy will get everything back together and aligned before the weekend or not. Most likely Monday, from what I hear.

 

I just really glad I found this out without having a wheel fly off on the highway.

 

I've been driving our '98 forester. Damn I miss my car.

same thing happened to my dad's 93. it only cracked when we tried to take the balljoint out.

Just got back from my subaru dealer and dropped the new knuckle off with my front end shop. IF all the stars are aligned in my favor, he will get it done today.

 

He said it fractured just as he started to torque the ball joint collar bolt.

I love warranty issues with a happy ending.

Good news is it happened on my alignment guys lift.. kinda long story, I'll try to hit the highlights..

 

Ok, I've mod'ed my suspension. So far I have Tein Basics, Perrin 22mm F/R sways, cusco front upper and lower brace and super pro LCA high caster poly bushings. Happy so far, but really like the way the back end came around with the sways before the coilovers were put on. So I figure I'd try the Whiteline roll center kit. Found a vender here, they had a good price so I went for it. +1 for touge tuning!

 

So my alignment guy owed me a tweak, since he didn't put the car into the specs I requested after He intalled the LCA bushings. Perfect time to upgrade to the WL roll center kit, right?

 

So Drivers side went fine, he calls me at work to say "we got a problem here" as he is puttting the passenger side together. Apparently the Collar which holds the body of the ball joint in the knuckle fractured. Thats right, the cast knuckle broke. I go over to the shop at lunch, and he shows me the damage. You can see rust on the internal portion of the fracture. He says there must have been a void in the casting. Wants to know if I want a used part or what we should do.

 

Now I'm still under warranty, but don't have high hopes since my subaru dealer has seen my suspension mods. I call and ask for the service writer, who I know pretty good. Turns out they use the same shop for work some times, and they trust my guy. They are going to Get me a new Knuckle under warranty, and it should be here tomorrow. +1 for my subie dealer! Not sure if my guy will get everything back together and aligned before the weekend or not. Most likely Monday, from what I hear.

 

I just really glad I found this out without having a wheel fly off on the highway.

 

I've been driving our '98 forester. Damn I miss my car.

 

 

thats awesome for you. wish i had guys that know guys

The alignment guy stayed late and got my car done on friday. I just can't say how much I appreciate Greg at toe river service! Really just above and beyond what I would expect...

 

Got to drive the car pretty hard on a day trip out of town yesterday. Nice mountain roads btwn asheville and hot springs, nc. Most of the time you don't notice much change in the front end with the roll kit in. But on tight turns and hairpins, there is a noticable leveling of the front suspension over the stock tie rod ends and ball joints. I think whitetiger's opinion of it being a small but benificial change is accurate. This is the last of the suspension mods for my car, unlesss the stock endlinks give out..